Wages in America Are Too Low for the 30% Rule to Work for Renters Anymore • Hacker News Board

Re: Wages in America Are Too Low for the 30% Rule to Work for Renters Anymore

#201

Post by cpburns2009 » Thu, Jun 18, 2026, 2:13 PM UTC

matips wrote: post #182

cpburns2009 wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is exactly my problem with these arguments that demonize landlords. I've lived in multiple cities where I knew I'd only live there for a couple years, and I'm only interested in renting. How do you live somewhere short term without someone owning the rented property?

You could buy property and sell it later. Of course it is not a solution to current situation when real estate are very expensive, but in theoretical discussion where real estates are affordable you can buy it and sell when you move.

But I don't want to buy a home, maintain it, and have to sell it 2 years later. Renting provides a great solution that makes both sides of the transaction happy.

Re: Wages in America Are Too Low for the 30% Rule to Work for Renters Anymore

#202

Post by lifestyleguru » Thu, Jun 18, 2026, 2:13 PM UTC

amazingamazing wrote: post #174

throwaway041207 wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In my neck of the woods (New England), home prices have doubled since March of 2020. I have yet to read a comprehensive overview of how this happened and how we get out of it. Of course, people went nuts offering over the asking price when interest rates were super low so I understand, to some degree, that baselines were reset. But the current housing market doesn't feel sustainable. I don't understand how a proper m…

It is very simple. Housing is not built.

Every amount of new housing will be purchased by competitive investors. You are heavily underestimating the amount of money unsophisticated investors have, and the psychological effect of owning more and more of territory. Most people will never say no to owning more money and territory.

Re: Wages in America Are Too Low for the 30% Rule to Work for Renters Anymore

#203

Post by thejazzman » Thu, Jun 18, 2026, 2:14 PM UTC

WarmWash wrote: post #84

miltonlost wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Go tell that to Oklahomans and others still making a minimum wage of $7.25 an hour

If you can find a single person still getting paid that, please give me their info and I will have them making twice that by tomorrow.

I could probably pack a bus or several buses just with the town I live in. How many openings do you have? :P

Re: Wages in America Are Too Low for the 30% Rule to Work for Renters Anymore

#204

Post by treis » Thu, Jun 18, 2026, 2:14 PM UTC

pickleglitch wrote: post #129

gravypod wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In 1970 a $300/month apartment would be ~$2000/month in today dollars. I do think rents are too high as productivity and supply chains are much more efficient. I think in the 70s we were still using black pipe for gas, iron septic lines, and copper pipes for water. But, I don't think new builds or renovations are cheaper inflation adjusted (harder to estimate). Cost of money (inflation), building, and maintenance is…

The median monthly rent for houses and apartments in the U.S. in 1970 was $108, or around $930 in today's dollars. So, in today's dollars, that would be $11,160/year. Median household income in 1970 was $9,870, or $84,714 in today's dollars. Median rent in the us today is around $1,750, or around $21,000/year. Today's median income in the us is around $89,000. So, housing cost has nearly doubled, while wages have onl…

What we spend on housing has doubled. That doesn't mean the cost has doubled. It means that we buy a lot more housing than we used to.

Real estate cost is local and there are parts of america where the prices have gone nuts. But there's a lot more where it hasn't and housing is affordable.

Re: Wages in America Are Too Low for the 30% Rule to Work for Renters Anymore

#205

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Jun 18, 2026, 2:14 PM UTC

jader201 wrote: post #180

WarmWash wrote: post #67

The problem is absolutley that housing is too expensive, which of course a bunch of realtors are not going to point out. Increasing wages will not fix the housing crisis, and will just drive prices higher. How convenient for a bunch of realtors...

Of all the jobs to get replaced by AI, I would be happy to see realtors to be first in line (but I also think this is wishful thinking). I feel like I get very little value out of what seems to be a mostly fixed/required price. I know flat fee realtors exist, and if/when we sell our home, I’ll be looking into this heavily. But I feel like they rank up there with car salespeople/dealers.

[deleted]

Re: Wages in America Are Too Low for the 30% Rule to Work for Renters Anymore

#206

Post by bcjdjsndon » Thu, Jun 18, 2026, 2:14 PM UTC

arwineap wrote: post #188

estearum wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's worth being precise about this because it's a really important point. Most people who we call "landlords" are simultaneously a landlord and a property manager. Property management is an important and productive job. But the vast majority of such people's financial outcome is actually from being a landlord , that is doing literally nothing except holding a piece of paper granting them monopoly on a plot of land.…

> But the vast majority of such people's financial outcome is actually from being a landlord, that is doing literally nothing except holding a piece of paper granting them monopoly on a plot of land This is how I know that you've never tried to run houses. If you hire out a property manager and all of your maintenance you are not making money. I have to be an electrician, a plumber, a painter, a drywaller, an enginee…

[flagged]

Re: Wages in America Are Too Low for the 30% Rule to Work for Renters Anymore

#207

Post by pc86 » Thu, Jun 18, 2026, 2:14 PM UTC

mlhpdx wrote: post #123

WarmWash wrote: post #67

The problem is absolutley that housing is too expensive, which of course a bunch of realtors are not going to point out. Increasing wages will not fix the housing crisis, and will just drive prices higher. How convenient for a bunch of realtors...

Supply and demand, supply and demand. It’s not that complicated. I’m not sure how or why this article got published by an organization that should, given its very nature, understand economics. The article doesn’t paint them or their members as people I’d trust in either side of a major financial transaction.

To the extent that an organization can understand anything, this one understands economics just enough to argue for policies that will get its members more money, and argue against policies that won't. Real estate is the quintessential stay-at-home-mom backup job so it's no surprise by and large they are not known for having a nuanced and academic understanding of economic theory.

They want wages to go up so that home prices go up even more, and their members make even more money for doing basically nothing most of the time.

Re: Wages in America Are Too Low for the 30% Rule to Work for Renters Anymore

#208

Post by john_strinlai » Thu, Jun 18, 2026, 2:15 PM UTC

WarmWash wrote: post #84

miltonlost wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Go tell that to Oklahomans and others still making a minimum wage of $7.25 an hour

If you can find a single person still getting paid that, please give me their info and I will have them making twice that by tomorrow.

i can introduce you to ~50 people making about that amount. let me talk to my school and i can probably get a few hundred more.

very kind of you to offer them all a job at twice that. how do i reach out to you?

Re: Wages in America Are Too Low for the 30% Rule to Work for Renters Anymore

#209

Post by sdenton4 » Thu, Jun 18, 2026, 2:15 PM UTC

jader201 wrote: post #180

WarmWash wrote: post #67

The problem is absolutley that housing is too expensive, which of course a bunch of realtors are not going to point out. Increasing wages will not fix the housing crisis, and will just drive prices higher. How convenient for a bunch of realtors...

Of all the jobs to get replaced by AI, I would be happy to see realtors to be first in line (but I also think this is wishful thinking). I feel like I get very little value out of what seems to be a mostly fixed/required price. I know flat fee realtors exist, and if/when we sell our home, I’ll be looking into this heavily. But I feel like they rank up there with car salespeople/dealers.

Here's a recent nytimes article in a quote positive experience using ai in place of a realtor:

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/28/technology/sell-house-wit...

Re: Wages in America Are Too Low for the 30% Rule to Work for Renters Anymore

#210

Post by throwawayffffas » Thu, Jun 18, 2026, 2:15 PM UTC

> Although this rule isn’t necessarily wrong, the reality is that modern budgets are much more complicated than they used to be, so you can’t take the 30% rent rule as a hard-and-fast guideline.

Modern budgets are not much more complicated. The rent is too damn high!