Submitted by blondiebell t3_10l2ka1 in pittsburgh
Confident_End_3848 t1_j5ujybe wrote
This country needs a comprehensive housing policy that recognizes the need for people to have access to affordable housing.
blondiebell OP t1_j5uopmd wrote
Exactly, thank you. I dont think that it shouldn't be allowed to be profitable and I dont even think that landlords shouldn't exist, but affordable housing should have always been a human right.
As an investment, rentals are okay in my opinion, but not as sole income and not at the expense of affordability. There is no moral justification for a massive % increase in profits year after year because you arbitrarily increase the rent just because you can.
MaybeADumbass t1_j5urkuq wrote
> There is no moral justification for a massive % increase in profits year after year because you arbitrarily increase the rent just because you can.
Every single bit of maintenance for a property has gotten significantly more expensive over the past few years, though. Every contractor you might hire for repairs is booked solid for and costs more than they did two years ago, and every single material has gone up in price. That carpet that might have cost $1500 to replace three years ago will now cost closer to $3000. If your landlord plans to renovate or repair any units between tenants, now, it'll cost significantly more money than before. It only makes sense to raise rent in that situation.
weavs13 t1_j5v9toh wrote
If they are improving them that fine. But how many rentals is that happening in? My former landlord slapped new paint on the walls and asked $500 more per month.
blondiebell OP t1_j5uwydm wrote
We completely agree. Costs have gone up and it is okay for prices to reflect that, However there is importantance in separating cost, revenue, and profit.
Just to spin a hypothetical here are some numbers: I am renting a unit for $100, so I made $100 in revenue. I then paid $60 in upkeep costs so my profit is only $40, but that pays my bills and I'm happy. Next year I find out my costs are going to be $80, I dont want to only make $20 profit so I raise my rent to $120.
That whole situation is fine so long as that $40 isnt my sole income and if the house burns to the ground or the tenant dies, I dont lose everything.
The issue is when the same scenario plays out like this: The next year I find out my costs are going up to $100, so I plan to raise rent to $140, but before i do i find out my friend down the street just built a new unit and rented it for $300. I figure since someone rented that apartment at that price i can ask that price from my renter so i do. They agree to it because their kid just started school and they want to stay in that school district. I bring in $300 revenue, costs are $100, I make $200 profit.
The next year it's the same. Cost increases $20 but another friend has built a new unit and is charging $500. I figure I'll try again since someone rented in the area for that price. My current renter can't afford it and moves out. I lower my price to $450 and get someone who couldn't afford $500, but can just squeeze by at $450. I bring in $450 revenue, costs are $120, I make $330 profit.
I am now an asshole....
Just because I could and someone did pay it I raised my rent enormously and made huge increases in profit.
That's just business, we agree on that, but that was and is someone's home. Legally, I shouldn't be allowed to do that. I priced a family out of their home, I'm making it so it's harder for the current people to save for their own future. If all my friends are doing the same thing we are collectively pricing whole communities out. If the whole country is doing it we are ruining people's chances to have stable housing.
shepherd_lover t1_j5whiy4 wrote
Thanks for laying it out like this. Makes total sense. I often grapple with the differing perspectives of both sides (landlord and tenant) and this was helpful.
blondiebell OP t1_j5wid7o wrote
Sure thing. Its undeniably complicated, I dont expect anyone to just get it, so do let me know if you have any specific questions I can try to clarify :)
NovelAuntieGin t1_j5z3o9f wrote
I think that most property owners just can't fathom the concept that most renters don't really gaf about new carpet.
Maybe YOU or your wife or your side piece can't imagine living with just... renting a carpet cleaner from Save-A-Lot for $35 dollars for the home where you live.
But the people who are paying off your mortgage, taxes, insurance, ++? They sacrifice something, embarrass their kids, AND go hungry a day just to rent a carpet cleaner from Save-A-Lot so they can hope and wish to get back that deposit that you already spent on whatever you think will impress somebody.
Just remember that those toddlers of hers will be the ones changing your diapers when you're old and incontinent.
Fuck them at your own peril !
[deleted] t1_j5uzt77 wrote
Communism would fix your problem.
blondiebell OP t1_j5va8hj wrote
Sure if you want to jump right to that conclusion...
If the government was truly run and operated fairly and equally and made equal housing available to anyone and everyone that wanted or needed it then everyone would be housed.
But you know that isnt the argument at hand and that your take is just argumentative and disingenuous.
[deleted] t1_j5vau2s wrote
Supply and Demand. Move to Johnstown get a Friggin Mansion for 1,200 a month
blondiebell OP t1_j5veiwr wrote
Supply and demand pricing is a bullshit for a basic survival need. We're fighting hard as it is for medication, education, and food to be accessible and housing is having the same issues.
It has never and will never be the answer to tell someone to move or leave when the problem is fundamental. You dont tell someone who's depressed to just be happy. You dont tell a starving person to just eat. And you dont tell a homeless or underprivileged person to just move.
Moving is a HUGE privilege when you can do it by choice and can be devastating if it is forced.
MrSchenleyMD t1_j5wxz48 wrote
“Supply and demand pricing is bullshit for a basic survival need.”
Say it louder for the people in the back.
Tangential— I work in healthcare and see firsthand how the “free market” doesn’t apply in my industry. What is the limit you would pay to save a loved one, treat your child’s cancer, or help yourself walk again after something catastrophic? For most sane people, the answer is “everything I have, and then some.”
You can’t build a fair market when the demand is essentially infinite. There’s parallels in the housing market, too. We can argue that certain types of housing are luxury goods, and that people do need to be able to make money landlording (or no one would), but at the end of the day, people need a roof over their heads. There needs to be ethics involved in these decisions too, not just pure profit motive.
blondiebell OP t1_j5x5ep6 wrote
Thank you for sharing your experience in the healthcare system. I'll be honest that I usually avoid that topic because I truly cannot handle thinking about the disparities for long without myself struggling.
Why so many people in this thread and life feel it is normal to let such a horrible system continue I do not know. Just because the situation has gotten to this point does not mean it is okay, does not mean it should have gotten here, or that it should continue.
geoffh2016 t1_j5wgp1z wrote
100% agree. Local laws are also important. I was surprised when moving to Pittsburgh that there isn't a "Tenant Bill of Rights" here. In Chicagoland, the landlords had to put security deposits in an interest account not mixed with their assets, give a receipt, and one time we actually got more back than we initially paid. (Granted, that was an honest landlord.)
Supposedly Biden is pushing for more:
>The Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority and Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency, for instance, have agreed to cap annual rental increases to 5% per year for federal- or state-subsidized affordable housing.
Fingers crossed on both the local and national level.
not28 t1_j5x41my wrote
But that would be socialism or something.
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