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The elderly are becoming homeless at a rate not seen since the Great Depression

moneywise.com

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Re: The elderly are becoming homeless at a rate not seen since the Great Depression

#281

Post by beretguy »

silenced_trope wrote: post #122

My mom was homeless for years, thankfully she got stable housing right before covid took off. - in shelters/churches-with-cots there would be crazed drug-users, she was threatened numerous times in them and the shelter can't do anything - I wasn't financially able to help her much but managed to buy her a "clunker" of a car which she later slept in before getting housing - she's entirely dependent on getting social s…

> My mom was homeless for years

> I wasn't financially able to help her much but managed to buy her a "clunker" of a car which she later slept in before getting housing

Ah… So… If you had a place to live couldn’t you let her live in that same place too, instead of her being homeless?

My parents lost their jobs due to covid, and even though they treated me bad when I was a kid I still let them in my house. How can you let your parents be homeless like that? Is this an American thing? (I’m originally from Europe but live in US for over a decade).

Re: The elderly are becoming homeless at a rate not seen since the Great Depression

#282

Post by shiftpgdn »

packetlost wrote: post #212
escapedmoose wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Among my friends seeking to buy houses, the greater problem is the ability of large companies to buy up whatever is on the market, which they then immediately turn into a rental. It’s nearly impossible to compete with a company who will pay $50k over asking price, in cash, for the house you’re trying to get. Comparatively, immigrants don’t have the purchasing power to compete, so saying they’re the problem is a weird…

We, IMO, need a progressive tax system for every home controlled by an entity that isn't their primary residence. You don't want to hurt small individuals trying to build up wealth, but we need to stop allowing large corporations to turn basic necessities into investment vehicles.

Singapore does this very well. Almost no property tax or land value tax for primary residence for Singapore citizens. Up to 30% property/LVT for corporations and foreigners.

Re: The elderly are becoming homeless at a rate not seen since the Great Depression

#283

Post by frnklydisgusted »

silenced_trope wrote: post #122

My mom was homeless for years, thankfully she got stable housing right before covid took off. - in shelters/churches-with-cots there would be crazed drug-users, she was threatened numerous times in them and the shelter can't do anything - I wasn't financially able to help her much but managed to buy her a "clunker" of a car which she later slept in before getting housing - she's entirely dependent on getting social s…

[dead]

Re: The elderly are becoming homeless at a rate not seen since the Great Depression

#284

Post by nness »

expertentipp wrote: post #3

It's "I got mine and don't care" until what you've got melts in your hand like an ice cube and then nobody cares.

I've noticed this with my parents — for decades they reacted negatively to any changes the regulations around Australia's housing market, since that was and remains the principal personal wealth creation mechanism in Australia...

Until they reached retirement age. Then the painful realisation that, without plentiful housing, rental prices would consume most of their government pension. Now they're one expense away from financial ruin.

Re: The elderly are becoming homeless at a rate not seen since the Great Depression

#285

Post by FuriouslyAdrift »

diogenes4 wrote: post #176
throwawaaarrgh wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most Metro areas do not have enough affordable housing. It's well established that local governments cannot build enough new affordable housing, partly because any contractor that bids goes way over the value of a private housing venture. The idea that there's enough housing but "in the wrong place" is like saying there's plenty of jobs, they're just in third world countries and Scandinavia. The idea that the solutio…

It would help if there were any consensus on what actually constitutes affordable housing.

Rent/Mortgage under or equal to 28% net income.

Re: The elderly are becoming homeless at a rate not seen since the Great Depression

#286

Post by friend_and_foe »

hotpotamus wrote: post #199
tasuki wrote: post #156

> never made enough to put money away Or, more often, earned enough to put money away yet decided to have fun instead.

Yeah, spending $60k on that fancy new hip so they can go out and... walk.

I think they're talking about in their youth. I don't know about you, but this is the generation that invented credit cards, I've seen several, including my own parents, live their lives like the future didn't matter. Now they're older and reality is hitting them.

