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refreshertowel t1_jbowsq8 wrote

Reply to comment by OSRS_Rising in New York landlord becomes legal guardian of 93-year-old Holocaust survivor: 'She had no one else' by Imguran

Lol, you obviously know that fridge repairmen exist right? And gardeners? They don't exist solely through your landlord. You would pay a lot less just to hire them when things break / need mowing than you do in rent.

You are paying for the privilege of someone else living off your money, while also occasionally having to use your money to pay someone else to do something else to the property you live at.

If the landlords weren't making more money from you than they were spending on services, they would kick you out my friend.

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OSRS_Rising t1_jboxbxw wrote

My fridge needed replaced. This was an unexpected, four-figure purchase I didn’t have to make.

I’m not opposed to my landlord making a profit off me, every service does that. When I get my car fixed, I’m aware they are making a significant profit off of the interaction.

I’d question my landlord’s sanity if he wasn’t making money lol

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refreshertowel t1_jboytcq wrote

I "own" my own house. It's not the greatest house and has needed many repairs throughout the years I've been living here. The amount of money I have saved by not paying rent over that time is literally mindboggling. You are caught in a trap you do not realise. Unless you are a millionaire renting a condo and using it as a tax writeoff or some other absurd situation, you are literally being fucked in the arse by your landlord, no matter how much you try to justify it.

If your time is so valuable that a phone call and repair costs for any item in your house is worth less to you than the time taken to do it then you should own your house already. If your time is not that valuable, then your decade/lifetime rent costs will outpace any possible repairs/maintanence by huge amounts.

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OSRS_Rising t1_jbp1mh7 wrote

I pay around 25% if my income a year for housing and some back-of-the-napkin math says I’ll have paid what the average home in my state costs after 25-ish years.

But I don’t want a home or land. I’m paying for a product I actually want and it feels classist to assume that there’s only one “right” way of living life—owning a home.

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refreshertowel t1_jbp4j2i wrote

I don't think anyone should own land, and I've lived under a bridge at one point, so no, I don't think I'm being classist. What I am being is anti-landlord. There is no contribution they make that makes it worth anyone's while to justify their existence.

In my ideal world, you would not have to worry about owning a home or land either, but for entirely different reasons than a landlord makes it worth your while not to.

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Sunira t1_jbpj3no wrote

Yeah I agree with you that it's classist. Also homeowners love to say renting costs more but then you're free of any real estate market ups and downs, can leave whenever you feel like it, and homeowners spend the first 10 years giving most of their mortgage money to a bank via interest that doesn't go towards their loan amount. Also did everyone suddenly forget 2008-2014 where tons of the country were underwater in their homevalue vs mortgage and were literally trapped in their house or having to sell at a HUGE loss? A renter can just pack up and go when the economy or opportunity moves in a different direction. As a homeowner you also have to cover insurance and still pay for major expenses. Sure maybe a fridge might cost 1500, but a roof is like 15k on the low end, windows are like 750 each to replace .. did your AC unit go out? THOUSANDS. And it all adds up. Property taxes on top --etc. I say this as a homeowner that LOVES their home and is willing to have the cost -- but its delusional to think that someone paying $1500 in rent is somehow way worse off than someone with a $1200 mortgage. That's some horse blinders for real estate right there.

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prontoon t1_jbtcxf6 wrote

Good luck trying to convince anyone on reddit that landlord = evil hitler human. Reddit is full of renters who are seething at their landlords, your view is completely correct, just won't stick to someone who is echoing the "reddit opinion"

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