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The carpetbagger’s guide to home ownership

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41–50 of 235 posts

Re: The carpetbagger’s guide to home ownership

#41
post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Another way to look at it is that there is absurd amounts of empty land throughout the country. Places were undesirable and cheap, and people of moderate means bought them, improved the area, and over decades it became a desirable area. Young people need to go to shitty places that are cheap and then make the place better. Many young people want to live in SF or NYC. Go to Detroit instead.

The process of making unwanted real estate wanted is called real estate development . It's not done by "young people just moving there." That just makes crappy real estate more crowded. Real estate development is very much a "build it and they will come" sort of deal. It takes capital, a lot of it, to make an area desirable. You can't just dump it anywhere, there has to be a good reason to dump it in this particular…

Or just move to a shitty area that is cheaper, plenty of those around.

Re: The carpetbagger’s guide to home ownership

#42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A lot of people place misdirected blame for unaffordable housing on themselves or others who buy, fix up, and rent out houses. It's pretty obvious that the cause of unaffordable housing is elsewhere. But being the one to actually collect rent is a kind of guilt-by-association.

I mean, sure. At the end of the day all land owners, and I speak as one, exist at the end of a chain that began with theft and likely violence. The surface of the earth is by nature no less a resource that should be common to all man as the atmosphere and the oceans. Neither the landlord with more than he can live on nor the renter with not enough to live on can exist without someone at some point having taken more t…

Owning as the only housing model doesn’t make sense. There’s plenty of reasons someone might prefer to rent instead, most of them having to do with not being in a position to put down roots. Which necessitates some kind of landlord.

Re: The carpetbagger’s guide to home ownership

#43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean, sure. At the end of the day all land owners, and I speak as one, exist at the end of a chain that began with theft and likely violence. The surface of the earth is by nature no less a resource that should be common to all man as the atmosphere and the oceans. Neither the landlord with more than he can live on nor the renter with not enough to live on can exist without someone at some point having taken more t…

Owning as the only housing model doesn’t make sense. There’s plenty of reasons someone might prefer to rent instead, most of them having to do with not being in a position to put down roots. Which necessitates some kind of landlord.

Owning shares that could be transferred from house to house would make a lot more sense than renting.

Re: The carpetbagger’s guide to home ownership

#44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The process of making unwanted real estate wanted is called real estate development . It's not done by "young people just moving there." That just makes crappy real estate more crowded. Real estate development is very much a "build it and they will come" sort of deal. It takes capital, a lot of it, to make an area desirable. You can't just dump it anywhere, there has to be a good reason to dump it in this particular…

What are the good reasons to develop an area? Proximity to a better one? Fresh water sources? Desirable weather? Good schools? Unpolluted environment? Nice parks?

All of these things. The more the better, and places with better potential get developed first. Commercial opportunities tend to be developed first, followed by better weather. As all these places got developed, tertiary concerns become more important. Rural America will mostly stay rural and suburbs will slowly develop economies and become part of the metro areas they surround.

Re: The carpetbagger’s guide to home ownership

#45
post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The process of making unwanted real estate wanted is called real estate development . It's not done by "young people just moving there." That just makes crappy real estate more crowded. Real estate development is very much a "build it and they will come" sort of deal. It takes capital, a lot of it, to make an area desirable. You can't just dump it anywhere, there has to be a good reason to dump it in this particular…

Or just move to a shitty area that is cheaper, plenty of those around.

It won't make the areas better in any meaningful sense.

Re: The carpetbagger’s guide to home ownership

#46
post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The process of making unwanted real estate wanted is called real estate development . It's not done by "young people just moving there." That just makes crappy real estate more crowded. Real estate development is very much a "build it and they will come" sort of deal. It takes capital, a lot of it, to make an area desirable. You can't just dump it anywhere, there has to be a good reason to dump it in this particular…

Perhaps the problem with the availability of housing is the "real estate development" model you describe, which is capital intensive and therefore will be undertaken by large corporations instead of by the people who will actually live in the area and who therefore have a personal stake in how livable it is. Perhaps if more development was done by "young people just moving there", we would have more livable areas and…

Ordinary people don't have the money to, say, build sewers and roads.

Re: The carpetbagger’s guide to home ownership

#47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The frontier has been settled since 1890, but housing prices have been stable from 1950 to 1980, then they started creeping up, with a big burst around 2000 and another beginning 2018. Desirable can't be the answer.

A burst happening has nothing to do with desirability not being the answer. Less desirable areas had bigger bursts. Relatively, desirable areas will always appreciate, by definition. Housing isn't a mass produced fungible commodity like a car. People comparing cars to houses make no sense.

[deleted]

Re: The carpetbagger’s guide to home ownership

#48
post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or just move to a shitty area that is cheaper, plenty of those around.

It won't make the areas better in any meaningful sense.

When I moved to my neighborhood it was dangerous to walk in at night and there were no children. 10 years later and plenty of families are here. The movement of all of these people are what made it safer - people who want a safe and healthy community. I don’t know why you are so defeatist, it must be a depressing mindset.

Re: The carpetbagger’s guide to home ownership

#49
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 5) You don’t need as much house as you’ve been lead to believe. For living arrangements, you are mostly correct. I can exist very comfortably in about 1,000ft². Heck, even 800ft² would be comfy and cosy. My problem involves my hobbies and domestic activities: I need a 200ft² cool room for the enormous amounts of fruits and vegetables I harvest every year, canning all that shit needs a 150ft² summer kitchen so I don…

You don’t “need” any of that.

You don't "need" very much of anything. People get by with a 100-200sqft room shared with other people, but that doesn't mean it's what I would want to live in.

Re: The carpetbagger’s guide to home ownership

#50
post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am so tempted to get rid of my books. I will keep the 1st editions, and most reference books. I feel can toss everyone of my computer books. (Not one did I find well written, or worth keeping. If anyone decided to write a computer/programming book take out every unneeded word. Maybe take a technical writing course if you live near a good university?) It's just hard to get rid of reference books.

Yeah, get rid of those computer books. That's what the internet + ebooks are for. Unless a book has a special meaning to me personally or is considered life changing, I rarely keep any physical books.

The same is true for music with me as well. It's either Vinyl or free car radio/streaming.
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