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Rents for the rich are going down, rents for the poor are going up. Why?

washingtonpost.com

21–30 of 257 posts

Re: Rents for the rich are going down, rents for the poor are going up. Why?

#21
post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> get their high wages Wages? What are you talking about, the working class?

Many rich people still earn a paycheck. YOu can be on payroll making 500k and have a stock portfolio worth 10mill, this is common for boomers who started investing in the 70s and 80s. A portfolio of that size will easily throw off 500k in dividends a year. My point is that a large paycheck does not mean you are not paid wages. I get your point though, billionaires probably are not taking a salary.

>A portfolio of that size will easily throw off 500k in dividends a year.

Where are you "easily" getting 5% dividends? Are those mythical W2 boomers suddenly into sketchy crypto "funds"?

Vanguards "Dividend Growth" fund is yielding 1.71%. Total stock 1.33%

Re: Rents for the rich are going down, rents for the poor are going up. Why?

#22

It's not "rents for the rich" it's "rents for higher priced apartments" and it's basic supply & demand. This headline stokes unnecessary class conflict. WaPo should be ashamed.

Who is renting higher priced apartments if not the rich?

Re: Rents for the rich are going down, rents for the poor are going up. Why?

#23

It is a huge risk right now to take on someone that is poor as a renter because of the moratorium. It is completely unsurprising to me that landlords have priced this risk factor in.

That, however, reduces their chance in getting tenants so it becomes a vicious self-feeding closed circuit process?

Re: Rents for the rich are going down, rents for the poor are going up. Why?

#24

Because by definition rich means “can buy house”, and poor means “no choice but to rent”. What sort of rich person rents a house, except whilst between selling old and new? It’s a strange question to ask .... who doesn’t see this as self evident?

"What sort of rich person rents a house, except whilst between selling old and new?"

There are quite a few techies who move to SF, work for the hot unicorn for 4 years, and live extremely cheaply. They don't buy housing because they don't intend to stay in SF (and besides, who wants to buy a house in SF?), but when they "retire" they've got a few million in stock options. They can buy a house, they just don't want to, because their living situation is temporary.

I suspect that a lot of the housing boom going on around the country now is because the rich techies in SF no longer have to stay in SF.

Re: Rents for the rich are going down, rents for the poor are going up. Why?

#26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>because with the high turnover they are sure to get a new tenant pretty soon at the higher price anyway Only if coupled with insufficient construction of new housing.

Which is pretty inevitable with our system of housing development. If you're a large property owner and you want to make more money, you have two options: A) Build more housing, to create more units you can rent out. B) Don't build more housing, and use the reduced supply to raise the rent on your existing properties. Since option B has a lower risk and a higher return on investment, is it really surprising that most…

Bringing new units online in a high demand market earns far more money than simply raising rents.

It's not large property owners that are opposing new housing, it's existing small (usually single) property owners opposing new housing, usually so their way of life doesn't change due to changing demographics of newcomers, increased traffic, etc. and possibly to restrict supply and increase their property's value.

Re: Rents for the rich are going down, rents for the poor are going up. Why?

#27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>because with the high turnover they are sure to get a new tenant pretty soon at the higher price anyway Only if coupled with insufficient construction of new housing.

Which is pretty inevitable with our system of housing development. If you're a large property owner and you want to make more money, you have two options: A) Build more housing, to create more units you can rent out. B) Don't build more housing, and use the reduced supply to raise the rent on your existing properties. Since option B has a lower risk and a higher return on investment, is it really surprising that most…

Honest question: is choosing option B proven to lead to higher return on investment? Is there data showing it?

Where I live periodically raising rent and evicting people to invite the higher-paying tenant has a limit that's reached pretty soon so maybe US dynamics escape me.

Re: Rents for the rich are going down, rents for the poor are going up. Why?

#28

Because by definition rich means “can buy house”, and poor means “no choice but to rent”. What sort of rich person rents a house, except whilst between selling old and new? It’s a strange question to ask .... who doesn’t see this as self evident?

Some poor people just build houses slowly over several years in less than ideal places ofcourse. If the world decides to spit me out, I'll have a pretty big hiding hole.

Re: Rents for the rich are going down, rents for the poor are going up. Why?

#29

Because by definition rich means “can buy house”, and poor means “no choice but to rent”. What sort of rich person rents a house, except whilst between selling old and new? It’s a strange question to ask .... who doesn’t see this as self evident?

"What sort of rich person rents a house, except whilst between selling old and new?" There are quite a few techies who move to SF, work for the hot unicorn for 4 years, and live extremely cheaply. They don't buy housing because they don't intend to stay in SF (and besides, who wants to buy a house in SF?), but when they "retire" they've got a few million in stock options. They can buy a house, they just don't want to…

I don't really buy this. if you're going to be at a hot startup for 4 years and can easily afford a house the way the SF bay market has been for the past 2 decades is such that you would've made money in any 4 year period just buying and selling. covid might be the single exception.

I think the issue is more that sf people are rich for the country but not rich for the bay area so they just rent.

Re: Rents for the rich are going down, rents for the poor are going up. Why?

#30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>because with the high turnover they are sure to get a new tenant pretty soon at the higher price anyway Only if coupled with insufficient construction of new housing.

Don't worry; they have laws to ensure that.

Who is "they"? The people active in the local community and sit on the zoning boards denying permits and variances to build?
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