idreamofchickpea t1_j8msfby wrote on February 15, 2023 at 1:43 PM

Reply to comment by a_d_a_m_b_o_m_b in How Vermont’s Housing Crisis Got So Bad by punkthesystem

What are the investments? Why hoard the houses rather than flip, rent, whatever?

[deleted] t1_j8n0g4u wrote on February 15, 2023 at 2:44 PM

Supply and demand. Housing is in short supply, so there is opportunity to make profit off of that. Investors will buy up multiple homes/ apartments in one area in one fell swoop, sit on them for awhile and then sell them back off individually at a much higher price than they paid for them...= Profits without having to invest in upkeep, rehabilitation or becoming landlords.

idreamofchickpea t1_j8n1xdm wrote on February 15, 2023 at 2:55 PM

I get that, but they don’t seem to be selling? There was this big rush to buy when interest rates were low (which wouldn’t even matter to big-time investors) but not to resell? What is the point of sitting on the empty properties?

[deleted] t1_j8n36xb wrote on February 15, 2023 at 3:04 PM

They were still selling them back off like crazy for most of last year. The market has definitely slowed up considerably since about last November with the feds increasing the interest rates and now the threat of the national debt ceiling not being raised... A lot of those assholes are currently stuck with the bulk of what they bought up around that time.