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plummbob t1_its44ju wrote

Wouldn't be a big deal if zoning was more flexible.

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toocapak t1_its4jbt wrote

Price setting could be an issue at such a massive scale — if you have one property management group in charge of 1000 units in one given area, then you could very easily manipulate pricing through the comparitive sales/rent method.

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Fit-Order-9468 t1_itsiltf wrote

The effect of zoning is a legally enforced price fixing scheme among homeowners. This is explicit; just talk to homeowners and they’ll tell you.

Landlords are essentially free riding on the policies that ordinary homeowners, who’ve won the lottery for the American dream, created.

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plummbob t1_its4p7l wrote

Only if there are high barriers to entry for other companies/landlords.

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toocapak t1_its4dya wrote

The crux of the issue is price setting. Not software or an algorithm. All that talk is ignoring the simple, bigger issue.

Real Estate professionals use algorithms and software all day long to help them with pricing/pricing adjustments based off location/size/condition.

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GMUcovidta t1_its6ab7 wrote

All large companies across industries use algorithms and software to help determine price increases.

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RVAMS t1_itsb9ho wrote

Yeah but generally three competing companies in the same market aren't using the same algorithm. An algorithm that one company uses, that feeds of the data that it set for another company will artificially inflate prices like we're seeing here. That is price fixing.

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ttd_76 t1_ittcuvz wrote

It's if the price setting is a result of stifling of competition.

The way collusion distorts free markets is if the colluding companies have enough clout to gang up and stop those that want to undercut them.

If you decide to charge $10k for your apartment, and I see that you are able to rent it and I then raise my rent to $10k, that's not an efficiency problem.

If you decide to charge $10k for your apartment and I decide that you are an idiot and I will take your customers by undercutting your prices, but then you are able to start hassling my tenants or making frivolous charges about alleged violations then it is an issue.

That's the problem. Not that companies cooperate in some fashion against consumers, but that they cooperate in some fashion against potential competitors... which then obviously creates higher prices and hurts consumers.

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