I feel so sorry for the poor rock man

no banana @lemmy.world to Lemmy Shitpost@lemmy.world – 580 points –
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But, like, no one has to be a landlord. If it’s so hard, sell the fucking house.

You do as you're told. You study hard, you go into student debt, you get a job, you make your debt payments, you live frugally and somehow end up with a few bucks extra in your bank account every month. After a few years you've got yourself some money set aside. What do you do with that money in order to get out from under the boot off the system? Here are your options.

  • Invest in the stock market. You know, the rigged casino that cheats you if there's any chance for you to make a profit. It's all a game of musical chairs and someone is gonna left holding the bag. Will it be you?

  • Buy a fixer-upper, work hard, make enough on rent to basically cover the mortgage, taxes, and maybe most of the maintenance, all in the hope that you can sell it at a profit before prices crash. It's all a game of musical chairs and someone is gonna left holding the bag. Will it be you?

  • Crypto! It's all a game of musical chairs and someone is gonna left holding the bag. Will it be you?

  • Literally buy lottery tickets.

  • Stick your money in an interest bearing account and watch it lose value daily because nothing ever keeps up with inflation.

At least when you buy and fix a wreck there is some sense of agency. It feels like you can do something about it. We are told to do our part, be responsible, play our part and we will be rewarded, but it's a lie. It's been a lie since Reagan was elected and it got way worse under every administration since. They love it when we get at each other's throat like this because it's what stops us from setting fire to the whole thing.

PS: Person buys home to rent with the dream of actually owning something tangible. Person nets 2% if they're lucky but they are happy because at least they aren't losing. Everyone on the Internet hates them. If the same person buys shares in a real estate fund that's literally making people homeless, buying trailer parks and evicting everyone, etc., they will make as much as 20% return yet nobody here bats an eye. That's the poison right there. That's the disconnect and how they keep us down. Why own anything and be a decent human being when I can log into this app, give it my money and not have to worry about who my money hurts?

Love how you're getting downvoted for making clear and logical arguments. Notice how no one has, or will have, a rebuttal?

It ain't the landlords kids, it's the real estate empires fucking you over. The answer is federal legislation saying any single entity can only own, I dunno, 10 or 100 houses? Devil and details and all, but these megacorps should not be able to own 10,000 homes. And of course, we need exceptions for lenders like banks that have an inventory of foreclosed properties that don't magically get insta purchased and fall off the books.

Who am I kidding. There's too much money to ever turn that boat around.

You're solution doesn't solve the thing you're trying to solve.

E.g.

There is a "mom & pop" landlord with just 10 properties. But they don't purchase anymore. Now there are 1000 such landlords. The landlords all incorporate and create a REIT that owns 10,000 homes. You have created a "megacorp" through just "mom and pop" landlords.

What is the difference?

The true answer is the abolition of landlords in favour of housing coops and community land trusts.

To prove a point to you I'll ask you a question.

What is the difference between the goal of small landlords vs REITs and "megacorps" represented by row 4 of the graph found here?:

https://www.smalllandlords.org/about-small-landlords/

The group is a small landlord group from my city.

A bit off topic from your point, but there is no way to get screwed if you just invest for 10+ years in all market index funds from something like vanguard. The only way you're going down in that situation is if the whole system goes down for good. Also government bonds go well above inflation. There are options for regular people, but both of those options likely mean financially supporting things you might not believe in. Like a imperial government and a dirty energy focused economy. The only way it's a casino is if you buy individual stocks. Index funds are the safest way for regular people to make more money than inflation, you just have to be willing to let your money sit for a long time. You don't invest in index funds if you're unwilling to wait for the boom and bust cycles to pass a few times.

I don't have a problem with the players necessarily, just the game.

I'm lazy so I invest because I don't want to deal with being a landlord. Anyone who chooses to be a landlord deserves no sympathy. They chose to be a landlord instead of investing. You can get easy R.E. exposure by just being R.E.I.T.s so any extra work is your problem. On top of that landlords expect extra respect for something that REITs do. It's all the same game so all should be looked down upon.

Wanting to play as a boot when the game rewards playing the boot is ok so long as you advocate against the boot. But a lot of these people glorify the boot and try to become one sooo bad and for that, all of them can have the death penalty on them.

In short, want real estate? REITs, do you want to become a boot? Invest. But most importantly of all, be a boot abolitionist. If you're a boot defender then you rightfully get criticism.

I think your saying doing something physical is better than through an app. It makes no difference. It's all the same. But I do agree more awareness needs to be had with REITs. The solution is not to go easy on landlords but rather to go hard on REITs.

It's not hard, it's just expensive and intense at times. But it's lucrative and pays off after years of upkeep and maintenance that the renters NEVER do. I ain't selling the house. Don't hate the players, hate the game.

maintenance that the renters NEVER do

But why would the tenant maintain the property? I mean, I'm a tenant and will carry out low level repairs if I cause any damage, or if entropy means that something looks shabby. But beyond that? It's not my fucking house. My landlord just put my rent up by £50 a month to cover "the rising cost of maintenance". They've not done a single bit of maintenance in the year I've lived here.

I can hate both the players and the game, because it's rigged.

Right. I'm paying you for the home I'm living in. It's a service you're providing me as a tenant. I don't own the house, if I did I would pay someone to fix my shit.

OK, what's your plan for housing then? Run right out and purchase your own home? Got the cash and credit for that I assume?

Oh, and if your HVAC dies, the only phone call you're making is to the local contractor. Hopefully it's a $20 capacitor and not a $5,000 new unit. Hope you've got a lot of DIY experience or a load of cash!

If the renter doesn't pay for maintainance who does? Are you willing to run a monthly loss of $100/month or would raise rents to cover or even sell the property?

The solution is cooperative housing and community land trusts plus social housing.