More evidence of rent declines in Portland • Hacker News Board

Re: More evidence of rent declines in Portland

#21

Post by gt_ » Fri, Feb 02, 2018, 5:06 AM UTC

electricslpnsld wrote: post #15

EtDybNuvCu wrote: post #14

Portland is terrible. The homelessness is depressingly tangible, the streets are either full of crap or protestors, everybody is too white, and the weather is unpleasantly unremarkable. I used to work for a big multinational with a Portland office and a Seattle office; the Seattle office is far nicer.

Portland is amazing. The food is great, the beer is world-class (and all sorts of weird little breweries can be found everywhere), the coffee is top notch and the selection of coffee shops is amazing, Oregonians are among the nicest people I've encountered in the United States, awesome Springs and Summers, lots of amazing nature nearby, no sales taxes, lots of art, lots of music, lots of cool weird music venues, peop…

It would do them some good to be be more homeless epidemic conscious. Any political gesture Portland could collectively be proud of is undermined by it’s failure to show concern for the members of it’s own society.

Re: More evidence of rent declines in Portland

#22

Post by deephoney » Fri, Feb 02, 2018, 5:09 AM UTC

This is exactly what you would expect to see in a city where demand is largely driven by people living and working in the area, but in some large international cities (Vancouver, London I'm looking at you!) Speculation/Investment from non-residents makes up a such a significant part of demand and the highest margin part of that demand, that there is a risk of new builds becoming "empty nest eggs". [1]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/vancouver-non...

Re: More evidence of rent declines in Portland

#23

Post by newbear » Fri, Feb 02, 2018, 5:12 AM UTC

Just spent a month looking for a studio or one bedroom below $1200. Plenty of ok options and a couple better than ok. All apartments came with the threat of a scary property management company. Finally we found an artsy owner with an attic and After waiting two weeks for our background check to pass for a studio we were approved but had already signed a lease for he attic. Pretty stressful process. Mostly because the paranoia of dealing with shady property managers. If I was a Stanford MBA I'd start a nation wide property management firm that focus on ethics and does shit right. Housing fellow hard working citezens should be an honor and done with good morals. And to think how much harder it is for somebody just even a little bit worse off than me...

Re: More evidence of rent declines in Portland

#24

Post by telchar » Fri, Feb 02, 2018, 5:15 AM UTC

gt_ wrote: post #21

electricslpnsld wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Portland is amazing. The food is great, the beer is world-class (and all sorts of weird little breweries can be found everywhere), the coffee is top notch and the selection of coffee shops is amazing, Oregonians are among the nicest people I've encountered in the United States, awesome Springs and Summers, lots of amazing nature nearby, no sales taxes, lots of art, lots of music, lots of cool weird music venues, peop…

It would do them some good to be be more homeless epidemic conscious. Any political gesture Portland could collectively be proud of is undermined by it’s failure to show concern for the members of it’s own society.

Something that would be worth considering in homelessness discussion re: Portland, SF, etc is how many of these people are city dwellers that became homeless versus already-homeless people who gravitated toward (or were shipped to) the city? The former is a reflection on the city, but in my opinion the latter is less a reflection on the city than it is of the nation.

If I become homeless and move out to Portland, is that an indictment of Portland? Is it more their responsibility to house me than say, Pittsburg, who may have sent the people there on a bus? I don't know the stats mentioned above but it seems like the places that have huge homeless problems are mostly those with nice mild weather and tolerant residents.

While I lean left and support affordable housing and the welfare state, it seems a little unfair to saddle those places particularly with housing a homeless population that they didn't cause to be homeless.

Re: More evidence of rent declines in Portland

#25

Post by fapjacks » Fri, Feb 02, 2018, 5:15 AM UTC

newbear wrote: post #23

Just spent a month looking for a studio or one bedroom below $1200. Plenty of ok options and a couple better than ok. All apartments came with the threat of a scary property management company. Finally we found an artsy owner with an attic and After waiting two weeks for our background check to pass for a studio we were approved but had already signed a lease for he attic. Pretty stressful process. Mostly because the…

Property management companies in the San Diego area are absolutely shit-awful and I've thought about starting a nation-wide property management company myself. There's just no way I could be any worse than what's out there.

