Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah hope you plan to hold for 100 years.
Humans build houses with their children and grandchildren in mind. Holding to land for 100 years and longer is not that an uncommon thing.
Not in the US!
Owning nothing is now a luxury, thanks to a number of subscription startups
281–290 of 304 posts
Re: Owning nothing is now a luxury, thanks to a number of subscription startups
#282Earlier quoted context omitted.
You can get pretty decent solid wood furniture. Often it's "Amish" which doesn't mean hand-made or made with old-timey tools, of course, just made in an air-powered factory, probably, assuming it's not just marketing BS. Gotta watch out, a lot of it's not put together all that well. And you're not gonna find anything trendy (mid-century modern, say) looking in the lower (so, semi-reasonable) end of that price range,…
> Furniture quality has definitely gone downhill. I'll bet that like almost everything throughout history, "good" furniture is far better quality than it's ever been, and "bad" furniture is now more stylish and accessible to more people than ever, albeit less durable than the best stuff. Do people really believe we've forgotten how to make couches?
I suspect there's a "very bad" tier that didn't exist before, is now the most common (because cheapest), and has undermined the "cheap (more expensive than what's cheap now, but formerly cheap) but pretty good" tier, eating its demand and causing it to become more expensive. So yeah, I think OK furniture's more expensive now than it used to be. But now there's even-cheaper crap readily available so... maybe that's better. IDK.
Re: Owning nothing is now a luxury, thanks to a number of subscription startups
#283Earlier quoted context omitted.
>They already have an incentive to fix. In the UK they're legally obligated to and tenants can take them to Small Claims Court if they don't. Yes, they're technically "obligated" but only real recourse is to pay somebody to fix it yourself and deduct that from the rent. While doing that you have to be 100% reasonable though (no overcharging, get multiple quotes and landlord must be kept informed). If you stop paying…
To spell it out, places a large burden on you. And then you get evicted after the negotiated period ends anyway.
Yes, ultimately you don’t own the property you rent. The landlord has rights over the property too, and you have to factor that in when choosing whether to rent or buy.
Re: Owning nothing is now a luxury, thanks to a number of subscription startups
#284When I was a kid in the 80’s renting home furnishings, driving a taxi on the side, and renting out spare rooms in your house were all very common activities too. They were generally things people did because they didn’t have stable well paying jobs. That’s still the reason. All this disruptive new economy rebranding notwithstanding.
I see monthly payment plans for $25 shirts.
I didn't realize it had gotten this bad until that moment, but we've been creeping toward installment plans and subscription services over ownership for a few years now and it's absolutely wild that it's not a warning sign that no one can actually afford to own anything upfront anymore.
Re: Owning nothing is now a luxury, thanks to a number of subscription startups
#285Earlier quoted context omitted.
I was under the impression that putting money in stock market is basically gambling and you should be ready to lose that money. Putting money in a property especially if you can do your own upgrades can really pay off. Example, bought a house for $280k,I invested about $50k, its worth about $400k now.
Putting money into real estate is also gambling. Remember 2008?
It is a lot less risky.
Yeah 2008 happened, however, the prices at least in my area are back to 2007 levels. Short term real estate can be risky but long term it is a relatively safe investment.
Re: Owning nothing is now a luxury, thanks to a number of subscription startups
#286Earlier quoted context omitted.
I hate seeing all this garbage from Ikea when there are plenty sturdy “antiques” made from hard woods, as opposed to sawdust, glue, and cam locks. I have a some furniture hand made from my great-grandfather, grandfather, and father. I made a nice pair of speakers. This stuff will go to my kids. Much rather buy from the Amish furniture store and pay more, than the disposable shit from Ikea.
> Much rather buy from the Amish furniture store and pay more, than the disposable shit from Ikea. First of all, the main reason Ikea is so popular is because the stuff is usually packed in small boxes to be assembled, which is easier to move and ship. That's more efficient in shipping logistics and allows for people to live in higher density housing. Have fun moving your hand-made furniture from 100+ years ago down…
If you're in the position to afford hand made Amish furniture, you can probably afford movers. OSB is great for inexpensive furniture that doesn't move. The downside is once the wood gets wet or damaged it degrades quickly, unlike solid wood which will warp and split if not properly treated. One of the absolute best furniture products for strength and durability is actually plywood but people see it as a "cheap" product instead of the engineering marvel that it is. I think what it really comes down to is that when you're younger it makes sense to buy cheaper more disposable furniture. It's going to see more wear and tear and you're still finding your own style which is likely to change when you have a partner. When you become an adult and start moving less it makes sense to buy something that is going to be able to last longer with proper care. Solid woods tend to wear better over time because it's not a paper veneer over the OSB. Like most things it's about using the appropriate tool or resource for the task. I recently had to build a behind the sofa table for my wife. There simply didn't exist a product that fit our needs (12 feet long and thin) went with solid oak and while it fit we did indeed have the problem that it wouldn't fit through the stairwell and we had to walk it around the outside of the house. I doubt it would fit in an apartment.
Re: Owning nothing is now a luxury, thanks to a number of subscription startups
#287Earlier quoted context omitted.
The problem is we've started deleting it now. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_level_rise
This is perfect. It’ll make my land worth that much more! Just have to be careful to only buy land 2.4m above sea level.
If you choose the right spot, it'll become oceanfront property!
Re: Owning nothing is now a luxury, thanks to a number of subscription startups
#288Earlier quoted context omitted.
> 5 places she kept her stuff Storage unit rental, now that's a means of preying on people who can't let go and/or move often. (It strikes me that there might be startup value in "home inventory management", although it would have to be made as frictionless as possible - wave a camera round your kitchen, inside all the cupboards, get a list of everything you own. Snoop your Amazon webpages so it can remind you not to…
You say preying, but I'm glad I was able to rent out space to store some things when I moved cities and told myself I'd move back. Turns out I didn't move back, and only went back to pick up a few things and give away the rest. I doubt I would have been able to detach from those things if I took them with me. Were the rental costs a waste? I suppose I would have saved a few hundred dollars if I could have just gotten…
Loss aversion is actually significantly powerful and difficult to overcome, but think about why, it's only very recently that humanity can easily procure anything it needs for survival with relative ease in most countries. While getting something new is exciting losing something is far harder when you never know when/if your going to be able to gain it again. It's helped humans survive throughout our history, so I wouldn't be hard on yourself that it wasn't easy to detach, you were just practicing a survival skill.
Re: Owning nothing is now a luxury, thanks to a number of subscription startups
#289Earlier quoted context omitted.
Putting money into real estate is also gambling. Remember 2008?
It is a lot less risky. Yeah 2008 happened, however, the prices at least in my area are back to 2007 levels. Short term real estate can be risky but long term it is a relatively safe investment.
The stock market has historically been very safe in the long term while risky in the short term as well.
Edit: As long as you are diversified and not putting all your money into meme stocks, of course
Re: Owning nothing is now a luxury, thanks to a number of subscription startups
#290Earlier quoted context omitted.
Keep it if it brings you happiness, after all, that's the point. It's the rest of the stuff that can go. I helped a friend move last month. After we'd been to the 5 places she kept her stuff, we discovered she had 5 coffee machines, 5 cutting boards, 5 juicers, etc. etc. The things you describe make you happier and are not stuff. The things I described are just stuff.
> Keep it if it brings you happiness, after all, that's the point. But what if it doesn't make you happy AND selling/discarding it makes you unhappy?
...That sounds like a strange scenario. Can you give me an example?