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

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

#541

Post by littlexsparkee »

throwforfeds wrote: post #70
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…

Were apartments $300/month in the deep suburbs of cities though? Because I'm always surprised to hear my parents tell me rents for 1 bedrooms in the place I grew up in outside of Boston are in the $2-2.5k range (confirmed just now, not an affluent suburb). Census data seems to put the equivalent in Massachusetts at $120/month in 1970, which would be roughly $1k/month in 2026. $300/month in 1970 might even be high for…

It should be noted NYC nearly went bankrupt in the '70s, the Bronx was burning - I wonder if there's any studies that account for the share of the rent increase that's explained by the higher paid jobs, decrease in crime, etc. i.e. all the ways these places have changed materially since the reference point.

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

#542

Post by chadgpt3 »

darioush wrote: post #333
chadgpt3 wrote: post #248

Earlier quoted context omitted.

without renting though it would probably be more like buying a fridge. You could just buy it when you needed it and sell it when you no longer needed it.

With realtors taking a 10% cut on each transaction? Or do you envision a more liquid market with less paperwork? What about escrow, inspections, and handling disputes on large transactions? BTW in the US, a big advantage of renting is not having to buy, sell, or maintain appliances like a fridge because the landlord has to deal with it.

Imagine a hotel for short stays

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

#543

Post by xnx »

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.

Also, everyone wants to live in the same dozen places.

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

#544

Post by [deleted] »

epistasis wrote: post #533
greenie_beans wrote: post #532

Earlier quoted context omitted.

i never hear YIMBYs talk about this: https://yonahfreemark.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Freemar...

Again, talk to YIMBYs, and you'll get an earful about that paper, about a low-demand market with already affordable housing, that has been generalized to apply to situations that are quite different. Yonah Freemark has some OK work, and that's a fine piece in isolation, but it's an outlier in the literature but gets trotted out because NIMBYs want to use it to block housing, not because it's a significant piece that…

[deleted]

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

#545

Post by greenie_beans »

epistasis wrote: post #533
greenie_beans wrote: post #532

Earlier quoted context omitted.

i never hear YIMBYs talk about this: https://yonahfreemark.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Freemar...

Again, talk to YIMBYs, and you'll get an earful about that paper, about a low-demand market with already affordable housing, that has been generalized to apply to situations that are quite different. Yonah Freemark has some OK work, and that's a fine piece in isolation, but it's an outlier in the literature but gets trotted out because NIMBYs want to use it to block housing, not because it's a significant piece that…

YIMBYs will point to a chart of new multifamily builds and conveniently not look at the building starts before the regulations were moved and then certainly not think about what was happening in the economy during that time.

a market with regulations: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/HOUST

crazy that there were more houses being built pre-GFC when all those burdensome regulations were so suffocating and it never rebounded

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

#546

Post by antisthenes »

xnx wrote: post #540
antisthenes wrote: post #449

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, great. Now ask the "why" housing is not being built. And then ask the next "why".

Owners don't want it built. Owners vote. Non-residents (and many renters) don't vote.

Wrong. As an average owner I have 0 pull on the local council that instates building codes.

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

#547

Post by chadgpt3 »

fooker wrote: post #515
chadgpt3 wrote: post #512

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then let's make a government run lottery where you either get infinite money or you die. Huge risk, huge reward, right?

As you wrote this, several hundred young men from Russia accepted a bet very much like this. The missing piece in your comment is the motivation for the government to run such a lottery.

I'm told it creates wealth.

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

#548

Post by arwineap »

estearum wrote: post #528
ligne wrote: post #295

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"And that's to make a measly 8% on my money." Amazing how many people insist on being landlords despite it apparently being a life of sawdust and sackcloth.

Seriously. These posts are always like: "bro I had to text plumbers and then pay them to fix problems . I had to like... work... like 4 days a month... texting plumbers. "

That's just not how it works. If I was to call a plumber and a sheetwaller, and a painter, I would be paying $6-12k for a leak. This kills any idea of profit for this year.

What really happens is that I put on my big boy pants, I talk to the tenant, I visit the unit, I crawl under the house, I cut out the drywall, I remove and patch the plumbing, I replace the drywall, I mud the wall, and I paint the wall.

I could have it the way you suggest, pay 10% to some property manager and 1500-3000 for any call to any contractor but that means... I'd have to raise the rent, and not by a small amount.

At the end of the day I'm a housing provider, so I'd like to keep rents and vacancies low. This seems to be what tenants want too.

So yes, I'm doing the best I can, but no, my work is not encompassed by a phone call

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

#549

Post by ligne »

arwineap wrote: post #548
estearum wrote: post #528

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seriously. These posts are always like: "bro I had to text plumbers and then pay them to fix problems . I had to like... work... like 4 days a month... texting plumbers. "

That's just not how it works. If I was to call a plumber and a sheetwaller, and a painter, I would be paying $6-12k for a leak. This kills any idea of profit for this year. What really happens is that I put on my big boy pants, I talk to the tenant, I visit the unit, I crawl under the house, I cut out the drywall, I remove and patch the plumbing, I replace the drywall, I mud the wall, and I paint the wall. I could ha…

I'm not sure how you choosing to personally save money by DIYing rather than paying a professional counts as adding value for anyone but yourself, but okay.

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

#550

Post by georgeecollins »

rpdillon wrote: post #440
georgeecollins wrote: post #239

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

I've bought several houses in the U.S., and the last one I sold, I didn't have a realtor. I'm not sure what point you're making here.

That you have bought several houses in the USA makes your experience represent 0.01% of homeowners. Most people in the USA only buy one.
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