Charlesinrichmond t1_j68qsjt wrote
Reply to comment by sleevieb in Report: The State of Housing in the Richmond Region 2023 by opienandm
Edited to make it easier to comprehend for those who can't:
The idea that corporations buying houses IS THE PROBLEM is literally completely wrong and a myth. It also makes no mathematical sense, it's like telling someone not to work to earn more money by sitting on the couch and playing xbox.
If they make money by leaving them empty, imagine how much money they would make by destroying them! Or never buying them in the first place! Think of the billions you've made from the apartments you are renting for zero! It's completely ridiculous isn't it?
It's popular enough though to now have a new article in the Atlantic debunking it
the software bit has a grain of truth, but it's way way overblown, it only applies to certain large companies who have a small share of the market
fresh__hell t1_j68xeqa wrote
Opinion piece by a writer with such wonderful articles like “Buses shouldn’t be free” and “the billionaire’s dilemma” and “everyone shouldn’t have a say”. Some real appeal to authority shit opinions there.
Housing/shelter is commodified by entities so wealthy that of course it seems illogical to a regular person that can’t gobble up vacant homes. BlackRock can play the long game, someone under threat of homelessness can’t. Multi-billions is unfathomable wealth, and they absorb every single “affordable” property like it’s nothing, manipulate and inflate the market, and no matter what they make out like bandits. I don’t know what kind of person goes to bat for economy melting corporate greed other than someone invested in their schemes, foh
plummbob t1_j6akx0i wrote
>Housing/shelter is commodified by entities so wealthy that of course it seems illogical to a regular person that can’t gobble up vacant homes.
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bruh, housing was "commodified" since the invention of housing. A house is literally combination of commodity goods -- timber, drywall, romex, concrete, nails,etc. Even the trim or 'luxury items' are mass produced, "commodified" products.
Appealing to somekind of other, "the corporations" or "foreigners" or whatever I always see, is garbage, neither backed by the data (low vacancy rates) or economic intuition. No, they are not buying them to keep them empty because the opportunity cost is huge (ie, lost rental income).
fresh__hell t1_j6b67b5 wrote
There’s a lot of problems out there man. There are more than 20x the amount of empty homes in the US than there are homeless people. The younger generations are fucked because of profit incentives, and now the cartel ass algorithms are squeezing every paycheck because rent is being decided by soulless code. Yeah it costs money to make houses no shit.
Zillow or BlackRock can buy 1,000 houses, and that’s just a drop in the bucket to them. They can swallow up an entire community like it’s nothing, and then what? they effectively control the regional markets? (I realize there are zillow lawsuits going on, fingers crossed) Isn’t that like, fucked? Most of this younger generation struggles to just pay rent, let alone save up for a down payment before a mortgage. I feel like this is grade school, literal monopoly board game logic. We’re literally the most prosperous nation on the planet and the majority of people are just fucked. God forbid they dream of owning a home. Ah fuck it.
plummbob t1_j6b7r7x wrote
>The younger generations are fucked because of profit incentives, and now the cartel ass algorithms are squeezing every paycheck because rent is being decided by soulless code. Yeah it costs money to make houses no shit.
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profit incentives are what build homes in the first place --nobody builds a home to loose money. think about why profits are rising, but supply is not.
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consider the inputs to housing: its not like the drywall, nail, lumber and concrete manufacturers are sharing these windfall profits. so the physical inputs to housing are more or less unchanged real prices. its a regulatory bottleneck. --- my neighborhood has seen home prices 2x in the last 5 years, yet the city hasn't legalized one additional home here. in fact, the quantity of homes in my neighborhood hasn't changed in 80 years. 80 years, and not one additional home. thats crazy
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>Zillow or BlackRock can buy 1,000 houses, and that’s just a drop in the bucket to them. They can swallow up an entire community like it’s nothing, and then what? they effectively control the regional markets?
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it actually doesn't change anything. since those homes already commanded monopoly level profits, zillow owning them doesn't confer additional rents. because if they did, the landlords would already be charging those prices.
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zillow faces the same rental market that the landlords do, so demand isn't really changing. ie -- the people zillow rents to and the people the landlords rent are the same, so they are both cost constrained in the same way.
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>I feel like this is grade school, literal monopoly board game logic. We’re literally the most prosperous nation on the planet and the majority of people are just fucked.
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Its not really wrong. NIMBY's basically control the city council and entrenched landlords/home owners are able to extract massive rents simply because they have their thumb on the supply. They know that if they legalize housing more broadly, prices will fall. So they purposely keep supply so constrained....and often limited to expensive large-scale development.... they purposely lag supply to maintain their extra-normal profits.
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Its basically regulatory capture by homeowners against renters.
fresh__hell t1_j6beglm wrote
I appreciate this reply. There are cold hard truths to confront, and plenty of ideas about how it should work, it's just disappointing that this is what we're resigned to.
Charlesinrichmond t1_j69409f wrote
this is a word salad of stupidity contradicted by facts. I'm sorry if they don't suit your prejudices.
Some of us have found being competent and accurate to be good for themselves and society. People spewing Trumpian nonsense like that in your post irritate me, whether it's rightist idiocy or leftist idiocy it's still Idiocracy type stupidity.
fresh__hell t1_j69908u wrote
…what?
Rightist Trumpian nonsense? No dude, i’m saying giant corporations are destroying the housing market, and they’re deliberately buying propagandist opinion-piece writers to say “corporations aren’t really the problem, people are scapegoating!!”
Pretty sure Trump (and every facet of the capitalist power structure) is pro-corporation. Also, don’t ever post an opinion piece calling it an article
Charlesinrichmond t1_j69ia4p wrote
yep, you sound just like Trump. Spouting authoritative nonsense in the hope people who don't think will love the slogans and take it seriously.
Your take is very Idiocracy, congrats
fresh__hell t1_j69kt1w wrote
what zero media literacy does to a mf'er
Vapid_Ingenue t1_j691qfo wrote
So, B. Wayne Hughes, the billionaire owner of American Homes 4 Rent, the guy that owns over 53,000 suburban family homes and rents them all out - he's just a myth?
kubigjay t1_j6969xy wrote
No, the part about him owning 53,000 homes and keeping them empty is the myth.
Charlesinrichmond t1_j693pew wrote
maybe? I have no idea who that is. Nor do I even plan on googling him, because it has literally nothing to do with what I posted? How on god's green earth does that tiny amount of houses relate to anything I said?
Vapid_Ingenue t1_j694e09 wrote
Your first sentence literally says corporations buying houses is completely wrong and a myth, but it has nothing to do with what you posted? Okay, Charles. Enjoy your weekend
Charlesinrichmond t1_j694q5z wrote
oh my god, I admit I didn't spell it out at a 5th grade level, I had assumed some basic ability to reason. In context of the link which explains you'd think it was freaking obvious. I apologize and will edit it so the point is even more clear for those with limited reading comprehension
Vapid_Ingenue t1_j69clu3 wrote
Yes, Charles. Very stupid of me to expect you were capable of forming a coherent sentence. Or to assume you are the type of person who means what they say. I'm sorry to have let you down 😔
Charlesinrichmond t1_j69j1pn wrote
I edited it for you. Hope you appreciate that
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