Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

The Rise of Renting in the U.S

citylab.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

231–240 of 380 posts

Re: The Rise of Renting in the U.S

#231

Post by wrong_variable »

lowglow wrote: post #221
lawpoop wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where do you park your van, and how often do you shower? Also, do you worry about your van being broken in to while you're not there?

I park it wherever, but mostly try to stick to cities where it's legal to sleep in your van. While I have parked in San Francisco, Redwood City, and San Jose, right now I'm crashing in and around Palo Alto, CA. I shower every morning at my local 24 hour super sport gym. I'm a sucker for hygiene. I don't really worry about my van being broken into because I think I tend to stay in low crime neighborhoods. I'm also not…

I would pay money to read this amazing book !

Re: The Rise of Renting in the U.S

#232

Post by srj »

SilasX wrote: post #181
turar wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would argue in the current situation of 3.5% mortgage rate, the best scenario is to invest the cash in the stock market. If your returns are anything above 3.5% over the 30 year load amount, you're good.

I've worked through the same logic myself. I don't deny that it generates better financial returns. However, the devil is in the details. Let's say after 30 years you have a big bag of money. Well, now you have to invest it for the passive income to continue paying rent. But, per my recent comment[1], inflation-protected passive income will pay something like 2.1%. Oh, and you're taxed on the interest income. So, mor…

If you live in a home you own I think your rent can be thought of as the amount you could have made had you rented it out to someone else. It's not completely equal because there are burdens to being a landlord but from that perspective you're always a renter.

Re: The Rise of Renting in the U.S

#233

Post by cmdrfred »

awakeasleep wrote: post #154
kazinator wrote: post #110

This article is full of "no kidding" like, oh: > In fact, metros with greater shares of renters have higher wages, higher productivity (measured as economic output per capita), and greater concentrations of high-tech firms, according to Mellander’s basic correlation analysis. People are attracted to where the jobs are, and so everything gets bought up and inflated, and the late comers have to rent. In related news, y…

Property taxes should basically kill the dream of "and don't pay a fucking thing to anyone" for anyone that lives in the US. Especially city dwellers. I was surprised to see tax for properties I could technically afford cost more per year than I had been paying in rent.

I'm confused about the last statement. Are you implying that your landlord is renting to you and it is costing him money?

Re: The Rise of Renting in the U.S

#234

Post by SilasX »

enjo wrote: post #216
billions wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the better solution. California charges $160,000 in taxes per home before it's built. Not to mention extremely restrictive zoning laws.

Zoning laws are actually by and large a relatively modern idea, with the oldest zoning regulations in America in place for only 100 years, with the aggressive zoning codes we have in place today generally only stretching back to the 70's and 80's. Aggressive zoning, by my estimation, is a bad influence on housing costs. It's restrictive (by it's nature) and generally serves one and only one purpose : keeping neighbor…

>Zoning laws are actually by and large a relatively modern idea, with the oldest zoning regulations in America in place for only 100 years, with the aggressive zoning codes we have in place today generally only stretching back to the 70's and 80's.

Not even close. In most of the developed world, you can't turn a home in a residential neighborhood into a slaughterhouse.

I think you mean "density restrictions", a subset of zoning, not zoning per se. (Though even there I'm suspicious: I can go to a low-density part of Nuremberg and buy 100 contiguous houses and replace them with a skyscraper? I'm thinking "no", regardless of whether they formalize the rejection as "because zoning".)

Re: The Rise of Renting in the U.S

#235

Post by d4rkph1b3r »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #134
cylinder wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well you got a remote job, so you did a little locational arbitrage. Most people leave the small towns because of lack of opportunity. The cost of living is low because incomes are low. Can someone come up with a model that's sustainable and applicable to the majority of people?

My remote job pays the same I'd make locally in my tech niche. The benefit comes from no longer having to own a car for myself to commute, gas, insurance on that car, etc. It freed up the $20K in equity I had in the vehicle, and saves me $5-8K/year in commute costs. If I lived in SF, I would pay at least $2-3K/month for rent alone (that's $24K-$36K/year after tax money you're just burning up). Yet, you can spend unde…

But depending on your level, you could probably make waaaay more than 30k more being in SF.

