4 ms·

Then should rents go up? It is now much riskier to be a landlord, risk that is going uncompensated...

gruez 7y ago
Theoretically yes, although the demand curve also comes into play. In a parallel universe where the risks of a pandemic/lockdown was known and taken seriously, you would definitely expect rents to be higher.
- sv9 7y ago
  Maybe the landlords should've been more responsible and saved for a rainy day. Isn't that what the less-well-off are always told to do? Poor planning on their part shouldn't be the fault of renters.
  - SpicyLemonZest 7y ago
    I don't mean to be pithy, but rents are established by supply and demand, not by an analysis of who's at fault or a decision about whether some particular landlord needs more money.
  - dang 7y ago
    Would you please stop using HN for political battle? You've been doing it a lot, and it's not what this site is for. Also, while I have you, would you please stop creating accounts for every few comments you post? We ban accounts that do that as well. This is in the site guidelines: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html. You needn't use your real name, of course, but for HN to be a community, users need some identity for others to relate to. Otherwise we may as well have no usernames and no community, and that would be a different kind of forum. https://hn.algolia.com/?sort=byDate&dateRange=all&type=comment&storyText=false&prefix&page=0&query=by:dang%20community%20identity https://hn.algolia.com/?sort=byDate&dateRange=all&type=comme...
    - effhn 7y ago
      Stop suppressing uncomfortable opinions.
      - missedthecue 7y ago
        There's discourse between differing opinions and then there's spamming and rule breaking. One is encouraged. The other is something we could all do with less of.
      - dang 7y ago
        I have no problem with that opinion. It's possible to express one's opinions thoughtfully and substantively, and as part of a wider pattern of using the site (i.e. not being on HN primarily for political battle). In other words, it's possible to follow the site guidelines. Plenty of users do that, on all sides of these issues. They don't run into problems with moderation.
    - deleted 7y ago
      [deleted]
  - negzero7 7y ago
    This would be poor planning on the renter first. The obligation is on the renter to pay for the service (housing) they are using. The banks expect the mortgage holder to pay for borrowing money. If the renter can't pay they shouldn't get to stay. If the borrower can't pay they will lose the property. If the owner can't pay the taxes, they also lose the property.
- missedthecue 7y ago
  Basically yes, but there are more things at play. For instance, if evictions are not being processed right now (or if there are very strong squatting laws in normal times) this distorts the price discovery of the market. Actual demand will have dropped, but the resulting free supply cannot also come online because people will be living rent free. You can't rent out a unit with someone living in it. Please note that this isn't to say tenant laws are a mistake, but they do raise the price of rent for everyone.
- newshorts 7y ago
  Not really, you have to take into account a renter’s ability to pay. There’s an upper limit to what people can afford to spend on housing. Risk dictates a low percentage of the overall factor in pricing.
- texasbigdata 7y ago
  I think you're confusing the risk of buying an asset with the day to day reality of operating in. In the current environment, asset value decreases and certain costs (prices charged) have decreased as the supply chain adapts to try to maintain break even volume. Maybe it's different across the board.
missedthecue 7y ago
Price (in essentially all cases, particularly for commodity goods like housing) is based on supply and demand, not on the individual financial situation of the person selling the product. If demand for housing climbs noticeably, rates will follow, and vice versa (if supply of housing climbs, rates will plummet) The reason profit exists is that risk must be assumed to earn it.
deelowe 7y ago
It can't go up. And, as a result, many landlords will lose their businesses. This is why it's a "risk." The risk of being a landlord is playing out right now and, as a result, many could stand to lose their business.

Theoretically yes, although the demand curve also comes into play. In a parallel universe where the risks of a pandemic/lockdown was known and taken seriously, you would definitely expect rents to be higher.

sv9 7y ago
Maybe the landlords should've been more responsible and saved for a rainy day. Isn't that what the less-well-off are always told to do? Poor planning on their part shouldn't be the fault of renters.
- SpicyLemonZest 7y ago
  I don't mean to be pithy, but rents are established by supply and demand, not by an analysis of who's at fault or a decision about whether some particular landlord needs more money.
- dang 7y ago
  Would you please stop using HN for political battle? You've been doing it a lot, and it's not what this site is for. Also, while I have you, would you please stop creating accounts for every few comments you post? We ban accounts that do that as well. This is in the site guidelines: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html. You needn't use your real name, of course, but for HN to be a community, users need some identity for others to relate to. Otherwise we may as well have no usernames and no community, and that would be a different kind of forum. https://hn.algolia.com/?sort=byDate&dateRange=all&type=comment&storyText=false&prefix&page=0&query=by:dang%20community%20identity https://hn.algolia.com/?sort=byDate&dateRange=all&type=comme...
  - effhn 7y ago
    Stop suppressing uncomfortable opinions.
    - missedthecue 7y ago
      There's discourse between differing opinions and then there's spamming and rule breaking. One is encouraged. The other is something we could all do with less of.
    - dang 7y ago
      I have no problem with that opinion. It's possible to express one's opinions thoughtfully and substantively, and as part of a wider pattern of using the site (i.e. not being on HN primarily for political battle). In other words, it's possible to follow the site guidelines. Plenty of users do that, on all sides of these issues. They don't run into problems with moderation.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
- negzero7 7y ago
  This would be poor planning on the renter first. The obligation is on the renter to pay for the service (housing) they are using. The banks expect the mortgage holder to pay for borrowing money. If the renter can't pay they shouldn't get to stay. If the borrower can't pay they will lose the property. If the owner can't pay the taxes, they also lose the property.
missedthecue 7y ago
Basically yes, but there are more things at play. For instance, if evictions are not being processed right now (or if there are very strong squatting laws in normal times) this distorts the price discovery of the market. Actual demand will have dropped, but the resulting free supply cannot also come online because people will be living rent free. You can't rent out a unit with someone living in it. Please note that this isn't to say tenant laws are a mistake, but they do raise the price of rent for everyone.
newshorts 7y ago
Not really, you have to take into account a renter’s ability to pay. There’s an upper limit to what people can afford to spend on housing. Risk dictates a low percentage of the overall factor in pricing.
texasbigdata 7y ago
I think you're confusing the risk of buying an asset with the day to day reality of operating in. In the current environment, asset value decreases and certain costs (prices charged) have decreased as the supply chain adapts to try to maintain break even volume. Maybe it's different across the board.

missedthecue 7y ago

Price (in essentially all cases, particularly for commodity goods like housing) is based on supply and demand, not on the individual financial situation of the person selling the product. If demand for housing climbs noticeably, rates will follow, and vice versa (if supply of housing climbs, rates will plummet) The reason profit exists is that risk must be assumed to earn it.

deelowe 7y ago

It can't go up. And, as a result, many landlords will lose their businesses. This is why it's a "risk." The risk of being a landlord is playing out right now and, as a result, many could stand to lose their business.