Nothing is going to change until “landlord culture” is suppressed, and we re-adopt a “homeowner” mentality.

We need to massively raise taxes on residential property, but institute an “owner occupant” credit so actual homeowners don’t pay the increase. Only landlords - people who own the property but don’t live in it - will pay the increase. Residential property taxes should be the highest of all property taxes without the credit, but effective tax rate should be the lowest due to that credit. Landlords should be fighting for any way they can to convert “tenants” into “buyers”, even if that means issuing private mortgages to their (former) tenants to make it happen.

What about people with short-term housing needs? People who prefer to rent rather than owning? Not a problem: “Land Contracts” work very much like rentals, but without the annual increase that always outpaces inflation. The monthly payment is fixed for the life of the agreement.

The main difference is that after three years, a land contract automatically converts to a purchase agreement, and the previous 3 years of “rent” are retroactively converted to payments on a private mortgage. You’re 3 years into a 30-year mortgage.