People in LA like to complain about the housing market: billionaires scoop up mansions while so many others can't even afford a studio apartment, and earthquake retrofitting laws threaten to raise rent even more. The list of concerns goes on and on, and it can get pretty depressing.
While we are certainly not the only large city dealing with a skyrocketing real estate market, a recent post to LA Craigslist does a pretty good job of summing up our frustrations.
"Cute bungalow for rent in quiet neighborhood," the post advertises, with a listing price of $2,200 for an 800-square-foot, two-bedroom space. But the images attached to the post tell a different story: a tiny—albeit freshly painted—red shed sitting next to a dilapidated swing set next to a dirt path. The interior photos show a chair with a rusted chain draped across it, and a knife stabbed into a small picnic table. Another image shows a metal chest with tubes protruding, and a collection of bottles. It's hard not to laugh, but it's also deeply unsettling and leaves us with a lot of questions that aren't worth getting into.
"Great for small families and animals," the post reads at the bottom. "Serious inquiries only." We'd love to think this whole post is a joke, but for anyone who has shopped around for apartments lately, it certainly seems like it could be serious.