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They may have done a lot of useful work in order to have the money to purchase that asset. Most homes are paid for using the fruits of useful labor.

colechristensen 7y ago
This is the core of the issue, doing hard work which allows you to permanently purchase the hard work of others in a way which grows and compounds. I'm fine with it in certain contexts, moreso when the investment involves risk and uncertainty. But being able to buy and collect rent (in various ways) from the basics of life (and scaling that rent up to market rates, or the highest anyone will pay without leaving) ... causes me, and society, problems.
- austhrow743 7y ago
  >But being able to buy and collect rent (in various ways) from the basics of life (and scaling that rent up to market rates, or the highest anyone will pay without leaving) This is how every other good in society works though and it generally works out in the consumers favour. Food is right up there with shelter in the basics of life and it's been driven way down as a percentage of labour that we have to perform in order to earn it. Same as clothing. The problem is that housing has super high constraints on it and that's largely caused by private home ownership not landlords. It creates protectionism for land value reducing supply driving up both home prices and rent costs. Then because getting a place to rent becomes an ordeal, instability in your current living situation becomes a big deal, so theres a bunch of protection around eviction. Then because you can't boot someone easily you be more selective, vet harder, more likely to leave it vacant if you cant find someone good; which reduces supply even further. There are no policies keeping the price of food or pants high because 99.9% of us benefit from low prices for those things which makes it harder to do politically. The same cannot be said for housing. Sure the amount of people that benefit from high rent is a tiny percentage of the population but its intrinsically linked to housing prices overall, which a lot of people do benefit from being high. If 99.9% of people rented then abundant and cheap housing would be a priority for government at all levels. Renting isn't the cause of societal problems, it's private ownership. Specifically, politically active private ownership.
  - colechristensen 7y ago
    The problems com from people profiting from "owning" housing. It shouldn't be an investment, period.
    - austhrow743 7y ago
      Profit is the motive that gets people to build things, period.
      - colechristensen 7y ago
        If I build a home, I do it because I want a place to live, not profit, don't be foolish.
        austhrow743 7y ago
        And what, everyone becomes a builder? Lol. Don't you be foolish.

colechristensen 7y ago

This is the core of the issue, doing hard work which allows you to permanently purchase the hard work of others in a way which grows and compounds. I'm fine with it in certain contexts, moreso when the investment involves risk and uncertainty. But being able to buy and collect rent (in various ways) from the basics of life (and scaling that rent up to market rates, or the highest anyone will pay without leaving) ... causes me, and society, problems.

austhrow743 7y ago
>But being able to buy and collect rent (in various ways) from the basics of life (and scaling that rent up to market rates, or the highest anyone will pay without leaving) This is how every other good in society works though and it generally works out in the consumers favour. Food is right up there with shelter in the basics of life and it's been driven way down as a percentage of labour that we have to perform in order to earn it. Same as clothing. The problem is that housing has super high constraints on it and that's largely caused by private home ownership not landlords. It creates protectionism for land value reducing supply driving up both home prices and rent costs. Then because getting a place to rent becomes an ordeal, instability in your current living situation becomes a big deal, so theres a bunch of protection around eviction. Then because you can't boot someone easily you be more selective, vet harder, more likely to leave it vacant if you cant find someone good; which reduces supply even further. There are no policies keeping the price of food or pants high because 99.9% of us benefit from low prices for those things which makes it harder to do politically. The same cannot be said for housing. Sure the amount of people that benefit from high rent is a tiny percentage of the population but its intrinsically linked to housing prices overall, which a lot of people do benefit from being high. If 99.9% of people rented then abundant and cheap housing would be a priority for government at all levels. Renting isn't the cause of societal problems, it's private ownership. Specifically, politically active private ownership.
- colechristensen 7y ago
  The problems com from people profiting from "owning" housing. It shouldn't be an investment, period.
  - austhrow743 7y ago
    Profit is the motive that gets people to build things, period.
    - colechristensen 7y ago
      If I build a home, I do it because I want a place to live, not profit, don't be foolish.
      - austhrow743 7y ago
        And what, everyone becomes a builder? Lol. Don't you be foolish.