Now come on, this isn’t fair to all the mom-and-pop landlords who speak to you politely while exploiting the fuck out of you and your family
The landlords built those homes with the sweat of their brow?
Once the home is paid off they’ll reduce the rent to only cover the outgoings on the property?
The speculation on property as an asset class has no effect on pricing people out of the market for ownership?
No, you pay off their mortgage in exchange for not being homeless. All renting should be rent to buy. No renting without equity in exchange.
Did they provide me shelter or did they sink their temporarily excess capital into the local single-family home market driving up prices?
I’m paying a fair bit to live here so it seems I’m providing my own shelter.
Because they provide something that is so valuable to you that you give them a good amount of money for it. Thats why.
You choose to give them money because their house seems to be a huge quality of life improvement, otherwise you could always find a cheaper house.
If anyone was free to buy a house whenever they liked, renting wouldn’t be such a problem. The problem is, renting nowadays is the only solution and therefore those who own properties are free to charge what they like and people either put up with that or be homeless.
Renting should be a temporary measure, however nowadays people can’t afford to actually buy homes because renting means they don’t have money for deposits.
Renting isn’t a choice for most people, it’s a means to keep them off the streets. The landlords have the monopoly.
Except there really isn’t a choice. You pay rent or… What? Sleep on the street or in a car? Which is illegal in many places already.
“Just find a cheaper house” isn’t actually an option available to people who you know… Want to have a job. It’s just a glib thought-terminating cliche that doesn’t engage with the actual issue.
They’re just trying to pay for their grandma in the nursing home!
Oh, what about your grandma? Fuck her, pay your rent.
If someone’s grandma goes into assisted living, how does selling their house help anyone who can’t afford a house? Especially given the cost of assisted living. That’s a ridiculous criticism. It’s the people who own a dozen houses, or complexes, who are the problem.
I don’t understand, is lemmy flooded by reddit kids now?
Comments here make it sound owning a house is free and doesn’t cost money to not make it fall apart (houses tend to do so if left unmaintained).
I’ve rented for 20 years since I left my parents’ house and finally bought my house last year, with great expenses and time waste. I’m still wondering today if renting was a better choice financially.
I’m actually a grown adult who works my ass off and is lucky enough to own my own home.
None of this changes the fact that landlords are predatory capitalist leeches.
Winning life’s lottery doesn’t make me lose all empathy and become an ignorant buffoon who abandons my ideals and the hope for a better world for the sake of all people.
Mutual aid, autonomy, and horizontality – these are all beliefs that I hold for a better world.
Landlords are making the world worse by exploiting renters. They are at best class traitors, but in reality they are much, much worse. They are actively making the world a worse place for other people. They do not “provide housing,” as some would say – these are the true words of the foolish child. Instead, they create homelessness and exploit the misfortune of others for their gain.
Landlords aren’t alone in this, of course. Anyone who is an actual capitalist has to go. Either they will do so willingly and live, or they will be unwilling to abandon their position and perish.
This is one of the reason why I think the price of property should be regulated somehow by the government. The cost/ tax of a second house should be exponentially higher to discourage people doing this, so that a renting a second house should be a financial catastrophe. Capitalism, free market does not work, especially for basic human needs (food, shelter, health, energy, and if I may say education).
I myself bought my house 2 years ago, and the price was already ridiculous. Let’s say I paid almost 100k€ more than the estimated worth of the house (cause of market price). I’m pretty sure the price will collapse after some time. The price can increase 30-40 percent in 3-5 years. It’s crazy. The money invested here is much higher than I did when I was renting an apartment tho.
I don’t think the government should control the price. That just leads to problems. The government should control supply, by changing zoning laws from single family to multi-family. It should also fund building new housing units that can be sold or rented. This is how Singapore solved its housing crisis. We should build denser. There is no reason to have a housing shortage in America when we have so much land. We just use it terribly.