Re: The elderly are becoming homeless at a rate not seen since the Great Depression

#287

Post by CWuestefeld »

voidwtf wrote: post #79
jongjong wrote: post #16

Part of the problem is government regulation. In some places, it's almost impossible to build new houses due to regulations. Some portion of the population wants to see house prices continue to increase and they will vote for politicians who will implement policies which will support that agenda. Of course this happens at the expense of another, also large portion of the population who do not own a house and have to…

This can’t be a real, thought out, response. I’m living in Florida. I will agree with you that rent-seeking and increasingly abusive landlords are a huge problem here. However, the largest drivers of pricing out retirees in my anecdotal observations is uncontrolled healthcare, insurance, and food costs. The electric companies have also increased their rates and been allowed to add insane flat infrastructure recovery…

Not disagreeing with your observations, but I'd like to add property taxes, and most specifically, the portion used to support public schools, to your list. Excluding the past year, this is where I've seen the greatest increases in my expenses.

And since it's government creating most of this, it's hard to imagine that there's any relief to be found by looking towards government for a solution.

Re: The elderly are becoming homeless at a rate not seen since the Great Depression

#288

Post by rootusrootus »

davidgerard wrote: post #162
jongjong wrote: post #16

Part of the problem is government regulation. In some places, it's almost impossible to build new houses due to regulations. Some portion of the population wants to see house prices continue to increase and they will vote for politicians who will implement policies which will support that agenda. Of course this happens at the expense of another, also large portion of the population who do not own a house and have to…

The problem is not building houses. The ratio of empty houses to homeless people is between 5:1 and 35:1. This is not a supply-and-demand issue, this is a failure of public policy.

That ratio is bogus. It includes a lot of homes that are abandoned and beyond repair, vacation homes that are seasonally vacant and not even close to the same areas where people are homeless, and homes that are temporarily vacant as they transition between owners or renters.

On top of that, the number of homeless people is usually understated.

It's definitely a supply and demand issue.

Re: The elderly are becoming homeless at a rate not seen since the Great Depression

#289

Post by onlyrealcuzzo »

alexb_ wrote: post #262
mcv wrote: post #243

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Part of the problem is government regulation. And not just too much regulation, but the wrong kind of regulation, and a lack of regulation in areas that need it. Someone in the article was forced out of her home because her landlord suddenly raised her rent by $500. That shouldn't be legal. Corporations buying up homes in order to drive up prices shouldn't be allowed. Lots of things are allowed that shouldn't be. A…

> Someone in the article was forced out of her home because her landlord suddenly raised her rent by $500. That shouldn't be legal. Rent gets raised by $500 because someone else would actually pay that much. Rent control is the ultimate "I got mine" - it rewards people who got in early while making it impossible for anyone else to have housing. The reason rent could go up that much is because supply is so artificiall…

> Rent gets raised by $500 because someone else would actually pay that much.

In many cases, rent gets raised by $500 for the unit to be vacant so the landlord can claim to have $500 more in revenue per month (and get loans on that).

In some parts of the country - you have >50% of units in large population centers owned and/or operated by just a few companies.

Like KSA reducing oil supply by 10% to increase prices 5% - sometimes strange things make sense when you have a cartel.

In SF, I had many friends have their rent raised by 10% - move out - the unit sit vacant for 6 months, and then the price reduced back to what it was and still be vacant.

I wouldn't assume any time landlords are raising prices - it's because they had a bidding war on the unit and someone's paying more.

Re: The elderly are becoming homeless at a rate not seen since the Great Depression

#290

Post by voidwtf »

kevinsync wrote: post #238
ac29 wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure if you are cherry picking that example, but I looked up that cereal in my local grocery store in a VHCOL area and it is $6.99/23oz ($0.30/oz).

In my area, the Malt-O-Meal knockoff version ("Tootie Fruities") is $5.99/30oz ($0.20/oz). I point this out because it always seems weird to me that discussing housing / utilities / healthcare / education costs somehow get boiled down to grocery store pricing disparities, when grocery stores allow you to comparison shop (and real estate / electricity / oil / etc don't).

Because this method of judging inflation by using “equivalent” substitutes completely ignores the change in quality of life.

Real inflation is what happens when my behavior doesn’t change at all, but my costs increase.

If I keep making adjustments to my behaviors then I’m just trying to counteract inflation, it doesn’t mean inflation isn’t happening.

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