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Ask HN: Anyone else feels the commoditization of real estate is unethical?
121–130 of 764 posts
Re: Ask HN: Anyone else feels the commoditization of real estate is unethical?
#122No, because governments' ability to procure it for the needy is a very separable problem. But let me play Devil's Advocate: agriculture, the foundation of the food supply, is one of the most commoditized markets that exist. Does this bother you too? Why not? If it's because food is generally a smaller part of income, highly responsive to market pressure to keep prices low in addition to some stabilizing subsidies fro…
But that’s the problem. The housing market is becoming what the food production market would be without the pressure and government involvement. Right now the supply of those two good and their general dynamics are totally different. Landlords can effectively extract maximum profit from a property without doing anything to improve it or remain competitive thanks to zoning restrictions and other things that make incre…
A land value tax would solve this - you want to use that acre of American Land, you pay the American People for the priviliege.
Re: Ask HN: Anyone else feels the commoditization of real estate is unethical?
#123I definitely do. It's something that turns a basic necessity into a speculative asset, with a price distorted by the money poured into it. Airbnb is also a deeply harmful influence on housing prices. Imagine if we did the same thing with, say, water: privatized it and then "democratized" ownership of it. It's easy to get retail investors to buy things at inflated, speculative prices, so the price of water would go up…
And what are we doing about CORPORATIONS buying up our neighborhoods?
As far as I know, NOTHING.
Re: Ask HN: Anyone else feels the commoditization of real estate is unethical?
#124Earlier quoted context omitted.
There is nothing inherently wrong with landlords and rent. Anyone that says otherwise is a tankie. Landlords provide a valuable service. But there cannot be perpetual growth in rents like there is in say the growth of a startup. It’s the corporatization of landlords that is wreaking havoc by forcing them to maximize shareholder wealth. A simple solution is to bar corporations from charging rent for residential proper…
> There is nothing inherently wrong with landlords and rent. Anyone that says otherwise is a tankie. Landlords provide a valuable service. What valuable service would that be, I wonder. Having a signature on a deed? Also nice, argument: "my opinion is right and anyone that says otherwise is wrong". x)
It takes considerable effort and funds to keep a house not just livable, but well kept, insured, managed, etc. If not for landlords, how else would all of that happen?
Re: Ask HN: Anyone else feels the commoditization of real estate is unethical?
#125Earlier quoted context omitted.
There is nothing inherently wrong with landlords and rent. Anyone that says otherwise is a tankie. Landlords provide a valuable service. But there cannot be perpetual growth in rents like there is in say the growth of a startup. It’s the corporatization of landlords that is wreaking havoc by forcing them to maximize shareholder wealth. A simple solution is to bar corporations from charging rent for residential proper…
> There is nothing inherently wrong with landlords and rent. Anyone that says otherwise is a tankie. Landlords provide a valuable service. What valuable service would that be, I wonder. Having a signature on a deed? Also nice, argument: "my opinion is right and anyone that says otherwise is wrong". x)
Housing for a fee for a fixed term. There is inherent risk being a landlord that renters don't face.
Re: Ask HN: Anyone else feels the commoditization of real estate is unethical?
#126Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why would landlords hate such a system. They can trivially pass on any tax to renters and have the incentives to figure out the loopholes in the tax code. It’s already common for single unit corporations to own rental properties. Instead of taxing based on who owns the land, tax how it’s used. That way more units will be built increasing supply. But then you’ll run into the real problem, not landlords, regular home o…
If it's taxed at least 100% of its land value +100% of its rental value they'll sell pretty quick.
Why not just pass a law saying only individuals can own property and they can only own one?
Re: Ask HN: Anyone else feels the commoditization of real estate is unethical?
#127I think this is blatantly unethical, but also stupid. By creating a speculative bubble fueled by low interest and moderate to high inflation, these people will put themselves upside down in their holdings. Meanwhile this drives up homelessness (plenty of tent cities popped up near me as rents and housing prices skyrocketed) which will drive political instability and increase crime as people become desperate. Edit: on…
I agree about the housing speculation, but I challenge the (oft-repeated) assertion that this has caused homelessness. If you could afford to pay SOME rent in an area that got more expensive, then you can move to a less-expensive area and pay the same rent.
Re: Ask HN: Anyone else feels the commoditization of real estate is unethical?
#128There are no such things as human rights. You will never get anywhere wagging your finger at people.
> I do not understand how will someone expect for future generations to achieve their own personal freedom and living inside their own four walls.
Why would anyone expect that? It hasn’t been the case for most of human history. Maybe it’s not up to other people to figure out for you how to achieve your own freedom.
Re: Ask HN: Anyone else feels the commoditization of real estate is unethical?
#129"I'm not doing any harm," you say. "I just want to keep what I own, that's all." You own! You are like someone who sits down in a theater and keeps everyone else away, saying that what is there for everyone's use is your own...If everyone took only what they needed and gave the rest to those in need, there would be no such thing as rich and poor. After all, didn't you come into life naked, and won't you return naked…
arguing against owning your home is arguing in favor of rent-seeking
Actually, in most of the world, owning your home (really the land underneath it that is zoned as residential) is a form of rent-seeking, which is why 'land value tax' taxes that economic rent (money earned without providing anything in return).
Unfortunately, people have somehow been convinced that house price inflation is good because their house has more and more value, like a wheelbarrow of inflated currency and that the only fix is for everyone to buy their own house/land, which only worsens the problem.
Re: Ask HN: Anyone else feels the commoditization of real estate is unethical?
#130I already posted a comment on this, but forgot to answer the actual question. I don’t think it follows that it’s wrong to commoditize basic necessities. Take, for example, food: the reason just about everyone in the western world can afford food is BECAUSE it is commoditized. I would like the barriers to home ownership to be lowered. On the other hand, I don’t think the rental market is evil. A lot of people can’t af…
The western world gets cheap food because it exploits the labor and resources of the less fourtunate.
Real estate investment is a direct example of wealth concentration. The less wealthy pay a richer individuals rent plus a little profit on top. That person should be able to buy the dwelling directly without a middleman extracting profit.