4 ms·

Not just commercial real estate: in most cities I've lived in (including SF), a handful of large conglomerates own a big fraction of rental real estate, too. I

by timr 11y ago

Not just commercial real estate: in most cities I've lived in (including SF), a handful of large conglomerates own a big fraction of rental real estate, too. In my experience, these landlords are amongst the most scummy to deal with -- unresponsive, inflexible and unrelenting on rent increases. They'll take months to fix anything, but damned if they won't raise your rent by the maximum legal amount at every opportunity, and there's very little room for negotiation. Given a choice between losing a good tenant and maybe getting more rent, they'll choose the latter. It's like having Comcast control your living situation. The corporatization of our residential real estate market is just one more step toward the future predicted by Terry Gilliam in Brazil.

prostoalex 11y ago
Multi-family residential real estate has been securitized for quite a while with fairly major REITs (AVB, ESS, APTS, etc.) There is some institutional money chasing single-family market as well (AMH, ARPI, soon to be merged into a single entity, and a few others), we'll see how well that model scales to single family residences.
mooreds 11y ago
> It's like having Comcast control your living situation. That sounds like a nightmare! PS what do you mean maximum legal rent increase. I am in Colorado and as far as I know, the only limit on a rent increase is the market. Does SF have laws around this?
- nommm-nommm 11y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rent_control_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rent_control_in_the_United_Sta...
- timr 11y ago
  SF has laws around how much you can raise rents on tenants of older buildings. New construction is not regulated. People debate this endlessly, but what I was referring to was the (nearly universal) practice of raising rents at the end of every lease period, regardless of your tenant history -- for example, a corporate landlord will use a month-to-month lease as an excuse to raise your rent many times a year, regardless of your history or market conditions. They're betting that you really don't want to move, and that you'll suffer a series of regular rent increases, even if you could easily get a better deal elsewhere. This is shitty, evil behavior, but large landlords do it because they can make the bet profitably, in aggregate. That said, it's interesting that you asked, because I lived in Colorado for years and the corporatization (and corresponding market behavior) of apartment managers there was as bad as any place I've been. If you stayed in the same complex for a few leases and weren't an aggressive negotiator, it was easy to end up paying more per month than someone who had moved in the week before. You had to move every year or two to keep your rent from skyrocketing. It's one of the tangible reasons I prefer thoughtful systems of rent regulations (like SF's) -- it leads to more stable communities. When people have to move every year, nobody puts down roots or cares about their neighborhood.
  - mooreds 11y ago
    Ah, thanks for the explanation. I confess I haven't rented in years, but when I did I almost always rented from individuals with one or two or four houses, rather than faceless corporations owning tens or hundreds of units. Perhaps the city I am in (Boulder) has different characteristics, or I was lucky, or things have changed.
    - timr 11y ago
      Oh, yeah...when I was there (admittedly almost two decades ago, now), Boulder had a much different rental market than Denver. Smaller landlords, smaller properties.
      - nommm-nommm 11y ago
        It's all a crapshoot, sometimes the small landlords are the scummiest.
        mooreds 11y ago
        Hey, there's a business idea: yelp for landlords!
marincounty 11y ago
I'll second that, and include with San Francisco, beautiful Marin county. That liberal enclave north of SF. My neighbor is renting out a studio apartment.(1/4 of a basement. One room. $30 dollar parking tickets/ per night.) He's getting $2500 month. That was one, or two years ago. I don't want to guess what he's getting now. I know there's a procession of renters. I can usually hear the wife of one of the victims begging for baby sitting work from their balcony. He weaseled the house from a very lonely lady. "I'll remodel the house, if you give me half ownership, and give me your portion in your will. She got cancer. He got complete control of the house, and her kids got nothing. Why did I out this guy; because the way he gets his money is immoral. Getting money this way is immoral. That it--it's just wrong. As to alternatives, section 8 is closed. Even if you do get a voucher, and get put up in a ghetto, you need to sign the most one sided lease I have ever read, that's 43 pages long. Yes--43 pages of "can't do this". Down to a covered lid on your garbage can that has to reside only under your sink. Two, or three day notice if a relative wants to spend the night. Absolutely no work on your vechicle in the parking lot. I hope a lawyer eventually brings Marin Housing to their knees. O.k. move! Many people in my county have been here a long time. The one, or two people who care if they are breathing live here. Some are just old. O.k. Pitch a tent. Where? There not one campground that accepts full time campers. The minimum fee is, I believe $25/night--no shower, just a out house. Don't stay more that three days! I don't have an answer. These towns weren't built to scale, and there's a lot of NIMBY's. It not just the NIMBY's, it's small town code enforcement squads that make remodeling a room very difficult/expensive. Plus, traffic on 101 has not improved. I can't fight everything. My gripe is landlords whom are immoral. It's time to out them. It's time to call people out on their greedy behavior, in all aspects of life. I've never bought this, "If it's legal--I'll do it!". I see you people daily, and don't like you. I see you in ties at work. I see you with a stethoscope around your neck. I see you going out of your way to screw someone. Someone usually with not much power. You are not fooling anyone. We see whom you've become. Ever wonder why you are so lonely? Why people don't give you the respect you think you deserve?
- Roritharr 11y ago
  "You are not fooling anyone. We see whom you've become. Ever wonder why you are so lonely? Why people don't give you the respect you think you deserve?" Without getting to cynical, but why do you think these people don't get respect or are lonely? Most crooks I know have families and friends that love them and accept them for who they are. Being immoral is pretty acceptable for most people as long as the larger society doesn't penalise their dependants. Which kid has a harder time in school, the one with a crook for a father, or the one without the new Nike's?

