With Shared Software, Landlords Are Teaming Up to Raise Rents

TheDemonBuer , 4 hours ago

I have a real problem with landlords. It feels like an especially predatory business. Some things just shouldn’t be for profit. I mean, when you own something that people universally need, and charge as much as you possibly can for it, to maximize your own profit, for nothing other than just being the owner, it feels really scummy.

shalafi , 3 hours ago

I own my home. I may rent it out when I retire because I sure as fuck won’t have any money. Maybe we’ll get an RV or move to the Philippines. Dunno. But I need to get paid on that home.

For one, renters are likely to fuck shit up, because it’s not theirs, they have no stake in the property. They may simply be ignorant and ignore problems that cost $100 to fix today, $1,000 to fix tomorrow. Also, I need to buy extra liability insurance.

Then there’s routine stuff. When my ex and I bought the place we took payday loans for 2-months just to get the tools and stuff we needed to care for the place. And nearly everything we bought was used. Paid them off responsibly and quickly, but it was costly.

Ever priced a new roof? Hell, within the last 30-days our sink stopped up, the washer died, fridge finally died. and that’s only the big stuff. Even buying off FB, that was $1,000 in new appliances and repairs. Oh, and the hot water heater leaks, but that’s under control for the moment. And the roof needs patched. I’m scared to even price that, can’t afford it ATM anyway.

So yeah, I need serious “profit” just to break even.

TheDemonBuer , 2 hours ago (edited 2 hours ago)

So yeah, I need serious “profit” just to break even.

That’s a contradiction in terms. To break even is by definition not a profit. To make a profit, you need a surplus after you minus expenses from revenue. If landlords were content to just break even, I wouldn’t necessarily have a problem with them. In fact, I think not-for-profit housing could go a long way in addressing the housing affordability crisis.

SoJB , 2 hours ago

Yeah you’re really not beating the allegations here, bud.

I hope that house turns you under.

benignintervention , 1 hour ago

I think there’s a little room for nuance, but not much. The way corporate landlords are buying up houses and collaborating to fix prices is totally fucked and needs regulated. There also needs to be regulation or limits for private property owners who buy up a bunch of properties and slumlord it.

Where I think there’s nuance is how things fall right now. I just left the military and I’m renting out my house exclusively to military occupants who are not trying to buy. I bought it at 3% interest and my mortgage is more or less fixed. The next buyer was looking for it as an addition to their rental portfolio. I did the math before deciding to rent and found that because my interest and mortgage are so low I can charge $800/month less in rent than a mortgage would be if I sold it. It’s also less than their housing allowance so they have more for utilities and food.

It’s regrettable that this is the situation, but in this specific case in a very high demand/low supply area, renting it out is the lesser of the evils. Hopefully the market crashes or rates fall and I can sell it to a family who needs it. But until then, I’ll try to make things easier on some service members.

metaStatic , 5 hours ago

price collusion is free speech, just ask the petrol stations

FlashMobOfOne , 5 hours ago

I know that something like this won’t accomplish much, but like gun control, I’m a huge fan of making it terribly inconvenient to do the wrong thing.

It’s a shame that even in a place like San Francisco, it’s apparently impossible to enact rent control.

PP_BOY_ , 5 hours ago

It’s a shame that even in a place like San Francisco, it’s apparently impossible to enact rent control.

It wasn’t until very recently that SF became synonymous with progressive politics like it is today. For most of the 20th century, it was a highly conservative, “rich people,” city. That kind of embedded wealth doesn’t just go away within a few decades, SF is still pretty conservative at its core.

FlashMobOfOne , 5 hours ago

I didn’t know. Thanks for sharing.