Investors bought a quarter of US homes sold last year • Hacker News Board

Re: Investors bought a quarter of US homes sold last year

#161

Post by staindk » Tue, Aug 23, 2022, 7:19 PM UTC

geodel wrote: post #31

staindk wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hilarious sure, but also sad and concerning. I'm tentatively alright with the idea of renting forever and never owning property... but with rent increasing and investors buying up more and more property, it looks like things will get uglier and uglier. I am not alright with paying absurdly high rent.

Well, the idea that owner will be saddled with serious repair and maintenance whereas renter on virtue of being a renter will just move out to house on next street risk free seems unsustainable to me. Increasing rents are a kind of distributing risks of costly maintenance that renters doesn't want to care about.

If I leave this apartment in a worse state (besides fair wear and tear) than it was when I started renting it, the cost of repair will be on me via a portion of my rental deposit that I won't get back.

Sure fair wear and tear does cost something to service/repair over time, but generally things seem to last.

Re: Investors bought a quarter of US homes sold last year

#162

Post by crisdux » Tue, Aug 23, 2022, 7:20 PM UTC

infogulch wrote: post #100

Housing is at the root of many of the rich world’s problems (2020) | 379 points | 6 days ago | 794 comments | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32493549 On this post I wrote: > A couple ideas for how to fix some real estate problems: > 1. A zoning rule that requires home owners to live in the owned home. ... And the general response? > The mega reit buying residential properties is also overblown. 70% of rental pr…

The high rate of rentals owned by individual investors is bad too if our goal is to maximize the number of home owners. I know a lot of people in my cohort who bought and moved into a new home, but kept their previous home as a rental. IMO this option is only accessible to large amount of people during this unique time because of government policy, ultra low interests rates, and societal trends. I think a large part of it is a government incentivized system that rewards incumbents in a disproportional manner. I think this disparity is contributing to overall feelings of resentment and will contribute to social issues and political turmoil.

Re: Investors bought a quarter of US homes sold last year

#163

Post by sevenf0ur » Tue, Aug 23, 2022, 7:20 PM UTC

honkycat wrote: post #68

So glad I bought a house when I did. I was unsure b/c the value seemed inflated, but rent has gone up, up, UP! A lot of my friends are now paying rent that is $100-$200 within my mortgage payment. And that is for an apartment without AC or a yard.

Same, I thought that 2019 prices were insane. Since then it's appreciated an additional $150k. My house made more money than I did one year. I'm expecting things to level out for awhile.

Re: Investors bought a quarter of US homes sold last year

#164

Post by desperadovisa » Tue, Aug 23, 2022, 7:20 PM UTC

paxys wrote: post #132

thepasswordis wrote: post #88

I'm so frustrated by some of the conversations people get in around housing. They want to live in the most desirable places on planet earth, and seem to think that we should just abolish the concept of property ownership to accomplish this. What do you guys think happens when you get what you want, and nobody can "own" property anymore? Do you think there is an unlimited amount of single family 3000 square foot homes…

This is such a twisted framing of the issue. No one wants to "abolish property ownership". In fact housing proponents want the exact opposite – give everybody the opportunity to own a house rather than a select few large corporations and investors. Let me build my own house on a piece of land in or near the city, just like my grandparents did just a couple of generations ago. Remove years worth of excessive permits,…

Sorry but with all due respect, "too bad, go live in the middle of nowhere" is absolutely an acceptable answer. You're acting like you're entitled to live where ever you want, but the simple reality is that this is not possible.

You need to come to grips with that objective fact.

Re: Investors bought a quarter of US homes sold last year

#165

Post by carom » Tue, Aug 23, 2022, 7:21 PM UTC

pwinnski wrote: post #96

jimbob45 wrote: post #46

This is why I can't take the "we just need more supply!" crowd seriously. Building more supply is just sacrificing more stock to the investor class.

Is anybody saying "just" in that sentence? We do need more supply. We also need changes to existing policy to prevent what this article describes. Both and, not either or.

I'll take the supply position. So much of LA is zoned for SFHs. Now they can have an ADU but that doesn't do much. We need density. We need to make it easier to build. That slows down climbing rents. LA housing is at a massive deficit.

Re: Investors bought a quarter of US homes sold last year

#166

Post by H1Supreme » Tue, Aug 23, 2022, 7:21 PM UTC

thepasswordis wrote: post #88

I'm so frustrated by some of the conversations people get in around housing. They want to live in the most desirable places on planet earth, and seem to think that we should just abolish the concept of property ownership to accomplish this. What do you guys think happens when you get what you want, and nobody can "own" property anymore? Do you think there is an unlimited amount of single family 3000 square foot homes…

> Go look at Parkersberg, OH.

I think you might be referring to Parkersburg, WV. It's right on the Ohio river, next to Ohio.

Re: Investors bought a quarter of US homes sold last year

#167

Post by nine_zeros » Tue, Aug 23, 2022, 7:21 PM UTC

I will be perfectly ok if the high interest rates drive these companies bankrupt. They chose to speculate. Speculation comes with risk. Let them bear the burden.

For owner occupancy protections, the real answer was to never to give tax breaks to investors in the first place. Only owner occupants should have any tax breaks. But this is not going to happen.

So let the speculators burn and go bankrupt.

Re: Investors bought a quarter of US homes sold last year

#168

Post by danenania » Tue, Aug 23, 2022, 7:21 PM UTC

thepasswordis wrote: post #88

I'm so frustrated by some of the conversations people get in around housing. They want to live in the most desirable places on planet earth, and seem to think that we should just abolish the concept of property ownership to accomplish this. What do you guys think happens when you get what you want, and nobody can "own" property anymore? Do you think there is an unlimited amount of single family 3000 square foot homes…

I think the core of the problem is that we're losing the middle class of housing.

Obviously the nicest areas of the country, with the best weather, most opportunities, low crime, elite schools, etc. are going to be expensive. But it's getting to the point where it's prohibitively expensive for a middle class family just to live in a place without high crime/drug addiction/homelessness, reasonably good schools, reasonable healthcare options, and some measure of community/walkability (forget about weather and jobs).

You can live cheaply if you're willing to sacrifice in some of those areas, but they are major sacrifices that will have a negative influence on quality-of-life and the future prospects of kids who grow up there.

It wasn't always like this. I had a neighbor when I lived in North Berkeley (a beautiful neighborhood that checks every box you could want) who told me he bought his house in the late 90s for 150k. Now it's probably worth 2 million or more. I realized that everyone who bought on that block around that time had almost a six figure annual income for most of their adult lives solely from the appreciation of their homes.

I'm sure there are good deals out there that can still be found, but we really do have a problem if a table stakes decent family life is only affordable by the top 10% (or less).

Re: Investors bought a quarter of US homes sold last year

#169

Post by hotpotamus » Tue, Aug 23, 2022, 7:21 PM UTC

anoonmoose wrote: post #122

thepasswordis wrote: post #88

I'm so frustrated by some of the conversations people get in around housing. They want to live in the most desirable places on planet earth, and seem to think that we should just abolish the concept of property ownership to accomplish this. What do you guys think happens when you get what you want, and nobody can "own" property anymore? Do you think there is an unlimited amount of single family 3000 square foot homes…

> Here's a house in Indiana for $125K Laketon, IN, population 606, had its post office closed in 2010 and, from a quick perusal of Google Maps, probably doesn't have a single traffic light. Doubt there's much public transit out that way. Only 30 miles to a town I might be able to get a job in, though...

Are you not able to work remotely? Or is that too much remote?

Re: Investors bought a quarter of US homes sold last year

#170

Post by nineplay » Tue, Aug 23, 2022, 7:22 PM UTC

thepasswordis wrote: post #88

I'm so frustrated by some of the conversations people get in around housing. They want to live in the most desirable places on planet earth, and seem to think that we should just abolish the concept of property ownership to accomplish this. What do you guys think happens when you get what you want, and nobody can "own" property anymore? Do you think there is an unlimited amount of single family 3000 square foot homes…

I'm with you friend. Posters throw out lines like "property shouldn't be an investment" as though the idea that property has intrinsic value is something invented in the last 50 years or so, not something that has been true for millennia.

I've been told that "housing is a right" which, if conceded, still runs into your point - housing may be a right, housing in the most expensive and populated areas in the US is not a right and there's no way to make it one.