281–290 of 450 posts
New report dropped recently that vacancy rates there are like 2% or less. That is far, far below healthy levels. NYC needs more housing, as does much of the US in places where the jobs are.
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I'm sure it works for the residents of Stockholm, but not so much for all sorts of people who would move to Stockholm but can't wait in line 10 years for an apartment.
…and why should the current residents of Stockholm give a toss about the people who aren't there but want to move in and drive up prices?
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Land Value Tax: Make it financially unfeasible to speculate, to withhold units from the market, and to withhold unused land from the market. Let prices freely fluctuate with the market. Increases in rent derived from externalities (i.e. Amazon HQ2 setting up shop nearby or a new subway station) go back into public coffers, while increases in rent derived from landlord actions (i.e. renovations, building bigger, bette…
You're making it too complex. Enforce owner-occupancy aggressively. You can own two housing units untaxed, as long as you can produce evidence you spent at least 30 days a year in each of them. This doesn't disrupt non-speculators-- even the modest rich with a single vacation home, or the snowbirds who have a home in Minnesota and a winter place in Arizona don't see an impact. Anything beyond that? Annual tax of 70%…
LVT only works if it is applied uniformly and with zoning reform. It will actually be a tax break for landlords because they are utilizing their property near the limit of its value.
If rent keeps going up, why don't people just buy to let?
It's expensive these days. I lived in one of these buildings for 11 years: https://www.bhsusa.com/brooklyn/brooklyn-heights/60--66-clar... Now the set of 4 buildings is on the market for $25,000,000. If you click to the brochure, you can see the rent that each leased unit pays, about $100,000 per month across the set of buildings. Property taxes + other expenses are around $400,000 a year. So without a mortgage, you…
Not a particularly good investment I guess.
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San Francisco. International and walkable, good transport. The homeless are a problem, but New York has them too.
SF homeless isn't even REMOTELY comparable to NYC, and I've lived in both cities for 8 years each. Not even the same planet.
When I see people complaining about never being able to purchase a house my response is always the same. move. $1,100 is considered "well below market rates" for a 1 bedroom apartment in NYC? That's _nuts_ to me. I'm paying $1,600 for a 3 bed, 2 bath 1800 sq ft house with a 2 car garage. Vaulted ceilings, my neighbor is a police officer and I'm on a corner lot across from a park. fire department is literally 3 blocks…
I pay $500/month for a very similar setup, but mine is a 2 bed, 1 bath with a 1 car garage, lol. The corner lot, cop neighbor, and close fire department are all familiar though! Moving to a LCOL is always my recommendation as well.
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stop making excuses, an individual can make an individual decision or they can bitch about their situation but refuse to explore their alternatives. "oh, but market forces so I'm just going to stay here and continue posting online about how horrible it is that I'll never be able to afford a house!". You do you I guess.
I’m not making excuses. I’m highlighting what reality is. Big cities are big because of people population. Why are a lot of people there? Because of work, lifestyle preference or both. That’s not an excuse, that is reality. I don’t want to live in the middle of no where even if the entire mortgage is less then my 20% down payment for something closer to a big city. Economics speak for themselves. Stop pretending dema…
I think you should start visiting these areas before you say that.
It takes me less than 5 minutes to get to 2 different grocery stores, a theater, a market dedicated to fish, a greek restaurant, a Mediterranean bar, a mexican restaurant (very good btw), Target supercenter, Lowes, various stores dedicated to clothes, one dedicated to hobbies (not hobby lobby), and more I could go on about. In 20 minutes I can be sitting on a dock by the side of the river enjoying the breeze and fishing. In 30 minutes I can be standing at an orchard purchasing peaches, in 45 minutes I can be standing at a lake enjoying the fishing there. In the summer we have a farmers market that's probably 10 minutes away and is amazing, they generally have someone there playing music live. Which, btw, this area is _known_ for (it's independent artists).
It feels like too many people here imagine LCOL means living in the middle of fields with cows milling about. rural areas are even cheaper but what you're imagining and reality do not match.
It may not ultimately be what you prefer, but to call it in the middle of nowhere is just vastly ignorant. I live in a city.
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I’m not making excuses. I’m highlighting what reality is. Big cities are big because of people population. Why are a lot of people there? Because of work, lifestyle preference or both. That’s not an excuse, that is reality. I don’t want to live in the middle of no where even if the entire mortgage is less then my 20% down payment for something closer to a big city. Economics speak for themselves. Stop pretending dema…
> I don’t want to live in the middle of no where even if the entire mortgage I think you should start visiting these areas before you say that. It takes me less than 5 minutes to get to 2 different grocery stores, a theater, a market dedicated to fish, a greek restaurant, a Mediterranean bar, a mexican restaurant (very good btw), Target supercenter, Lowes, various stores dedicated to clothes, one dedicated to hobbies…
It is precisely because I spent the first 30 years of my life in such a place that I don't want to.
Beleive it or not not everyone wants a giant lawn, white picket fence and 1.8 kids in the middle of incredible blandness, unworldliness, and closemindedness.
The UK has completely abolished fees (I think) for tenants - I am a reluctant landlord - and I completely agree with that, the power asymmetry in finding housing is already bad enough without allowing blank-cheque negotiations. In my section of Germany, housing is even worse with rent caps and tenant rights, plus a lack of housing. Tenants are hard to move on, so landlords are painfully cautious about getting the rig…
What's a "reluctant landlord?"
Every reluctant landlord capitulates and sells... eventually.