>anyone 'investing' in rentals of any sort (not living there themselves) should be _punishingly_ taxed At which point they raise the rent to cover those taxes,

>anyone 'investing' in rentals of any sort (not living there themselves) should be _punishingly_ taxed At which point they raise the rent to cover those taxes, thus the people punished are the renters. Mostly people who already can't to afford to buy or the transaction costs of buying and then selling again short-term. That would be a very regressive tax. And on top of that, it discourages developing rentals and making them available, even further exacerbating the housing supply problems and making life more difficult for less-wealthy people (or really anyone who is not a homeowner).