4 ms·

Providing shelter to people is the least productive sector of the economy you could think of? Why would land owners get a bailout? Because they were mandated

by LanceH 5y ago

Providing shelter to people is the least productive sector of the economy you could think of? Why would land owners get a bailout? Because they were mandated by the government to provide their services without payment.

lucian1900 5y ago
Landlord are holding shelter hostage, not providing it.
- _-david-_ 5y ago
  Many people would not be able to afford shelter even if there were no landlords. Can someone making $10 an hour afford a $500k house? Landlords are providing shelter to people who otherwise could not afford it.
  - lucian1900 5y ago
    Homes used to be far less expensive relative to minimum wage or median income. Landlords and speculation are precisely why homes are so much more expensive now.
    - _-david-_ 5y ago
      It may have caused some increase in the price, but it would still be out of price for many people. That is why I said $500k instead of $1m which is quite common throughout California. There are other issues like zoning laws which causes increases in housing pricing which wouldn't be solved by getting rid of landlords.
HWR_14 5y ago
Owning a building that provides shelter isn't providing shelter. Rentiers are commonly considered to be the least productive sectors of economy, whether they rent homes or software licenses.
repiret 5y ago
As a landlord, I expected to loose money during the pandemic. One of the risks you take on is that the rental market changes and you can't get as much money for your property as you planned on. I have no sympathy for landlords who got less rent. Bailing them out means they don't have to sell, which increases the price to acquire rental property, which increases rents, which hurts the renting public at large. I agree that this policy punishes the responsible - the ones who made other sacrifices in order to not get behind on rent, because they were told they'd eventually owe back rent and didn't want to be in that hole.
- dntrkv 5y ago
  > One of the risks you take on is that the rental market changes and you can't get as much money for your property as you planned on Yes, but you don't expect to be forced to house people for free for over a year.
  - repiret 5y ago
    I didn’t expect a global pandemic either. Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition. Nobody is forcing anybody to house people for free. Sure, you can’t evict, but you can sell your property and let that be someone else’s problem. The fact is, the price of rental properties didn’t crash, which means the majority of landlords didn’t mind the situation they were in all that much. I don’t know whether that’s because most people paid rent, most landlords didn’t mind not getting rent, or that there’s lots of money sloshing around looking for investment opportunities; I suspect it’s a mix of the first and third.
    - gameman144 5y ago
      > Nobody is forcing anybody to house people for free. Sure, you can’t evict, but you can sell your property and let that be someone else’s problem. This seems pretty disingenuous. On the surface level it's obviously true, but that same logic applies to anything that people are obligated to do. Like, I'm not forced to wear a seatbelt, but if I commute an hour-and-a-half from the boonies to my business each day, there's no reasonable alternative for the average person that doesn't completely uproot their life. I could definitely move to a new house or start up a new business closer to home, but I imagine most reasonable folks would say "Yeah, you kind of have to just wear your seatbelt now".
thescriptkiddie 5y ago
Landlords do not provide shelter. They hold it hostage.

by LanceH 5y ago

lucian1900 5y ago

Landlord are holding shelter hostage, not providing it.

_-david-_ 5y ago
Many people would not be able to afford shelter even if there were no landlords. Can someone making $10 an hour afford a $500k house? Landlords are providing shelter to people who otherwise could not afford it.
- lucian1900 5y ago
  Homes used to be far less expensive relative to minimum wage or median income. Landlords and speculation are precisely why homes are so much more expensive now.
  - _-david-_ 5y ago
    It may have caused some increase in the price, but it would still be out of price for many people. That is why I said $500k instead of $1m which is quite common throughout California. There are other issues like zoning laws which causes increases in housing pricing which wouldn't be solved by getting rid of landlords.

HWR_14 5y ago

Owning a building that provides shelter isn't providing shelter. Rentiers are commonly considered to be the least productive sectors of economy, whether they rent homes or software licenses.

repiret 5y ago

As a landlord, I expected to loose money during the pandemic. One of the risks you take on is that the rental market changes and you can't get as much money for your property as you planned on. I have no sympathy for landlords who got less rent. Bailing them out means they don't have to sell, which increases the price to acquire rental property, which increases rents, which hurts the renting public at large. I agree that this policy punishes the responsible - the ones who made other sacrifices in order to not get behind on rent, because they were told they'd eventually owe back rent and didn't want to be in that hole.

dntrkv 5y ago
> One of the risks you take on is that the rental market changes and you can't get as much money for your property as you planned on Yes, but you don't expect to be forced to house people for free for over a year.
- repiret 5y ago
  I didn’t expect a global pandemic either. Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition. Nobody is forcing anybody to house people for free. Sure, you can’t evict, but you can sell your property and let that be someone else’s problem. The fact is, the price of rental properties didn’t crash, which means the majority of landlords didn’t mind the situation they were in all that much. I don’t know whether that’s because most people paid rent, most landlords didn’t mind not getting rent, or that there’s lots of money sloshing around looking for investment opportunities; I suspect it’s a mix of the first and third.
  - gameman144 5y ago
    > Nobody is forcing anybody to house people for free. Sure, you can’t evict, but you can sell your property and let that be someone else’s problem. This seems pretty disingenuous. On the surface level it's obviously true, but that same logic applies to anything that people are obligated to do. Like, I'm not forced to wear a seatbelt, but if I commute an hour-and-a-half from the boonies to my business each day, there's no reasonable alternative for the average person that doesn't completely uproot their life. I could definitely move to a new house or start up a new business closer to home, but I imagine most reasonable folks would say "Yeah, you kind of have to just wear your seatbelt now".

thescriptkiddie 5y ago

Landlords do not provide shelter. They hold it hostage.