Re: The Rise of Renting in the U.S

#236

Post by serge2k »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #95
seivan wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How does it work with having a companion. It might be easier to find someone with the same outlook. But if you're already in a relationship it's going to be an uphill battle.

I might be able to answer that. My wife and I are early 30s. I spent my 20s in the rat race, working 60-80 hour weeks for material possesions (nice vehicle, luxury townhouse, etc). At some point, I got tired of it and said, "Can we try something different?" I switched to a fully remote job. We disposed of the townhouse (no equity in it). We downsized our lives (1 car! I ride a bicycle everywhere! You would not imagin…

Living in a boat travelling the world, just the two of you.

vs

Crashing in a van in Palo Alto.

One of those sounds decidely more romantic and fun.

Re: The Rise of Renting in the U.S

#237

Post by timmaah »

rpgmaker wrote: post #186
timmaah wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My wife was into it 100%. We sold the big expensive house and moved into a 25' Airstream almost 4 years ago. I felt like I wasn't getting ahead. A bit stuck. I know she did as well. A bit different from the grandparent we still work a normal 40 hour week with normal (remote) jobs but have kind of checked out of the normal american dream. http://i.imgur.com/FQfQIlu.jpg That little dot in the middle is where we are spe…

Where you already working the job and then talked management into letting you work remotely? Also, do you use some form of satellite comm service in order to get internet connectivity in remote areas? I'm interested in knowing how people go about getting these (apparently) high paying remote jobs...

My job is mid web developer salary range. Currently on my second job since we went nomadic. This job was remote from the start though I am the only remote person at this company.

Internet is all cellular connections. Verizon unlimited plan with AT&T on our phones as backup. We use a powered booster with an antenna on the roof. Interstate 40 is ~12 miles away from our current location, so the tower we are on was built to serve the highway.

Re: The Rise of Renting in the U.S

#238

Post by serge2k »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #140
hueving wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right, you have a high paying job so it's easy for you to sit on a perch well above the median and tell people how simple it is.

It's simple the same way exercise is simple: knowing what to do is easy, having willpower to do it is hard. Being financially independent can be done on a median wage, full stop. https://www.reddit.com/r/financialindependence http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/ "Is that all too fluffy and philosophical? OK, fine. Here’s how to cut your life costs in half. Start by getting rid of your Debt Emergency if you have one. Live…

> Being financially independent can be done on a median wage, full stop.

Do you make median wage?

If so, good for you.

If not, why don't you go do that before telling people how easy it is.

Re: The Rise of Renting in the U.S

#239

Post by madengr »

ahh wrote: post #204
toomuchtodo wrote: post #197

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you tried online dating? I know that sounds silly, but it might help optimize your search for a partner who shares your interests. > It requires living in nice rural communities where you will never, ever meet a new person, though, so if you start it single you'll stay that way forever. I live 15 minutes from the beach in the Tampa area. Low cost of living area.

Online dating still requires you to be in a location with an extremely large population of single women. It doesn't matter if you visit the one bar or OKCupid if you've already asked out and been rejected by the only three eligible people in your zip code. You need a large enough population to successfully find a match, and the only place to find large populations of single women are major cities. (And a tiny fractio…

Move to DC. The amount of single woman is crazy.

Re: The Rise of Renting in the U.S

#240

Post by honksillet »

lowglow wrote: post #64

I've sorta turned my back on the standard american dream. Racing to new areas of growth, working to build someone else's dream, getting paid well immediately for performance, paying high rent, etc to afford the image of success, and making friends that participate in this same high ambition culture. Instead of making markets, markets start making you. All the rules, and "norms" we've collected around ourselves to par…

If that is what makes you happy, then more power to you.

The real question is was the American dream really open to you? Was this life choice made easier because what was the american dream has been so diluted as to make it unpalatable?

Is the current craze in tiny homes because people really like tiny home or because it is the only realistic option for a lot of the enthusiasts. For some people the former is true. Other are at least in part rationalizing their belief ex post facto.

Post reply on HN