Re: More evidence of rent declines in Portland

#26

Post by telchar » Fri, Feb 02, 2018, 5:16 AM UTC

newbear wrote: post #23

Just spent a month looking for a studio or one bedroom below $1200. Plenty of ok options and a couple better than ok. All apartments came with the threat of a scary property management company. Finally we found an artsy owner with an attic and After waiting two weeks for our background check to pass for a studio we were approved but had already signed a lease for he attic. Pretty stressful process. Mostly because the…

Out of curiosity, what makes you call those property managers scary, vs others you have encountered?

Re: More evidence of rent declines in Portland

#27

Post by orangecat » Fri, Feb 02, 2018, 5:26 AM UTC

jjaredsimpson wrote: post #7

coolspot wrote: post #2

I think controversy is not that building more has no effect on rent prices - of course more supply drives prices down. It is more about whether we want to live in over-populated ant-farms or want to pay premium for less dense living.

I don't think people are choosing to pay a premium in favor of lower density. Incumbent land holders using local zoning laws to prevent density to maintain their wealth. Also using the phrase overpopulated ant farms isn't useful or accurate.

Incumbent land holders using local zoning laws to prevent density to maintain their wealth.

And they have an alliance of convenience with "anti-gentrification" activists who reject basic economics. Hopefully results like this will make some of them reconsider.

Re: More evidence of rent declines in Portland

#28

Post by jacobolus » Fri, Feb 02, 2018, 5:39 AM UTC

xrayzerone wrote: post #18

EtDybNuvCu wrote: post #14

Portland is terrible. The homelessness is depressingly tangible, the streets are either full of crap or protestors, everybody is too white, and the weather is unpleasantly unremarkable. I used to work for a big multinational with a Portland office and a Seattle office; the Seattle office is far nicer.

> too white Really? How is this comment okay here?

This is a real concern of many people when deciding where to live. Portland is much less cosmopolitan than many large American cities.

I have more than one non-white friend who found Portland to be a very uncomfortable place to live due to casual racism and a general feeling of alienation, especially in comparison with cities like New York, Los Angeles, or San Francisco.

Re: More evidence of rent declines in Portland

#29

Post by newbear » Fri, Feb 02, 2018, 5:41 AM UTC

telchar wrote: post #26

newbear wrote: post #23

Just spent a month looking for a studio or one bedroom below $1200. Plenty of ok options and a couple better than ok. All apartments came with the threat of a scary property management company. Finally we found an artsy owner with an attic and After waiting two weeks for our background check to pass for a studio we were approved but had already signed a lease for he attic. Pretty stressful process. Mostly because the…

Out of curiosity, what makes you call those property managers scary, vs others you have encountered?

I've only dealt with one in my life because I've mostly sublet. And they screwed me. It could have been worse but I learned my lesson to not give them any room for taking advantage of you. Take pictures, do a walk through etc. Now I'll search for reviews of the company and mostly they are all terrible. And then you see a little of it when you deal with the people through the process. And start to imagine writing your own terrible review in the future and just wish a good person would take you in and give you a safe place to live.

Re: More evidence of rent declines in Portland

#30

Post by carlivar » Fri, Feb 02, 2018, 6:10 AM UTC

fapjacks wrote: post #25

newbear wrote: post #23

Just spent a month looking for a studio or one bedroom below $1200. Plenty of ok options and a couple better than ok. All apartments came with the threat of a scary property management company. Finally we found an artsy owner with an attic and After waiting two weeks for our background check to pass for a studio we were approved but had already signed a lease for he attic. Pretty stressful process. Mostly because the…

Property management companies in the San Diego area are absolutely shit-awful and I've thought about starting a nation-wide property management company myself. There's just no way I could be any worse than what's out there.

I wonder what you'd need to charge? Lots of awful property mgmt companies out there because it cuts into property owner's profits to pay more for a better one. If demand is high, what's the motivation for the owner? I suspect they mostly go with the lowest bidder.