Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Many FBI agents are struggling to make ends meet. Housing costs are to blame

npr.org

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

81–90 of 167 posts

Re: Many FBI agents are struggling to make ends meet. Housing costs are to blame

#81

Post by TimedToasts »

kilotaras wrote: post #59

Housing theory of everything[0] strikes again. Situation: Housing demand outstrips housing supply. First order effect: housing prices go up Second order effect: your FBI agents are now experiencing financial instability and worries Third order effect: your FBI agents are now more susceptible to bribes [0] https://worksinprogress.co/issue/the-housing-theory-of-every...

Fourth order effect: hiring more FBI agents to monitor the Third Orders. Fifth order effect: hiring more FBI agents to monitor the Fourth Orders. Sixth order effect: Eventually unemployment will be solved!

Re: Many FBI agents are struggling to make ends meet. Housing costs are to blame

#82

Post by miki123211 »

buro9 wrote: post #71
dwheeler wrote: post #27

The broader problem is lack of housing that can be afforded by the non-wealthy, which is caused in significant part by zoning laws. If more housing was available, the increased supply would better match the demand.

It's also caused by the idea that housing should be an asset to make someone else money, rather than solely a place in which a person/family can live. This leads to the AirBnB culture, the landlord culture, and compounds inequality whilst driving unaffordability. I'm sure the idea is abhorrent to the USA, but perhaps removing incentives to be a landlord at every step should be considered... mortgages should be puniti…

To be honest, the opposite is also bad. Communist Poland had no landlords, all housing was built either by the state or by the people who wanted to live there, and apartments were basically impossible to get.

If private parties have no incentives or possibilities to build, you're left with government housing, and governments are prone to overpaying and underdelivering.

The only way to ensure a right to food and shelter is by ensuring that there's enough food and shelter to be had in the first place, something which we've seen socialist systems struggle with.

The only way is to build, build, build, and when the population density demands it, build tall and build small. Apartment complexes with 5-20 floors are a far better and far cheaper idea than sprawling suburbs.

Re: Many FBI agents are struggling to make ends meet. Housing costs are to blame

#84

Post by earth2mars »

earth2mars wrote: post #83

Make corporate rental investment unaffordable. I heard majority of single family homes are owned by corporations. Is that true?

https://todayshomeowner.com/blog/guides/are-big-companies-bu...

Over the last decade, the number of investors purchasing single-family homes increased from 10% to 15% each year, with a spike of over 80% from 2020 to 2021 alone.

Re: Many FBI agents are struggling to make ends meet. Housing costs are to blame

#85

Post by sneak »

dragontamer wrote: post #57
sneak wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You’re telling me that an organization that has zero incentive to be efficient with money is being penny wise and pound foolish? This is the same problem with violent and criminal cops - the lawsuits against the department are paid by taxpayers, not the offenders. The people who make these bad decisions aren’t wasting their own money - they’re wasting the money taken from you and I by force. They have no incentive to…

> You’re telling me that an organization that has zero incentive to be efficient with money is being penny wise and pound foolish? All of these pay limits are capped by Senator's pay of $180k ish. No Senator (or House Member) is going to vote for typical FBI agents to have higher salaries than themselves. What we're seeing here is the American people refusing to give pay-raises to our executive class / leadership cla…

I don’t think this argument holds water. US lawmakers make millions of dollars beyond their salaries; the salary for the position is basically irrelevant. You could eliminate the salary and no fewer people would try for the job.

Conversely, you could 10x the salary and no more people would try for the job.

The paycheck simply isn’t a significant factor in whether or not someone wants to be a senator or representative.

Re: Many FBI agents are struggling to make ends meet. Housing costs are to blame

#86

Post by nunez »

tomrod wrote: post #39
mooreds wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I ran into this when applying for the US Digital Service. Their pay scales simply weren't competitive with the private sector (and I don't even live in SV).

USDS gives you an enormous network into tech/govtech though. As an intangible benefit it can be worth a stint if that is the direction you want to take your career.

It, supposedly, also gives you the experience and connections to start your own SBA-style consulting business. Contracting for the government requires knowing the right people to meet and the right paperwork to submit. It can be a very lucrative gambit if successful.

Re: Many FBI agents are struggling to make ends meet. Housing costs are to blame

#87

Post by miki123211 »

billy99k wrote: post #58
leereeves wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Housing isn't a free market; it's heavily regulated, subsidized, and politicized.

Exactly. Regulations have made it so expensive and difficult to build housing in many parts of California (and other major cities in the US), that the demand outstrips the supply and it leads to unaffordable housing. I keep seeing memes about housing costs in the 1960s being so cheap. I also wonder what the housing regulations were at this time. I'm guessing pretty light compared to now.

There was a lot fewer people back then, in most places the ratio of people to available housing was much lower. The network effects were also far weaker, expensive air travel and worse communications meant that people didn't move to big cities as often.

Re: Many FBI agents are struggling to make ends meet. Housing costs are to blame

#88

Post by AstralStorm »

kilotaras wrote: post #59

Housing theory of everything[0] strikes again. Situation: Housing demand outstrips housing supply. First order effect: housing prices go up Second order effect: your FBI agents are now experiencing financial instability and worries Third order effect: your FBI agents are now more susceptible to bribes [0] https://worksinprogress.co/issue/the-housing-theory-of-every...

Housing supply is perfectly adequate. The prices are not, however.

Re: Many FBI agents are struggling to make ends meet. Housing costs are to blame

#89

Post by woodruffw »

airstrike wrote: post #53
woodruffw wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The $150K number for a family of 4 sounds about right, but $100K for one person in NYC seems pretty far off. I have a lot of friends living in desirable neighborhoods making half that. (The disconnect here is always around expectations: it will invariably be revealed that this includes a 1/2BR with no roommates within walking distance of the person’s workplace, when in reality much of this city has roommates and uses…

I don't think it's unfair to expect adults to be able to afford a 1 bedroom with no roommates

I don’t disagree, but it’s not really about fair: it’s about what the expected standard of living is in NYC. NYC is historically a city of renters and roommates, and that is reflected in the split view between average “asking” rents ($3500) and actual rents ($~1700)[1].

This isn’t to say the city can’t or shouldn’t be more affordable. But the idea that everybody gets their own 1BR at average US rental prices is not immediately compatible with the city’s housing stock (or troubling trends, like dedensification).

[1]: https://comptroller.nyc.gov/reports/spotlight-new-york-citys...

Re: Many FBI agents are struggling to make ends meet. Housing costs are to blame

#90

Post by User23 »

There is plenty of affordable housing in the DC metro area. A quick search online finds numerous homes and condos available for under $200k, which is well within the budget of an FBI employee. This is the kind of diverse high density housing that is so popular here, so where's the problem?
Post reply on HN