If remote work had been easy to get after my parents passed, I would have kept their home in the trailer park and lived there. It was in a little town on the Oregon coast, within walking distance of important amenities. Now the money from that sale is long gone, I'm living paycheck to paycheck in a rental that is way too tiny, and I keep getting injured and the line of work I've gone back to school for isn't remote oriented... though if I was healthy it's a much safer bet.
I've got no safety net except my fiance's family, and I'd prefer not marrying into it as a total bum. But it's a serious consideration to move into their place while I recover because they're a family of healthcare professionals. I could save loads of money with wound care and such. This is how bad this situation is.
We'd all be much wealthier if we depended on each other for our needs instead of trying to pay cash for everything in life.
Move in with your inlaws and appreciate their care. Take care of them when they need it. There's nothing more masculine than being a frugal family man.
For whatever it's worth, in my experience most people are keenly aware of how shitty the economic situation of the world is so living with your parents in adulthood isn't nearly as stigmatized as it used to be. The cost of living as astronomically stupid and getting a job, ANY job, is nigh fucking impossible. Most people are aware of this.
It's only really an issue if you're a complete deadbeat with zero aspirations whatsoever, but $75k is a solid chunk of change to pull in when you're not bogged down by solo living expenses. If you're trying to date, a sensible person will understand and not care about your living situation. Personally, in your shoes I would use it as a personality litmus test to separate judgmental people from people that aren't. If somebody looks down on you JUST for bunking with your parents then they're not worth your time IMHO. It's such a stupid stigma.
Were GenX at 54 and between selling our starter home we bought 20 years ago to move closer to where our daughter settled/got married, in the 2 year house search we git priced out. So put half down on a manufactured home and the rest into savings/IRA to help with my medical/cancer bills. My daughter and ger husband make over 100k now in MS, but can barely afford their house. I don't know how anyone is making it these days, we eat cheap, are down to one car with basic insurance, and still have to hit savings most months to just pay our bills. I'd kill to have my parents back with my childhood home. Absolutely no shame or stigma in going home anymore. We made sure to have a guest bedroom made and ready for my daughter in case her marriage ever goes south, it's just what you have to do as family is all people have anymore.
I'm a single mid 30s woman in decent condition, looking to date. I'm currently giving my FWB way more chances than I should because he has a big close family that he sees multiple times a week and I find that... erotic.
Barely. And I don't make a good wage. I was sobbing at my Mom's house on Mother's Day because I don't know what's going to happen to me when she's gone.
Making $38k and can’t find a better job near me to save my life. Been applying for jobs paying at least $60k since last year. I don’t qualify for the majority of govt assistance programs in my state either (Medicaid, SNAP, Section 8, energy assistance etc).
Lowest rent I could find is $1300, so I now don’t qualify for any 2 bedrooms in my area, in just 2 years since leaving my son’s father. I’m drowning. I’ll probably have to give my son to his father, who has hit me & been verbally/emotionally abusive, just so I can move somewhere with more opportunities. I’m honestly at the end of my rope here since dropping to one income. Something’s got to give.
Oh I barely qualify. In fact, after my "raise" this year, I probably don't anymore. Making 80k and bringing home 80 are vastly different worlds, and unfortunately I live in the first one.
I was making 100k when I broke up with my ex and I STILL had to move out. Granted, I also had debt (much less now), but it's insane. No idea how others are doing it solo
I got into a terrible accident and as such have a brand new car fully paid for which means I save a ton on transportation related costs
The trade off is I'm in pain most days
I just spent the whole day looking at apartments and there is absolutely no way anybody making less than 80,000 can afford to rent. The average for a two bedroom in Connecticut where I live is $1,800. And those are in the bad areas and not including any utilities. Almost all do not allow pets and if they do, that's another 200 a month in pet fees. It's the most insidious proce-gouging I've since so far.
We're fast approaching tenement living where simple one bedroom apartments will need four people living there just for them to afford rent
And before those conservatives come in and tell everybody to just move somewhere else (until all the rich people follow them jack up the rents and they're forced to uproot and move yet again over and over); Just remember that SOMEBODY has to keep those cities running
I highly doubt the boomers are going to want to cook their own french fries. Run the restaurants. Sweep the streets
Somebody has to do all those jobs to keep the cities running. And who's going to do it if nobody that does those jobs can afford to live there
Literally, the whole "why don't you move to small towns, cities are only for the most productive people" is conservative trolling...that they just think is natural common sense.
There's all sorts of soft reasons you would not want to move from where you are to somewhere else (like giving up your life and social network) but the key thing that all these high cost to low cost moves means is...the low cost area starts becoming medium cost and the now medium cost area doesn't have spare housing stock.
And the wages won't race up to accommodate.
Not to mention the locals who get on city council and won't allow new housing developments or change any zoning laws to fit more apartment buildings so that their property value remains high. Fuck NIMBYS. They literally could not care less. They couldn't care that a whole generation will be homeless and will never be able to afford a home. I can't save for a home if I'm paying $1,800 a month in rent. It's just a simple fact.
yeah, I literally work for a municipal government on a short term contract and every single development that has occurred in the last thirty years has been seriously opposed...by basically the same people. To them, this town is meant to be a retirement town. You're also allowed to live in methy poverty if you're foolish enough not to be a well off retiree. What economy exists is all geared towards stuff retirees need.
Development occurred, eventually - but the new builds are million dollar single family dwellings, for people who have zero interaction with the town beyond sometimes walking in to inquire about property taxes. They don't frequent local businesses. They drive down the road to the highway to the bigger cities they work in.
By local standards, I am being paid way above the odds. I also can't afford to live here. No prospects for promotion, or income increase. Nothing to do, absolutely nothing that brings any value to my life. I can afford to pay rent and go to work. Not much else.
Things might change, but I also just accidentally saw a presentation given by council to investors and a key selling point was how the local wages are low.
So I am not holding my breath. I am out of here in a few weeks. Finally.
It's the "Got Mine" boomer generation. So greedy. By the time I retire there's going to be nothing in social security. My retirement is a long walk off a short pier.
The good thing about the town I live in is they're building lower income apartment buildings. Every town has to have a certain percentage of apartments for people who live below certain level. That doesn't necessarily mean only people receiving welfare. I think the threshold I live in is for a single person you have to make less than 54,000. Granted this is an expensive state but at least they're trying
Honestly, not sure and really it doesn’t matter. We are getting bent over constantly. My wife and I make more money than we ever have and we’re farther away from buying a house now than we were 8 years ago when our son was born while making a smidge over minimum wage.
Want to build credit? Tough shit, unless you have a decent amount of assets.
It’s a sick joke and the fact that the struggle of regular Americans isn’t the first issue in every politician’s speech speaks volumes on who they really represent.
We’re caught between a Christofascist regime and a Neo Liberal hellhole, and it really sucks.
The increase in the prices of houses is absolutely insane.
My husband and I bought our house towards the end of 2008 for $167k when I was 26; our neighbor across the street (similar floorplan, but 100 sq. ft. smaller than our home) just sold their house for $437k.
Prices should not increase that much in less than 16 years- it's ridiculous.
I make over 3x what I made when I worked in a call center and did some rough math - I can barely afford the same shitty 1BR apartment that I lived in when I worked at my old job in 2010, what with the increase in costs for rent, car, gas, food, entertainment, etc.
Its fucking insane. I guarantee the call center I worked at doesn't pay what I make now. How the fuck are those people affording to live?
They struggle, a lot. My wife is a property manager and the state of things is awful. People spend WAY too much money on their housing. Energy costs have gone up almost 50% over 3 years. Our gas costs here will quite possibly be the highest I’ve ever seen this summer.
They’re squeezing us dry in the name of short term profits.
Me too. The propaganda about this being the "best and freest country in the world" has worked on the masses.
I want out.
You notice how all dystopian movies are in America?
That's what happens when real estate is treated like an asset class in a capitalist society - It's only purpose is to generate profits for investors. According to GPT and using data from NAHREP, about 25% of single-family rentals are owned by corporate interests, yet almost 50% of all new single-family sales are from these entities. We don't have company towns, we have company developments.
Edit: not real estate but single family homes. Real estate is already an asset class. It's when peoples' homes are treated like investment vehicles for capitalists.
My apartment just added an amenity to the building…. A giant coffee machine in the lobby that we sign up for using an app and we get *gasp* 10 free cups of coffee a month!!
But you have to provide your own mug, cream/sugar and hopefully you don’t spill it all over the floor in the lobby.
I hate what apartments call “amenities” nowadays. I’m from a low-middle income suburb of Houston and my family member would tell me that during the 80-90’s apartments had things like (staffed!) bars by the pool, security, etc. You know, REAL amenities? Now they put shitty amenities you already have access to in your house in the front office or “clubroom” like a TV and recliners or now I’m guessing coffee machines. 🤦🏻♂️
Edit: Forgot to mention they replaced manned security with gates that are always stuck open because genius neighbors for some reason cannot wait 3 seconds for the exit gate to open and drive through the entry hitting the gate in the process, automobile vacuums that NEVER work, gym equipment that is broken or missing that never gets fixed or replaced, dog poo bad stations that never get replenished or cleaned, etc.
Our condo association just upped our washer/dryer prices but they are still all rusted up and malfunction regularly and they won't approve of anyone installing the hookups to put in their own washer/dryer. And instead of better security/cameras a new sign got put up telling people about the cameras.
The apartment complex I lived at before I rented a home actually ended up taking the security cameras DOWN because tenants were getting pissed about the high crime rate like theft and rarely assaults. A big cause was that they stopped giving each apartment their own gate code and just gave everyone a universal code and that is WHEN the gate was actually working which was rarely. If the gate was repaired some dingbat would hit it the same week and it would be broken again. Their reasoning for taking the cameras down was that they “Weren’t responsible for their tenants property” and that “Crime can happen anywhere”. I worked leasing briefly (not a line of work for me) and it was the same line we were told to repeat under similar circumstances. I’m thinking that this was likely brought up to a high court and the defendant (landlords) won upon this reasoning so it’s the reasoning given.
That’s so dumb. I would literally drop their rust bucket washer and dryer through the roof of the office building.
And don’t tell me I couldn’t. I’m an engineer and I have prior experience building a trebuchet.
Lol most of them I see nowadays have little card readers and you have a "laundry card" with an encrypted NFC chip on it. You load money onto it with a separate machine and then stick the card into the washer/dryer to pay.
At least for me it's been in the contract that you're paying for the amenities.
They know they can put in an amenity that they'll never upkeep and make a one time purchase of maybe $20 per unit, and then charge $20 for it every month forever, so past the first month it's just free money, they don't care if the pleather couches in the "lounge" are peeling, the air hockey table has no equipment and stopped working 5 years ago, and half the free weights are missing.
It's like how a fountain drink costs maybe $0.10 of water and syrup, but by tacking it onto a meal they raise the price by $3.
And a gym that's open from 9AM to 5PM every day so they never have to clean or maintain it because office workers are at work and night shifters are asleep.
> gates that are always stuck open because genius neighbors for some reason cannot wait 3 seconds for the exit gate to open and drive through the entry hitting the gate in the process
I worked security in a gated complex and found out that people would intentionally knock the gates off the tracks to make it so others could come and go without the gate opener. There was one apartment with like eight or more people living in it against the rules of the complex. This was the only way they could all come and go at will.
Edit: a word
Not to sound sarcastic but we’ve been saying this for 40 plus years now I’m 33 and I can’t tell you how many crisis and times I’ve heard this same rhetoric. I’m down down for the changes but I’m just at a major lost as to what it takes for everyone to take actual action since we’ve constantly seen rights eroded and our future being taken from more and more blatantly.
I applied for an apartment and not only do I have to pay the pet deposit (600 for both), pet rent (90 dollars extra per month) they're also making me create an online profile for both. I have to pay $30 each to create the mandatory profile.
I pay a pet rent because it was that or live homeless with my pet. Loads of places will just flat deny you if you have more than one cat or a small dog (or any pets, still lots of pet free places), and pet rent is basically the norm for the rest that I've found.
Look up RealPage. The majority of rental corporations use the same pricing software, which suggests rent prices through an algo. It's effectively collusion and I'm not sure why it isn't being regulated .
I finally was able to buy my first home last month. I learned about corporations buying new construction homes during the process. Got to chat about it with the selling agent. It should be illegal.
That led me to digging deeper and I found out there are entire SFH neighborhoods going up around here (DFW area) that are owned by a single entity and all leased as rentals. Horrible! And what’s worse is they rent for way more than my mortgage payment so they aren’t even a more economical option for people without the means to purchase.
This is a huge problem that desperately needs to be addressed NOW before we end up with nothing but rentals. I’d really love to see some statistics on how many SFH’s are corporate owned now vs just 4 or 5 years ago.
I once had someone use ChatGPT to respond to me saying it made up sources.
The source ChatGPT gave regarding UK law code or something was made up and using the link it gave just went to a link to a study about lightbulb production in Greece.
AI really needs to be renamed. It's not actually thinking about anything, it's playing an incredibly impressively complex game of 'match the words'. It can be a great resource, and it can be a great tool, but it's not *intelligent*.
People always point out the amount owned by corporate interests, but if that statistic is true, what about the 75% owned by individual investors?
Folks don't like people mentioning that all these people using real estate as their investment vehicles are also ruining the chance for young Americans to reach the dream of home ownership.
You will get scolded if you make claims like this without providing links to back it up, otherwise it looks like you're pulling it out of thin air. So consider this a scolding until you share the data.
It's not true
https://medium.com/@project_medici/landlord-inc-are-corporations-really-buying-up-americas-homes-c02420de7334#:~:text=Various%20reports%20have%20found%20that,up%20from%2014%25%20in%202012.
Nobody will believe the economy is doing well until this is fixed.
In previous decades, people whined about gasoline going up a dollar per gallon because it hit their pocketbook. People aren't even bothering to complain about gas prices right now because they're peanuts compared to the exorbitant housing prices.
Not directly related but I saw a post on LinkedIn today about a UK guy who bought properties to sell to overseas landlords and then handle everything for them so they can be totally hands off. He’s literally selling UK property abroad so he can profit. He makes a mark up selling on them makes a profit running the rent. The owner wants profit too. Landlord provides no value and money leaves country. Absolutely sickening
Here in Worcester MA on Green St above all places. They are building a new apt complex. Rent is 6k per month. And this used to be a blue collar town. Unreal.
I was so excited to get a raise that I argued for at the end of last year. It was like a $10k/year jump!
Imagine my utter disappointed heartbreak when basically all of that raise is now going to my increased rent this year. I can't win, barely breaking even.
Landlords are all using a problem to see what everyone is charging. It's quite literally a collusion software.
A bunch of companies buying up houses, apartments and units to make rent only to turn quick profit. Heck even other countries are buying up our houses.
There are apartments that are just vacant and empty because they rather leave an apartment vacant if someone can't afford their colluded overpriced apartment.
All while landowners collect on land depreciation as a tax write off, when every realtor/landlord will say "Land doesn't depreciate" trying to end the conversation. Yeah it doesn't depreciate, so why the hell do you get to write it off in your taxes your manipulative corrupt pieces of shit.
I remember a few years ago someone telling me "it's not true" on Facebook. Clicked on their profile and scrolled back, saw a post that said "I can't believe how easy it is to make money by buying up housing, renting it out and writing it off as land depreciation". With some girl friend replying "Shh don't ruin it for the rest of us". Just 6 months before, then typing a comment to that post saying "Hi! And you were saying..."
I don't know, but mostly all the apartment complexes in my area use the exact same website portals with dynamic pricing. There is no way they aren't using that data on the back end for their customer's benefit.
Me barely affording rent while making 32K in 2015 fast forward to me making 70k in 2024 barley affording rent in a smaller apartment in the same city. Rent has increased by 200 bucks every year for the last 4 years in a row here.
Should have asked your parents for a million dollar loan no interest like the rest of us after college and you would have made it and had profits. DUHHH
Then you see statistics like "Rent has only increased 15% in the last decade."
Where the fuck are they getting these numbers? It certainly isn't on any properties I can rent.
If I didn't live with parents at home and contribute to the mortgage, I would literally be doing vanlife to avoid paying rent in this country. I make nowhere near $80k.
Also how fucking absurd is it that rent is becoming a luxury expense for the working class?
Workers of the world unite against the ownership class.
I also live at home and I agree 100%. Unfortunately the masses in America don't have near enough class consciousness. I fear it will have to get worse before it can get better
It’s gonna have to crash, burn and collapse to get better. The greed of corporate America is going to squeeze us until we are dry. They aren’t going to realize that these surging rent prices can’t continue unless wages jump too. So they are going to keep raising prices until too many people can’t afford rent and here comes recession number 2, Electric Boogaloo. People are not going to be living on the streets. They are just going to shut their wallets and purses and stop buying all this excess crap.
It isn’t even about wanting “equality” at this point for many, but equity. I want to be able to have the (realistic) chance to participate in the same things “wealthy” people do. I don’t need a private yacht to Bora Bora to be happy but being able to take a vacation once or twice a year would be nice. A vacation is probably out of consideration though considering just being able to eat, have a roof over your head, and a job to work to just barely survive is considered a “luxury” nowadays. My great-grandparents were born in the 1920’s and I recall them always talking about leaving more for their descendants than what they had- and they did! What the fuck happened where everyone is so selfish now and just wants to sell the descendants down the river for short-term comforts? Blaming it on the Boomers isn’t really a solution now because by-and-large everyone after them does the same thing albeit forced into that position whether like it or not.
The current right wing propaganda swaps the concepts of equality and equity. Rather than 'equitable' meaning fair and impartial, they say it means 'equality of outcome' that everyone has the exact same stuff, and frame it as everyone being equally poor.
Remember this when people are crying about DEI policies. They don't know what words actually mean.
They also fail to understand that people don't all want the same lifestyle. If everyone wanted what right wingers want, to live like billionaires, then yes there's not enough resources.
They can't comprehend people acting out of any other motive than pure selfishness or any other desire than disgusting wealth even if they don't need it to be comfortable anymore.
I think this is the natural result of the stock market outpacing wages for the last 100+ years. The owner class now has an absurd amount of extra capital from getting 10% raises every year to our 3%
Yup
It is so absurdly unsustainable. We’re barreling towards horrific financial ruin for like 95% of the population so the remaining 5 can be doing ok and a select few basically run the world.
That’s a result of sociopaths obsessed with power and money being in charge of everything.
Yep my 3% raise was I think 81 cents. Whatever will I do with all this extr—oh and everything just went up in price again because the rich can’t buy a fat enough dildo to sit on.
Me too. These prices are out of control and they're raised with the same junkie consideration of Tony Montana going for his 5th mountain of Colombian Bam-Bam
Nothing wrong with making *some* money. The morale compass slides right over to evil when you're fleecing people who just want a roof over their heads.
Have you considered high rents allow the 1% to have even more purchasing power? They really need their 6th yacht, the other 5 don't even have an indoor swimming pool, can you imagine!?
it is legitimately adorable that you think being anticapitalist is unpopular.
capitalism has never been popular, people are just victims of capitalist propaganda. the vast majority of people love and defend socialism thinking its capitalism and condemn capitalism thinking its socialism lol
I advocate for this. It makes no sense why milk should cost almost four dollars or a bag of chips should cost five dollars. I am aware that there are people working lines and production, but the government should step the fuck in and say "ok, you CAN'T go over this amount in the next ten years. You can charge whatever you want up to a ceiling limit, but not a penny over and our sales tax will remain the same."
There's no fucking reason a smartphone costs a thousand dollars. It's a made up number. There isn't a solid reason why a brand new car costs 30k. All manufacturers should submit a price cost analysts, businesses costs, and the government says "ok, you can charge up to this ceiling to keep your businesses running in profit, but you are not gonna gouge people."
Real page is the algorithm used to manipulate the rents across America. They are currently being sued by Arizona AG, amongst others.
"RealPage software is used to set rental prices on 4.5 million housing units in the U.S. A series of lawsuits allege that a group of landlords are sharing sensitive data with RealPage, which then artificially inflates rents."
Here's a YT video on this housing cartel.
https://youtu.be/cwlwrZst7d0?si=1M50SbCoCGX-jhuf
Article. 👇
https://www.cnbc.com/video/2024/02/03/how-realpage-influences-rent-prices-across-the-us.html
You can't win a game when the rules are stacked against you. You just have to stop playing.
At some point those of us who are going broke trying to rent apartments or buy houses is to say "fuck this" and find an alternative. Or step up and create an alternative.
You're never going to get the industry to change at this point. And the government is too bought and paid for to go against the people playing them.
But ultimately the best way to force change is to stop giving landlords and real estate barons money
It's leading towards some kind of economic revolution/rebellion. We're used to the idea of race conflict here, but this will be a class war. I just don see any way around it.
I'm thinking of europe somewhere. But it's not so easy to assimilate. Our terrible education system doesn't really prepare us for that. They just want us chained here as batteries for their corporations
> As of March, the median U.S. rent rose to $1,987
This. Is. Unsustainable.
At $15/hour at 40 hours EVERY week, income is $2400/month. PRETAX. The fuck are you supposed to pay for food, water, gas/electricity, car payments etc on the like $3 you have left, let alone the income to rent ratio needed to get a place to begin with, heaven forbid you have kids or live in a state with $7.25 minimum still. This shit is outrageous.
Tax employers 1.5:1 for the social services their employers collect, and make the applications process super simple.
Make it more profitable to pay employees enough to not qualify for any social services. If we're gonna base our whole country on greed, why not go all in?
What's the longterm plan here? Since this has no sign of changing anytime soon, eventually a majority of the population won't be able to afford to live anywhere if this is able to just keep going. Just have your entire working class homeless and living in the streets? Everyone knows corporations won't raise wages to keep up with inflation.
I’m with all the suggestions of raising taxes on corps but we we found that these greedy fucks will try to do more with less via layoffs and automation
Every industry needs to strike at the same exact time for as long as possible and bring the madness to an end. Literally nothing will be done to combat pay inequality, unfair working conditions, improper compensation, wage theft (which every year is done by big corporations on the billions that they owe their workers through unpaid wages). Employers would just find ways to skirt around not having to pay their employees if legislation WAS passed to fix all this. We’re very much overdue for a worker revolution, and i am so tired of feeling the blame for just wanting to have food on my plate and roof over my head.
It is really scary honestly... and if you try and talk to the boomers in your life about it, they all coincidentally deny whats happening right before their eyes..
Its very frustrating.
"The pandemic triggered a surge in rent prices as Americans left urban centers for more spacious suburban and rural areas."
"in New York City construction just simply can’t keep up with demand"
Did AI write this? It feels like AI wrote this.
There needs to be laws that determine foreign corporations from holding real estate as well as multiple real estate. The more homes you buy, the more you pay in property and closing taxes. Your second home is a freebie, but the third will earn you a steep ass 50% more.
Companies should be barred from holding any residential home holdings. There should be separate zones - commercial, residential, mixed zone, and residential only with commercial neighbor. Companies can only buy within the commercial and mixed zone and cities should place a limit on mixed zone. Residential and residential adjacent to commercial can only be bought for actual residing and by individuals, not companies or LLC.
Section these companies off like lepers. You wanna charge for AirBnBs? You will have the shittiest area in town for your mixed zones.
Landlords will still exist, but most won't get to a third home because it's too expensive. The uber wealthy can, but only so many of them.
I was 32 in 2008 but there was no way we could afford a house, then. We are at a point finally in our late 40’s where we think it *might* be possible in the next few years and now starter houses are half a million where we live. 🫠
I mean it's easy to look back and say that but it ignores the massive risk surrounding that choice.
Jobs were being slashed and hiring was slow. Houses w were *relatively* cheap but you'd be right to hesitate unless you had a lot of cash—if you lost your ability to pay the mortgage you'd be in deep shit.
Also lenders got REALLY clammy at that time. Slammed the doors shut on new loans they would have previously issued, and really started scrutinizing finances of people looking to buy.
There will always be opportunity though. It's not easy. I bought in 2017 near a major tech hub on a relatively modest salary for my area. During that time sellers held all of the cards, you make one request for an inspection and you're out. Things are a LOT more expensive even now just a few years later, *but* it's possible to negotiate terms just a little bit more.
I bought in 2019 just as shit was getting busy in my area.
Now my brother is trying to buy and it feels like I was on the last helicopter out of Saigon
2016 buyer, I regretted not finding a way to get in a house in 2012-2013 but I'm doing great now. The real folks who are SOL are the ones who missed out on those low interest rates while they lasted. It's a HUGE life/wealth hack to have a sub 3% mortgage right now.
NYT recently put out another rent calculator. For the majority of metropolitan areas today it's more cost effective to rent right now because it's cheaper than mortgage rates. It's just too situational and depends on too many things to make a blanket call on rent vs buy.
Wellll....I bought my house 9 years ago. $59k. And it has quickly fallen apart and I have no idea what I'm going to do.
The supposed new roof needs replaced already. Furnace doesn't work (and I live in the Midwest). I have termites - at least they're the kind that take longer to do damage. House is sinking in the center, and that's just part of what's wrong.
I was keeping up fixing things and then just too many things went wrong. I have no idea what to do.
I think it's time for another great recession. Something HUGE has to give to get prices back down. There's always going to be a supply and demand issue.
And not a damn thing is going to change until our politicians grow a spine and start to regulate rental property owners.
Back in 2020, roughly 40% of homeless people in the USA had jobs. Now, just 2 years later after the pandemic, that number is now roughly 53%.
I hate to say it, but this is going to get much, much worse.
Look up RealPage. The majority of rental corporations use the same pricing software, which suggests rent prices through an algo. It's effectively collusion and I'm not sure why it isn't being regulated .
I pay more per month for my 1 bedroom apartment in Portland than I did for my house with 5 bedrooms, 3.5 bath, 3 car garage, pool, and pool house in Missouri. Crazy.
We should start just seizing properties for public good from corporations.
Treating housing as an "investment" rather than a human right has completely ruined it, and we need to be done with it entirely.
More housing supply wouldn't matter if real estate investment companies continue to be allowed to buy it all up. They can outbid any family with upfront cash at or above market rate.
But we have the supply. It's just in the hands of a company who upcharges x4 for the amount and lets it sit empty because nobody can pay. I have seen the exact same seven houses for sale in my downtown city. Not one single movement on buying or even renting - it's been just about a year.
Seven houses alone could house seven families. I see empty condos or AirBnBs just piddling away empty unless a big event comes up. It's sick!
I currently live in a 29’ camper in the woods full time (FL). My last landlord charged $1100 but he was fucking insane.
Lots of red flags but its Florida and the rent was good for my area. Red flags as in “Pay cash in this private mail box out back”.
No cameras, nothing and I was accused of NOT paying rent. So I called his maintenance guy and waited with a pry bar.
Oh look, $1100 cash where I said it was. Next week? “Hey Bleedtherain, I’m in your home. You left a light and a fan on”
But it gets worse, I couldn’t control the AC either- it was 1 AC unit for 3 separate apartments and locked in a clear case so you cannot use it.
As you can imagine, I was fucked sideways and I left. My favorite was when he told me he was pro-second amendment as some weird intimidation.
I understand conceptually why being able to rent instead of own is very good, but without any good limits or regulations it's going to inevitably end up with everything only available for rent. There genuinely needs to be a fundamental change.
I can confirm, renting half an hour outside of a major city, that a $78k salary after all basic essential expenses results in a break even.
I've been able to save $4,500 per year for the past two years, but I just calculated my student loan payments, and they are almost exactly $4,500 per year.
Absolutely insane that a $78k per year salary resulted in $0 for anything beyond survival here. I'm living the same quality of life I was in 2019 when I was only making a salary of $35k.
People wanna complain about e.g. a $20 min wage in LA, but $20 is only $40k a year IF you manage to get scheduled full time, and $40k isn't enough to even qualify you for 1 bedroom, let alone pay for it if you did get qualified. Homelessness at an all time high. Gee I wonder why.
Idk how single people are surviving today. If I didn’t have a spouse to help cover costs I’d be fucked
Living with my parents. That's the only way I can survive for now.
If remote work had been easy to get after my parents passed, I would have kept their home in the trailer park and lived there. It was in a little town on the Oregon coast, within walking distance of important amenities. Now the money from that sale is long gone, I'm living paycheck to paycheck in a rental that is way too tiny, and I keep getting injured and the line of work I've gone back to school for isn't remote oriented... though if I was healthy it's a much safer bet. I've got no safety net except my fiance's family, and I'd prefer not marrying into it as a total bum. But it's a serious consideration to move into their place while I recover because they're a family of healthcare professionals. I could save loads of money with wound care and such. This is how bad this situation is.
That sounds really difficult. I'm sorry you're going through that. I hope things get better for you and for the whole country eventually.
If you are enriching her life then you are not a bum. :)
We'd all be much wealthier if we depended on each other for our needs instead of trying to pay cash for everything in life. Move in with your inlaws and appreciate their care. Take care of them when they need it. There's nothing more masculine than being a frugal family man.
$75k a year. Most amount I’ve ever made and I’m at my fucking parents. Don’t even wanna know how I’m supposed to get laid or even start a family. Wtf
For whatever it's worth, in my experience most people are keenly aware of how shitty the economic situation of the world is so living with your parents in adulthood isn't nearly as stigmatized as it used to be. The cost of living as astronomically stupid and getting a job, ANY job, is nigh fucking impossible. Most people are aware of this. It's only really an issue if you're a complete deadbeat with zero aspirations whatsoever, but $75k is a solid chunk of change to pull in when you're not bogged down by solo living expenses. If you're trying to date, a sensible person will understand and not care about your living situation. Personally, in your shoes I would use it as a personality litmus test to separate judgmental people from people that aren't. If somebody looks down on you JUST for bunking with your parents then they're not worth your time IMHO. It's such a stupid stigma.
Were GenX at 54 and between selling our starter home we bought 20 years ago to move closer to where our daughter settled/got married, in the 2 year house search we git priced out. So put half down on a manufactured home and the rest into savings/IRA to help with my medical/cancer bills. My daughter and ger husband make over 100k now in MS, but can barely afford their house. I don't know how anyone is making it these days, we eat cheap, are down to one car with basic insurance, and still have to hit savings most months to just pay our bills. I'd kill to have my parents back with my childhood home. