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People were asking if they could use 15 Rebecca St. in Toronto’s Trinity Bellwoods neighbourhood to shoot a horror film.

A run-down rowhouse in Trinity Bellwoods has become a minor social media sensation in Toronto, thanks to a list price of almost $750,000 that highlights the city's sky-high pricing for even the most distressed properties.

Originally priced at $679,000, the "builder's delight" at 15 Rebecca St. (first reported in The Globe and Mail last month) attracted four bids in its offering period, though none of the potential buyers came close to the seller's target of $900,000. The house has now been re-listed at $749,900, and while it has a few new bids, offers remain open in hopes of fetching a higher price.

Selling agent Al Sinclair of Re/Max Hallmark Realty Ltd., has a message for bloggers and media looking to make a joke about this property's poor condition: Knock it off, this was a family's home.

"I've had people call me about wanting to do a movie there – a horror movie – it's just distasteful," said Mr. Sinclair, who explains that his client is the son and executor of the estate of the last owner, who had lived in the 120-plus-year-old house since the early 1960s before passing away in 2017. City records show Abraham Slomovitz had owned the property since 1961.

The last resident of the home died in the hospital, Mr. Sinclair says, not in the house – despite some of the ghoulish online speculation. "It's a very emotional situation for the family," he said.

Mr. Sinclair agrees the pictures for the listing show a house in need of "total renovation." While it has six rooms and nine-foot ceilings, it also has no basement, no parking and, while basically everything needs to be replaced, it can't be torn down because it's a rowhouse that shares walls on both sides. Sinclair estimates a builder buying the house would need to spend about $120,000 to $150,000 to make it ready for habitation – which is why no work was done to pretty it up for sale.

"It would be a complete waste of money to put anything into it because it's going to get torn apart. Who's gonna buy this house is a builder and they don't care about that.

"They don't wanna see a fresh coat of paint, because then it looks like you're hiding something," he says. "There's no comparables: this is the cheapest house out there, and there's not a better location in Trinity Bellwoods area."

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