The economists are right: Rent control is bad

[F K]

rent control only works if you also keep up w demand. nimbyism is a curse

 

[GnauzBookOfRhymes]

The key to solving the affordable housing crisis is to do away with section 8 style programs where you subsidize poor peoples rent by giving govt money to landlords. And I say this as someone who owns rental properties. You could give ppl 2 flats/duplexes. They live in one and rent the other at market rates. The agreement should stipulate some limits in early years (say 10-15 yrs) on ability to borrow against the property or otberwise transfer ownership. A nominal amount can be charged in lieu of a mortgage to go towards operating costs of the program and to fund additional ongoing capital/repair requirements (basically HOA fees). After 15 yrs It’s Yours (Wu-Tang voice). If you manage to still lose it at that point there’s really nothing else that can be done for you to be honest.

 

[Consigliere]

^ one of the biggest issues that rent control causes, as a former property manager in DC, is that landlords will ease up on processing regular applications and start fishing for strictly section 8, VA admin funded, mental health, etc., subsidized tenants. This is due to the higher rents that you can charge for these folks and it’s a backdoor for stacking occupancy in the landlords favor.

Not saying the vulnerable don’t need a place to live but this has an effect of keeping young workers and lower income people out of neighborhoods where they should be able to rent under normal conditions.

Obviously, rent control laws differ by jurisdiction.

 

[rapbeats]

"In the long run, the key to making housing more affordable is to build more homes. "

I disagree. Unless you somehow manage to vastly outpace the market (which looks quite unlikely), then building more homes will not keep you very far ahead of speculators, flippers, and the such, who will continue to buy low, hold the properties unavailable to the people who really need them, sell high, and then buy low in the next inevitable crash.

The issue is that the people who NEED affordable housing do not have excess money just sitting around to buy up said housing when it becomes available. In fact, they are the ones least likely to have money during economic downturns and market crashes, which is when those houses are available cheap. Instead developers, speculators, house-flippers, people buying 2nd and 3rd homes, they are the ones who keep snatching up that shyt and can afford to sit on it until it becomes profitable. Right now many cities are already at 30-40% of homes being owned by people who don't live in them. As the wealth gap continues to increase and wages continue to stagnate, I expect that number to climb to 50% at least. All building more homes will do is make that number climb faster.

Rent controls aren't the solution either. Home ownership is the solution.

you're right about everything except saying home ownership is the solution. that isnt the solution for RENTERS. otherwise you're saying every single adult/adult couple needs to own a home or condo. therefore there should be zero renters(is that what you're advocating? just asking.

 

[rapbeats]

^ one of the biggest issues that rent control causes, as a former property manager in DC, is that landlords will ease up on processing regular applications and start fishing for strictly section 8, VA admin funded, mental health, etc., subsidized tenants. This is due to the higher rents that you can charge for these folks and it’s a backdoor for stacking occupancy in the landlords favor.

Not saying the vulnerable don’t need a place to live but this has an effect of keeping young workers and lower income people out of neighborhoods where they should be able to rent under normal conditions.

Obviously, rent control laws differ by jurisdiction.

so tighten up the rent control laws to stop the loop holes.

 

[Professor Emeritus]

you're right about everything except saying home ownership is the solution. that isnt the solution for RENTERS. otherwise you're saying every single adult/adult couple needs to own a home or condo. therefore there should be zero renters(is that what you're advocating? just asking.

Yes.

I'm saying that we should give homedwelling families so much of an advantage over speculators and others that actually owning the home you live in becomes attainable for every family. I'm saying that the mass owning of American land/property should be severely restricted so that developers no longer hold the American family hostage in their own country.

Name one rich person who deserves credit for creating American land? Name one rich person who put the lot in place? They didn't do that shyt, God did. Look at how land ownership accumulated in American history - you're talking people who killed the Indians first, got corrupt handouts from the government first, built up capital from shady deals and slave-owning profits, you name it. Then they say that because some ancestor of theirs got there first and pulled those strings, they have the right to fukk over regular American families for their very ability to survive, grabbing the daily wages those people need to barely make it and just throwing them into their own ever-growing bank accounts.

There's a billion ways to do it - heavily tax 2nd homes, subsidize 1st homes, set legal limits on how much property any one person can accumulate, etc. But probably my favorite is democratizing land ownership - since mass land use affects an entire community, decree that land outside of the private residence is a communal good whose use is subject to approval by the local community of people who actually live there. You own any improvements you make upon the land, but outside of your home land itself can no longer be owned because no one ever did anything to actually deserve that land, they didn't put it there.

I'm not explaining myself particularly well and of course, this is all pie-in-the-sky under the current system. But as more and more capital accumulates for the rich and as the common people become more and more fukked over, as shytty use of land by the rich continues to destroy quality of life and the environment for everyone else, there's going to be some point where a breaking point is reached.

 

[Consigliere]

so tighten up the rent control laws to stop the loop holes.

Easier said then done. The next step these guys take would be to let individual units fall into condemned status and gradually clear their buildings out. Or demolish buildings and rebuild them. Or demolish 2 bedrooms and turn them into 1 bedrooms and create situation where they can vote to raise the rent. They have a lot of tricks which is why rent increases exponentially.

Sort of like how tax reform never hits anyone except the middle class while the wealthy skate. The political system and are laws are diametrically opposed to producing the type of fairness that we would want.

I think a possible solution instead of rent control is having a structure in place that would facilitate apartments turning into co-ops. Renters will have to become owners if they want control or always be at the mercy of the market.

 

[Wild self]

Yes.

I'm saying that we should give homedwelling families so much of an advantage over speculators and others that actually owning the home you live in becomes attainable for every family. I'm saying that the mass owning of American land/property should be severely restricted so that developers no longer hold the American family hostage in their own country.

Name one rich person who deserves credit for creating American land? Name one rich person who put the lot in place? They didn't do that shyt, God did. Look at how land ownership accumulated in American history - you're talking people who killed the Indians first, got corrupt handouts from the government first, built up capital from shady deals anbd slave-owning profits, you name it. Then they say that because some ancestor of theirs got there first and pulled those strings, they have the right to fukk over regular American families for their very ability to survive, grabbing the daily wages those people need to barely make it and just throwing them into their own ever-growing bank accounts.

There's a billion ways to do it - heavily tax 2nd homes, subsidize 1st homes, set legal limits on how much property any one person can accumulate, etc. But probably my favorite is democratizing land ownership - since mass land use affects an entire community, degree that land outside of the private residence is a communal good whose use is subject to approval by the local community of people who actually live there. You own any improvements you make upon the land, but outside of your home land itself can no longer be owned because no one ever did anything to actually deserve that land, they didn't put it there.

I'm not explaining myself particularly well and of course, this is all pie-in-the-sky under the current system. But as more and more capital accumulates for the rich and as the common people become more and more fukked over, as shytty use of land by the rich continues to destroy quality of life and the environment for everyone else, there's going to be some point where a breaking point is reached.

People wont underatand this until America turns into a Banana Republic and people paying all their hard earned money into renting.

 

[rapbeats]

Easier said then done. The next step these guys take would be to let individual units fall into condemned status and gradually clear their buildings out. Or demolish buildings and rebuild them. Or demolish 2 bedrooms and turn them into 1 bedrooms and create situation where they can vote to raise the rent. They have a lot of tricks which is why rent increases exponentially.

Sort of like how tax reform never hits anyone except the middle class while the wealthy skate. The political system and are laws are diametrically opposed to producing the type of fairness that we would want.

I think a possible solution instead of rent control is having a structure in place that would facilitate apartments turning into co-ops. Renters will have to become owners if they want control or always be at the mercy of the market.

its not that hard to tighten up the laws. what makes it SEEM hard is that these people have tons of money to lobby your politicians so the people we just voted for end up selling their souls and our livelihoods down the river to the wealthy. THEY CAN tighten up these laws. they just wont because of that lobbying. which is why we have to start voting in the right people and getting rid of the bad ones.

 

[rapbeats]

Yes.

I'm saying that we should give homedwelling families so much of an advantage over speculators and others that actually owning the home you live in becomes attainable for every family. I'm saying that the mass owning of American land/property should be severely restricted so that developers no longer hold the American family hostage in their own country.

Name one rich person who deserves credit for creating American land? Name one rich person who put the lot in place? They didn't do that shyt, God did. Look at how land ownership accumulated in American history - you're talking people who killed the Indians first, got corrupt handouts from the government first, built up capital from shady deals anbd slave-owning profits, you name it. Then they say that because some ancestor of theirs got there first and pulled those strings, they have the right to fukk over regular American families for their very ability to survive, grabbing the daily wages those people need to barely make it and just throwing them into their own ever-growing bank accounts.

There's a billion ways to do it - heavily tax 2nd homes, subsidize 1st homes, set legal limits on how much property any one person can accumulate, etc. But probably my favorite is democratizing land ownership - since mass land use affects an entire community, degree that land outside of the private residence is a communal good whose use is subject to approval by the local community of people who actually live there. You own any improvements you make upon the land, but outside of your home land itself can no longer be owned because no one ever did anything to actually deserve that land, they didn't put it there.

I'm not explaining myself particularly well and of course, this is all pie-in-the-sky under the current system. But as more and more capital accumulates for the rich and as the common people become more and more fukked over, as shytty use of land by the rich continues to destroy quality of life and the environment for everyone else, there's going to be some point where a breaking point is reached.

I agree.

 

[☑︎#VoteDemocrat]

 

[☑︎#VoteDemocrat]

 

[Consigliere]

NIMBYs (not in my back yard) are legendary in the DC area/Montgomery County for blocking development. And yes. The places where higher density and affordable housing are needed most are the hardest to develop due to their interests.

Feel free to check out Bethesda magazine online to see why we can’t fix the systemic issues with housing and zoning and (education omg). The comments section in one of the most liberal counties on the East coast read like Fox News and those are real people who go to community meetings not bots. But all of their progressive values go out the door when it comes to their kids and their property value.

 

[☑︎#VoteDemocrat]

NIMBYs (not in my back yard) are legendary in the DC area/Montgomery County for blocking development. And yes. The places where higher density and affordable housing are needed most are the hardest to develop due to their interests.

Feel free to check out Bethesda magazine online to see why we can’t fix the systemic issues with housing and zoning and (education omg). The comments section in one of the most liberal counties on the East coast read like Fox News and those are real people who go to community meetings not bots. But all of their progressive values go out the door when it comes to their kids and their property value.

 

[☑︎#VoteDemocrat]

its not that hard to tighten up the laws. what makes it SEEM hard is that these people have tons of money to lobby your politicians so the people we just voted for end up selling their souls and our livelihoods down the river to the wealthy. THEY CAN tighten up these laws. they just wont because of that lobbying. which is why we have to start voting in the right people and getting rid of the bad ones.

Minneapolis did it... they just had to elect a bunch of progressives to city council