by timr 11y ago

prostoalex 11y ago

Multi-family residential real estate has been securitized for quite a while with fairly major REITs (AVB, ESS, APTS, etc.) There is some institutional money chasing single-family market as well (AMH, ARPI, soon to be merged into a single entity, and a few others), we'll see how well that model scales to single family residences.

mooreds 11y ago

> It's like having Comcast control your living situation. That sounds like a nightmare! PS what do you mean maximum legal rent increase. I am in Colorado and as far as I know, the only limit on a rent increase is the market. Does SF have laws around this?

nommm-nommm 11y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rent_control_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rent_control_in_the_United_Sta...
timr 11y ago
SF has laws around how much you can raise rents on tenants of older buildings. New construction is not regulated. People debate this endlessly, but what I was referring to was the (nearly universal) practice of raising rents at the end of every lease period, regardless of your tenant history -- for example, a corporate landlord will use a month-to-month lease as an excuse to raise your rent many times a year, regardless of your history or market conditions. They're betting that you really don't want to move, and that you'll suffer a series of regular rent increases, even if you could easily get a better deal elsewhere. This is shitty, evil behavior, but large landlords do it because they can make the bet profitably, in aggregate. That said, it's interesting that you asked, because I lived in Colorado for years and the corporatization (and corresponding market behavior) of apartment managers there was as bad as any place I've been. If you stayed in the same complex for a few leases and weren't an aggressive negotiator, it was easy to end up paying more per month than someone who had moved in the week before. You had to move every year or two to keep your rent from skyrocketing. It's one of the tangible reasons I prefer thoughtful systems of rent regulations (like SF's) -- it leads to more stable communities. When people have to move every year, nobody puts down roots or cares about their neighborhood.
- mooreds 11y ago
  Ah, thanks for the explanation. I confess I haven't rented in years, but when I did I almost always rented from individuals with one or two or four houses, rather than faceless corporations owning tens or hundreds of units. Perhaps the city I am in (Boulder) has different characteristics, or I was lucky, or things have changed.
  - timr 11y ago
    Oh, yeah...when I was there (admittedly almost two decades ago, now), Boulder had a much different rental market than Denver. Smaller landlords, smaller properties.
    - nommm-nommm 11y ago
      It's all a crapshoot, sometimes the small landlords are the scummiest.
      - mooreds 11y ago
        Hey, there's a business idea: yelp for landlords!

marincounty 11y ago

I'll second that, and include with San Francisco, beautiful Marin county. That liberal enclave north of SF. My neighbor is renting out a studio apartment.(1/4 of a basement. One room. $30 dollar parking tickets/ per night.) He's getting $2500 month. That was one, or two years ago. I don't want to guess what he's getting now. I know there's a procession of renters. I can usually hear the wife of one of the victims begging for baby sitting work from their balcony. He weaseled the house from a very lonely lady. "I'll remodel the house, if you give me half ownership, and give me your portion in your will. She got cancer. He got complete control of the house, and her kids got nothing. Why did I out this guy; because the way he gets his money is immoral. Getting money this way is immoral. That it--it's just wrong. As to alternatives, section 8 is closed. Even if you do get a voucher, and get put up in a ghetto, you need to sign the most one sided lease I have ever read, that's 43 pages long. Yes--43 pages of "can't do this". Down to a covered lid on your garbage can that has to reside only under your sink. Two, or three day notice if a relative wants to spend the night. Absolutely no work on your vechicle in the parking lot. I hope a lawyer eventually brings Marin Housing to their knees. O.k. move! Many people in my county have been here a long time. The one, or two people who care if they are breathing live here. Some are just old. O.k. Pitch a tent. Where? There not one campground that accepts full time campers. The minimum fee is, I believe $25/night--no shower, just a out house. Don't stay more that three days! I don't have an answer. These towns weren't built to scale, and there's a lot of NIMBY's. It not just the NIMBY's, it's small town code enforcement squads that make remodeling a room very difficult/expensive. Plus, traffic on 101 has not improved. I can't fight everything. My gripe is landlords whom are immoral. It's time to out them. It's time to call people out on their greedy behavior, in all aspects of life. I've never bought this, "If it's legal--I'll do it!". I see you people daily, and don't like you. I see you in ties at work. I see you with a stethoscope around your neck. I see you going out of your way to screw someone. Someone usually with not much power. You are not fooling anyone. We see whom you've become. Ever wonder why you are so lonely? Why people don't give you the respect you think you deserve?

Roritharr 11y ago
"You are not fooling anyone. We see whom you've become. Ever wonder why you are so lonely? Why people don't give you the respect you think you deserve?" Without getting to cynical, but why do you think these people don't get respect or are lonely? Most crooks I know have families and friends that love them and accept them for who they are. Being immoral is pretty acceptable for most people as long as the larger society doesn't penalise their dependants. Which kid has a harder time in school, the one with a crook for a father, or the one without the new Nike's?