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

realtor.com

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

#301

Post by mlhpdx »

botanrice wrote: post #136
mlhpdx wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

have you met a realtor? They can be some great people but as a profession they are known more for their extroversion and soft skills than their high IQ understanding of economics lol

Yes, many.

The realtors I’ve met understand economics and markets very well. Not as academics but as practitioners.

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

#302

Post by ecshafer »

I bang on this drum a lot. We need Land Value Taxes to incentivize productive use of land, and we need to eliminate (or greatly reduce the burden of) Zoning (Japan has zoning but a great model that really allows building housing efficiently). When it costs $50k in permits and takes 2 years just to put a shovel in the ground, to build a single family home, and millions to build an apartment building, of course homes are expensive.

Inefficiently taxed land, and artificial scarcity via laws, turned housing into an asset class. This problem will not go away, in any country, as long as those two things are not resolved.

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

#303

Post by triceratops »

groundzeros2015 wrote: post #184
triceratops wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burnett_v._National_Associatio...

This lawsuit is about realtors acting against your interest (agency problem), and is not about you being forced to pay a particular commission. You can choose your realtor. You can discuss with them. This person just bought a 2m house!

> not about you being forced to pay a particular commission

It's literally in the first paragraph of the article.

"At trial, a federal jury found that they violated antitrust law by conspiring to force home sellers to pay inflated commissions to real estate agents."

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

#304

Post by vovavili »

greenie_beans wrote: post #276
vovavili wrote: post #250

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I have yet to read a comprehensive overview of how this happened and how we get out of it Allow me to introduce you to Bryan Caplan - https://www.amazon.com/dp/1952223415

i would love to hear a YIMBY consider the market forces/how capitalism works and not just reduce it to regulation. aka when it costs over $500k to build a single apartment unit and most of those costs are construction with very little of the regulation burden driving up that cost.

>most of those costs are construction with very little of the regulation

You would be surprised.

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

#305

Post by keiferski »

Aurornis wrote: post #122
rootusrootus wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If you remove landlords (but keep property managers, developers, etc In this scenario, who owns the property? And if you are advocating that everyone should own their home, what is the point of a property manager? What about the people who do not actually want to own their home?

The steelman interpretation would be that government is the only party allowed to own rental properties. Nobody would be allowed to rent out a space they owned because it would turn them into a landlord. All of the rooms people rent out to others would go away. You wouldn’t be able to rent a private house from someone, you’d have no choice but to live in government owned housing developments. This would be incredibly…

I think Vienna somewhat functions like this, and it seems to be fine. Not that individuals can’t literally own property and rent it out, but that most housing options are government owned.

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

#306

Post by 9x39 »

throwaway041207 wrote: post #158
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...

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…

Middle class families can, but young families just don't now. Median homebuyer age is now 56, up from 31 decades ago:

https://x.com/heimbergecon/status/1943925791055917417

As for how it all happened, I don't have a comprehensive exploration of this to share, but look at interest rates and house sale prices:

https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MORTGAGE30US

https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MSPUS

Sale prices begin rising immediately once interest rates dipped to the lowest ever (borrowers could "afford" more principal - sale price - for similar monthly payments).

Combine that with houses making up a significant chunk of balance sheets for the US, and we (collectively) are loathe to let prices fall:

https://eyeonhousing.org/2024/02/homeownership-is-key-to-hou...

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

#307

Post by mlhpdx »

pc86 wrote: post #297
mlhpdx wrote: post #273

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> it's no surprise by and large they are not known for having a nuanced and academic understanding of economic theory The folks I’ve worked with have been as dedicated to their career path as anyone, and while their expertise and skill varies that isn’t different than any job. I understand your point, but your (mis?)characterization hits me as a little biased and shallow. It’s not “theory”; it’s literally what they d…

They're intentionally focusing on only one half of the equation because the other half is partly their fault, and addressing it hurts their members. They either don't understand that addressing wages without supply simply increases prices, or they do understand and don't care because it's good for their pocketbook. Which one's worse?

The article does, agreed. But I don’t think it was written by actual realtors. It’s the product of an organization that is representing them poorly, or so it appears.

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

#308

Post by cpburns2009 »

georgeecollins wrote: post #239
cpburns2009 wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The buyers or sellers. No one is required to use a realtor. They simply provide a convenient service for a fee.

Tell me you have never bought a house in the US without telling me you have never bought a house in the US.

That's an odd accusation to make with confidence.

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

#309

Post by littlexsparkee »

bellowsgulch wrote: post #230
AlotOfReading wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a bad take. For one, illegal immigrants are a minority of the foreign born population. Secondly, even if the statistics are by some miracle not tortured out of the numbers, still obviously not a sufficient explanation. San Francisco for example has a small undocumented population (primarily from Asia), yet also has huge affordability issues from high rental demand and income disparity. There's no world in whic…

They don’t need to. They only need to eat up all the low end housing.

I don't know that this would help the market all that much - these are often informal units, not up to code (and not cost effective to remedy), overcrowded (meaning fewer units made available than population share would suggest would come onto the market), and in neighborhoods outside of the core

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

#310

Post by probably_wrong »

selfmodruntime wrote: post #96
lifestyleguru wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's quite cruel how Germans still keep up appearances with applying for the apartment with elaborate portfolio, full personal and financial data, letters and so on. While the only portfolio that matters is envelope with EUR 1500 in cash, or at least was 2-3 years ago and now is probably higher. 5-8 years ago it was maybe funny but now is simply cruel.

I have never heard of someone paying cash to get an apartment tbh

I saw it in Berlin. In two occasions I saw the realtor be openly bribed in front of all of us, although whether he took the bribe or not I cannot say. I also saw a man bring mini muffins and a personalized letter from his wife, family picture included, but I'm not sure it counts.
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