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The carpetbagger’s guide to home ownership

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Re: The carpetbagger’s guide to home ownership

#171

Post by snedfree »

colechristensen wrote: post #128
MomoXenosaga wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When you realize that in a democracy the poorest don't vote at all and that we are represented by millionaires, it all seems so pointless to vote. Self determination my ass.

Democratic process isn’t coming to conclusions I agree with -> democracy is a scam -> an authoritarian solution is required because I’m more correct than everyone else It seems like too many people only have ideals about politics when those ideals result in everyone agreeing with them. Otherwise the whole thing is a rigged scam and not worth the time.

democratic process isn't actually happening -> it's a scam to call it democracy -> a technocratic solution that meets the needs of the burgeoning disenfranchised population is required because the degree of inequality that we're dealing with is creating severe social conflicts

Re: The carpetbagger’s guide to home ownership

#172

Post by treis »

Ozzie_osman wrote: post #121
plankers wrote: post #55

>I lived in an illegal rental to save up for a home, then decided to buy out-of-state properties and drive up the rent. I'm aware of how this will be perceived, but I want to feel good about myself despite knowing how what I'm doing hurts others. lol

Here's a person who worked a working class job, lived frugally, saved up, took a few risks, and was able to buy a couple out of state properties. How this will be perceived? Very positively, at least by me. Good for them. We're not talking about a slumlord here.

The part you're missing is that they bought into one of the highest appreciation real estate markets ever. Yes they made smart moves, but this is mostly a story of falling ass backwards into wealth. Put them in almost any other city and the story doesn't end the same.

And the cherry on top is that they use their new found wealth to deny others the opportunity they had.

Re: The carpetbagger’s guide to home ownership

#173

Post by HarryHirsch »

codingdave wrote: post #134
HarryHirsch wrote: post #23

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.

Housing prices in the US in 1980 were almost 7x what they were in 1950. Where are you getting the idea that they were stagnant for those decades?

Piketty has the goods (on page 19), and adjusted for inflation they were stable: http://piketty.pse.ens.fr/files/Schularicketal2014.pdf

You can argue about his conclusions, but you cannot argue with data. People today have no idea about the percentage of income that went into housing back then. It was really small!

In my corner of the nation (rural), fixer-uppers that no bank will give you a mortgage on are going for 150 kUSD and more! That's > 125 USD/ft^2! It's madness!

Re: The carpetbagger’s guide to home ownership

#174

Post by HarryHirsch »

refurb wrote: post #83
HarryHirsch wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A colleague told me about her daughter - she finished college and has a regular job but cannot afford to move out. That's in rustbelt central. Yes, you can live with roommates, but if you are late 20's it becomes awkward, and when at some point the children arrive it becomes a habitability issue.

Living with roommates or even your parents is pretty common globally. Not the end of the world.

Dr Zhivago is a role model now? Also, they didn't have code enforcement then and minimum numbers of bedrooms.

Re: The carpetbagger’s guide to home ownership

#175

Post by enaaem »

suction wrote: post #108
djbebs wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, they don't. Ifbyou want control over who can move in somewhere, or what can be built somewhere, you have a simple solution, buy the land in question.

Quoted post unavailable.

Asian thinking: “It’s my land, I should be able to do with it what I want”.

Re: The carpetbagger’s guide to home ownership

#176

Post by mitchdoogle »

VRay wrote: post #84

People are fighting the wrong fight when they attack this guy (or attack the people attacking this guy, for that matter) It isn't SF Bay Bros'/foreigners'/companies' fault that houses are too expensive. It's because of strict zoning laws and a lack of building enough housing to match supply with demand[1]. Demand keeps going up way faster than supply, nationwide, and we're all feeling the squeeze [1]: A great example…

You're right that housing supply is an issue, but second homes and investment homes are a major issue as well. Too much housing stock sits empty and the ultimate end result is that a very small portion of individuals get richer, meanwhile millions of people are desperate to buy their first home.

Both problems need to be solved, one with more housing, one with tax incentives.

Re: The carpetbagger’s guide to home ownership

#177

Post by tjr225 »

tomc1985 wrote: post #78
refurb wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is not a wealthy SF landlord story, this is an house cleaner . It’s an impressive story of someone slowly building up a real estate portfolio in the Bay Area. Most of it through creative means and living lean. It’s actually an impressive story.

Impressive, but it lost me at "start in the market slump of 2008" Like that was the time in my life where I was literally the most broke. I had a neighbor try to practically give me his home if I could just take over the mortgage. But I was fresh in school and staring down combined debts well into 5 digits, no assets save for my car and a bunch of tech junk, and no income.

I was literally homeless.

Re: The carpetbagger’s guide to home ownership

#178

Post by jeffreyrogers »

halpert wrote: post #168
VRay wrote: post #84

People are fighting the wrong fight when they attack this guy (or attack the people attacking this guy, for that matter) It isn't SF Bay Bros'/foreigners'/companies' fault that houses are too expensive. It's because of strict zoning laws and a lack of building enough housing to match supply with demand[1]. Demand keeps going up way faster than supply, nationwide, and we're all feeling the squeeze [1]: A great example…

I've looked into moving to Japan. My family has a house in Setagaya, which had severely distorted what I thought Tokyo living to be. It turns out, a typical one bedroom apartment is like 20 sq meters. Separate from that, I don't believe zoning has anything to do with housing shortages. Housing has "induced demand" similar to traffic. You can look at heavy traffic over a bridge and think, "if only we had another bridg…

Houston's housing isn't expensive though. It has few zoning laws and is not land constrained though (unlike NYC or SF).

Re: The carpetbagger’s guide to home ownership

#179

Post by digianarchist »

jonwinstanley wrote: post #87
angarg12 wrote: post #86

Just read Taleb's Fooled by Randomness chapter on The Millionaire Next Door to understand why this article is, at best, useless.

Why is it useless?

It’s like reading How to Be Rich by John Paul Getty and concluding you should go exploring for oil.
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