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Millions of Americans skipping payments as wave of defaults and evictions looms

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Re: Millions of Americans skipping payments as wave of defaults and evictions looms

#461

Post by conductr »

caseysoftware wrote: post #145
tinza123 wrote: post #62

As a passive real estate investor I'm seeing bidding on new sales has actually been more competitive than ever in my area (Atlanta GA). A lot of houses are selling above asking prices with 8-10 offers on the table. I am not sure if people genuinely think it is a good time to buy, or is it mostly FOMO.

I've been watching 20+ properties around Austin, some out of genuine interest, others for a baseline. Zero of them moved in March and April despite asking price coming down every couple weeks. Now in the last couple weeks, 8 of them have had offers. I can't tell if they just dropped back into a "reasonable" range or some segment of the market has turned but it's fascinating.

My understanding is real estate was not essential here in Texas. Agents tried to do virtual showings but, come on, most people want to see a home before they submit an offer.

Re: Millions of Americans skipping payments as wave of defaults and evictions looms

#462

Post by electricviolet »

zhoujianfu wrote: post #406
thephyber wrote: post #260

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, lots of the problems with rent control are related to it being an unfair disadvantage to some (usually not all) landlords and they have expenses as well. But again: the reason rent control is passed is because enough people with significant political leverage were hurting. We need to be able to show them a better alternative if we don't want the pain of rent control's (un?)intended consequences to linger.

The alternative is allowing more housing development.

The real alternative is more housing development plus treating housing as a social good rather than an investment, but that's a long-term goal, it's not gonna happen overnight.

Re: Millions of Americans skipping payments as wave of defaults and evictions looms

#463

Post by elevenoh »

0x8BADF00D wrote: post #2

Yet the S&P500 is still green. The Fed continues to print in order to delay the inevitable. Either a currency crisis or hyperinflation.

The inevitable increase in productivity brought by the promise of robotics, ai & automation? ;)

Re: Millions of Americans skipping payments as wave of defaults and evictions looms

#465

Post by rodgerd »

jeffbee wrote: post #236
lacker wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In some places, like Oakland and Tahoe, rent seems to be going up. But in San Francisco it is going down. Probably all as a result of people fleeing San Francisco to nearby places with a cheaper rent per square foot.

Mix shift. Oakland has just gone through a major wave of new construction. New apartments command higher rents. This does not necessarily imply a movement of people.

> Oakland has just gone through a major wave of new construction. New apartments command higher rents.

Funny, the religion in these parts is usually that building more apartments is the only way to drop rents.

Re: Millions of Americans skipping payments as wave of defaults and evictions looms

#466

Post by [deleted] »

staycoolboy wrote: post #182
avancemos wrote: post #13

Lockdowns are effective as tourniquets, but indefinite or long term use was never logical. There should have been more forward-thinking and pragmatic options pushed earlier. We will now see the natural repercussions of lockdown-centered policies.

I think you may have misunderstood the point of lockdowns. Lockdowns are/were intended to prevent jamming hospitals with COVID patients which would lead to non-COVID emergencies being put at risk. The idea is to lockdown an area not to STOP, but to SLOW the trickle of new patients into hospitals at a rate they can be serviced: e.g., balancing the pipeline. In anticipation of the huge surges seen in the North East US,…

[deleted]

Re: Millions of Americans skipping payments as wave of defaults and evictions looms

#467

Post by maxtheman »

bsanr2 wrote: post #412
marcusverus wrote: post #390

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is actually the literal definition of a handout.

It is not. They are not "needy." The market, pardon my language, fucked up either their compensation, or the rental rate, or both. This is the failure of an economic system to properly account for a worker's labor and deliver the shelter designated in the social contract, not an oversight or negligence on the worker's part. Especially with unions defanged or non-existent. It's not charity, it's account-settling.

The idea that 'anyone who labors is ipso facto entitled to shelter' is new to me in the context of social contract theory. Where does this idea originate?

Re: Millions of Americans skipping payments as wave of defaults and evictions looms

#468

Post by dehrmann »

somewhereoutth wrote: post #313
staycoolboy wrote: post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you may have misunderstood the point of lockdowns. Lockdowns are/were intended to prevent jamming hospitals with COVID patients which would lead to non-COVID emergencies being put at risk. The idea is to lockdown an area not to STOP, but to SLOW the trickle of new patients into hospitals at a rate they can be serviced: e.g., balancing the pipeline. In anticipation of the huge surges seen in the North East US,…

In Europe we are using lockdowns to get infections sufficiently low to do test, trace, and isolate - with eradication as the ultimate objective.

It won't be irradiated without a vaccine or an absurd amount of testing. Too many people have either no symptoms or minor symptoms. Between that and a potentially long incubation period, it'll keep lurking around.

Re: Millions of Americans skipping payments as wave of defaults and evictions looms

#469

Post by xsmasher »

bsanr2 wrote: post #355
busyant wrote: post #267

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> These stories that come out of the woodwork every time tenants are mentioned are why I’ll never be a landlord. My wife and I own a number of (8) rental properties. My wife manages them and we rarely have problems with tenants. I will tell you what I think is the secret. My wife figuratively crawls up the ass of all prospective tenants. She needs to see credit history, pay stubs, and proof of punctual rent payments…

Not so amazed on this end. A landlord that demands a lot from a prospective tenant upfront without any indication that it's going to be reciprocated in terms of responsiveness to maintenance issues, understanding when crises (like pandemics) come up, etc., is a red flag. It means you're going to be seen less as a customer who's paying for a service and more as a simple monthly source of cash. Those are the types of l…

Suppose you had a car worth $400k.

What assurances would you want before loaning it to someone to drive cross-country and back? Would you want to see their driving record? Would you want to know their financial situation?

Re: Millions of Americans skipping payments as wave of defaults and evictions looms

#470

Post by dntbnmpls »

pengaru wrote: post #119
ngngngng wrote: post #47

I'm so extremely grateful that I accepted section 8 tenants into my rental units. Most of these tenants have nearly all of their payment covered by the government and they just have to pay $100 or $200 on top of that to cover what the government won't. These tenants are often not accepted by landlords because they're thought to cause more issues. Mine are great. They keep the units spotless, mow the lawn for me on my…

> These tenants are often not accepted by landlords because they're thought to cause more issues. You're ignoring the potential effects on property value.

> You're ignoring the potential effects on property value.

Bingo. Surprised nobody else brought this up. Not to mention the neighboring home/property owners are going to be pissed off because it's a potential drag on their property value. Though the stigma against section 8 may not even be warranted. I wonder whether there are any studies on the effects of section 8 on communities.

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