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Not all current homeowners are sitting on their house as an investment. The true value in a house is that you have some property and a roof over your head as lo

Not all current homeowners are sitting on their house as an investment. The true value in a house is that you have some property and a roof over your head as long as you can pay the mortgage, taxes and insurance. Much better than being at the whim of landlords in a lot of cases. My father has owned a house for 29 years and when he’s gone I don’t care about cashing out or making a profit. Its just great to have a literal home base to rely on in case things get rough.

tsimionescu 4y ago
Of course, but that is exactly the point that GP was making: we either have this sort of safety for the majority of people, or we have a lucrative investment opportunity. It is fundamentally impossible, or or at least deeply unlikely, to have both.
Arkhaine_kupo 4y ago
> My father has owned a house for 29 years and when he’s gone I don’t care about cashing out or making a profit. Too bad, I have bought every house around and put them on the market for 1000% what your dad bought it for. Your taxes are calculated based on market rates, and therefore your housing tax is now completely unaffordable to you. You gotta sell the house you grew up in because I decided to fuck the market in your area. Also because I own 30 houses and you only own one, I can dictate the price, doing things like marking 28 above you and one below you so yours doesn't get sold. Then 27 above you and 1 below you, and keep doing that while you pay taxes on a house you can no longer afford nor sell. Welcome to your new nightmare of having me as a neighbour maximising my investment, meanwhile 27 people are homeless because the houses are not on the market despite the demand being there, but if I make them desperate first my return will be higher. Even people like you, with the right idea, to use housing as a house, can be caught up in the never ending bullshit that is the current housing model.
- quags 4y ago
  This would make a good novel like a Christmas story where the evil capitalist tries to destroy an old family housing cost but in my experience is far from reality. Starting with taxes - no where I have lived has does taxes at market rates like that. Many houses I have seen have low tax values that might adjust slightly on a sale. I don’t live in Cali but they famously avoid this with prop 13. Taxes may be re-rated by appraisals once in a while with adjustments to the market rate but the town doesn’t suddenly gain more of a tax base or revenue. Houses that improved move to a higher appraisal and houses that didn’t go lower. I have been through two re-rates and my lack of updates has resulted in a drop in the appraisal for the tax rate while my neighbors are higher. The rates adjust and the end result is some pay more and some pay less. This scenario might happen if you live in gentrified area and bought extremely low and get priced out but that is not the norm. The rest, I just don’t see. Either the evil capitalist is renting the houses or selling but who would list houses and not sell to drive a price down. If one is lower and sells, and there is demand for more to sell a buyer will be found.
  - piva00 4y ago
    The play with evil capitalists trying to force pricing out with taxes might be far-fetched but drip-feeding housing to help maintain inflated prices is a well-known tactic of developers in London, probably elsewhere it applies in varying degrees as well. For a well-financed developer it's a much better deal to drip-feed some 30 renovated apartments at 1x over 1-3 years than sell a chunk of 30 renovated apartments at once and at 0.8x due to the increased supply. If they wait they know the demand will still be there to sell at their full 1x.
- 7speter 4y ago
  Not saying we’re absolved from the bs, it would be great if other people also bought houses to be homes instead of a profit vehicle.
- jjav 4y ago
  > Your taxes are calculated based on market rates, and therefore your housing tax is now completely unaffordable to you. And this is what causes things like Prop13, when people revolt against being pushed out of their homes by taxes.
WalterBright 4y ago
I like owning the house because then I can modify it to suit. Rentals tend to be designed right down the middle, for maximum appeal. But I like different things. Some of my ideas I was bluntly told by the contractor would make the house difficult to sell.

tsimionescu 4y ago

Of course, but that is exactly the point that GP was making: we either have this sort of safety for the majority of people, or we have a lucrative investment opportunity. It is fundamentally impossible, or or at least deeply unlikely, to have both.

Arkhaine_kupo 4y ago

> My father has owned a house for 29 years and when he’s gone I don’t care about cashing out or making a profit. Too bad, I have bought every house around and put them on the market for 1000% what your dad bought it for. Your taxes are calculated based on market rates, and therefore your housing tax is now completely unaffordable to you. You gotta sell the house you grew up in because I decided to fuck the market in your area. Also because I own 30 houses and you only own one, I can dictate the price, doing things like marking 28 above you and one below you so yours doesn't get sold. Then 27 above you and 1 below you, and keep doing that while you pay taxes on a house you can no longer afford nor sell. Welcome to your new nightmare of having me as a neighbour maximising my investment, meanwhile 27 people are homeless because the houses are not on the market despite the demand being there, but if I make them desperate first my return will be higher. Even people like you, with the right idea, to use housing as a house, can be caught up in the never ending bullshit that is the current housing model.

quags 4y ago
This would make a good novel like a Christmas story where the evil capitalist tries to destroy an old family housing cost but in my experience is far from reality. Starting with taxes - no where I have lived has does taxes at market rates like that. Many houses I have seen have low tax values that might adjust slightly on a sale. I don’t live in Cali but they famously avoid this with prop 13. Taxes may be re-rated by appraisals once in a while with adjustments to the market rate but the town doesn’t suddenly gain more of a tax base or revenue. Houses that improved move to a higher appraisal and houses that didn’t go lower. I have been through two re-rates and my lack of updates has resulted in a drop in the appraisal for the tax rate while my neighbors are higher. The rates adjust and the end result is some pay more and some pay less. This scenario might happen if you live in gentrified area and bought extremely low and get priced out but that is not the norm. The rest, I just don’t see. Either the evil capitalist is renting the houses or selling but who would list houses and not sell to drive a price down. If one is lower and sells, and there is demand for more to sell a buyer will be found.
- piva00 4y ago
  The play with evil capitalists trying to force pricing out with taxes might be far-fetched but drip-feeding housing to help maintain inflated prices is a well-known tactic of developers in London, probably elsewhere it applies in varying degrees as well. For a well-financed developer it's a much better deal to drip-feed some 30 renovated apartments at 1x over 1-3 years than sell a chunk of 30 renovated apartments at once and at 0.8x due to the increased supply. If they wait they know the demand will still be there to sell at their full 1x.
7speter 4y ago
Not saying we’re absolved from the bs, it would be great if other people also bought houses to be homes instead of a profit vehicle.
jjav 4y ago
> Your taxes are calculated based on market rates, and therefore your housing tax is now completely unaffordable to you. And this is what causes things like Prop13, when people revolt against being pushed out of their homes by taxes.

WalterBright 4y ago

I like owning the house because then I can modify it to suit. Rentals tend to be designed right down the middle, for maximum appeal. But I like different things. Some of my ideas I was bluntly told by the contractor would make the house difficult to sell.