> Currently the property tax is offset by rising property prices and its not worth the hassle/risk to put tenants into the properties. Depending on the local l

> Currently the property tax is offset by rising property prices and its not worth the hassle/risk to put tenants into the properties. Depending on the local laws, leaving properties empty can actually be riskier than having them occupied. I had a friend struggle to evict squatters who moved into his rental property while it was vacant for a few weeks between tenants for upgrades. He lost months trying to get them evicted and they did a lot of damage to the house because they didn’t have anything to lose. Houses are also tough assets to just sit on because they slowly decay over time and require periodic maintenance and updates, even if nobody is living there. An empty house can actually accumulate damage faster than an occupied house because nobody is there to notice leaks or other problems. Leaving a property empty is definitely not a normal situation outside of maybe a few select markets with outlier (bubble) levels of appreciation and speculation. Building an entire tax system around this possibility doesn’t seem like a good idea.