201–210 of 724 posts
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"I'd like to move out of my rent-controlled apartment in SF because my job is in Mountain View, but I don't want to walk away from this rate."
We're talking about Berlin.
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"I'd like to move out of my rent-controlled apartment in SF because my job is in Mountain View, but I don't want to walk away from this rate."
We're talking about Berlin.
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Not necessarily and, historically, not true at sufficient scale.
So all of the software engineers out there being paid for their labor by companies flush with cash are... not, being paid? in your mind?
And we would have paid 2000+...
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If you find something you like, it doesn't matter because there would be 20 other people applying. Landlords want to rent for a long time, so they prefer Germans over foreigners/expats, and people with long-term stable jobs (government, teachers, etc.) instead of startup people, so we were at the back of the queue.
When we found a place we liked, we would have been prepared to pay way more than the asking rent, and put down multiple years of rent in advance just to get it - like happens in NYC for example. But no landlord/agent is interested in this in Berlin. I guess this is an example how well-paid tech ppl are driving rents up. Even though "well-paid tech" in Berlin is not that much.
Only at rent levels of 2200+ do you start to find places you really like in good areas, but there are lots of places advertised at ~1500 that were even more ideal but unattainable due to demand, which is frustrating.
I really don't know how anyone can get an apartment in Berlin now after rent-control.
When we move out, we will most certainly find a friend to hand over to.
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Re: Rent control
Before it was impossible to find a place, now it must be insane. For existing tenants though, it's like an unexpected yearly bonus - but for us, completely unnecessary. It's like a middle-class handout.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
We're talking about Berlin.
"I'd like to move out of my rent-controlled apartment in Spandau because my job is in Eberswalde, but I don't want to walk away from this rate."
Well-off-techies who somehow stumbled into both getting a grandfathered rent controlled rate, and a job in the next city over might be a majority of posters on HN[1], but are a tiny minority of the population. You probably shouldn't be basing overall public policy around them.
[1] I personally think it's unlikely.
I have mixed feelings about this policy as a berliner. But the article is definitely skewed towards the landowners and huge renting companies. Some facts for you: Rate of home ownership among Berliners, Londoners, Parisans: - Berlin: 17.5% - London: 52% - Paris: ~60% The main problems is huge home-renting corporations. The article refers to a separate discussion about breaking up huge companies that own more than 3,0…
Regarding the rate of home ownership among Berliners. I remember reading that Germans in general are more likely to to rent than own their housing. Is that not true? >"It is very ironic that companies such as Deutsche Wohnen were able to grab so many apartments when Berlin wall fell with dirt cheap prices. You can argue rushed privatisation caused this problem and something needs to be done if Berlin wants to avoid b…
Not really, no. It was founded in 1998 and initially had no Berlin holdings at all. It then bought various entities with housing stock in Berlin, which also have complex histories - e.g. one example was founded as a city-owned company in the 1920s, lost its East German properties obviously but continued to operate in West Berlin, after reunification got the eastern bits back, and then was privatized in the 90s. But of course East German state ownership plays a role in how the situation overall came together.
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Because you can define the cap so e.g. it only applies for one apartment per person, so you can't use it to get multiple ones cheap.
One apartment per person or per family? If per family, is it still per person if the couple is not legally married? If they are married, but divorce, get an apartment each and then re-marry, are they supposed to give up the properties? What if my nephew from another town moves in to live, it becomes tight… are they eligible too? There are plenty of places in the world where real estate was/is rationed or distributed,…
Or more likely divorce to get the apartment, but continue to live as if married except for purposes of that extra apartment. It isn't unheard of for couples to not legally marry today because of the tax difference even though for all social purposes they act as married. That is despite some social pressure to marry.
An issue that many commenters here are missing is that the problem with rent control will manifest more sharply in the future. Sure, the impact today seems relatively equitable: a windfall for people that rent today coupled with a small drop in supply. But fast forward 10 or 20 years and the situation looks far worse: everyone who got a windfall today is still living in the same apartment, whereas anyone trying to en…
Giving people "incentive to move" – aka forcing them out of their homes – doesn't increase supply. Unless they're "moving" onto the streets in which case you did free up a flat.
They aren't theirs. They're renters.
If you’re going to argue that supply will only go up if you allow price to rise infinitely, you’re getting it backwards- the increase in supply is supposed to make the price go back down , that’s the whole idea. There is supposed to be a balance that develops that holds the price down to an affordable level. Why does this never happen? Well, there are many areas of the United States where real estate prices are skyro…
I think you have the articles argument twisted. > If you’re going to argue that supply will only go up if you allow price to rise infinitely, you’re getting it backwards- the increase in supply is supposed to make the price go back down, that’s the whole idea. There is supposed to be a balance that develops that holds the price down to an affordable level. The article argues that the people who construct apartment bu…
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I moved to Berlin two years ago and the finding a house was incredibly exhausting. As the article mentions, there are two categories, rent capped apartments and non rent capped apartments. For the first category, there are 2000+ applicants per day per apartment, making it impossible to actually have a chance to get the apartment. The odds getting that apartment as a foreigner that do not speak German is non existent,…
>"The second category is the overpriced apartments, the "landlords" (mostly the same three evil companies) are asking stupid amounts of rent for small apartments (1100 - 1200 cold rent for 50sqm ??)." Which companies are these? >"The first category are mostly expats, who are being screwed by landlords who do not want to rent to foreigners (especially if you are not from Europa)," Unless I'm reading this incorrectly d…
Pretty sure they are talking about Vonovia [0], Degewo [1], Deutsche Wohnen [2].
[0]: https://www.vonovia.de/en [1]: https://www.degewo.de/ [2]: https://www.deutsche-wohnen.com/en/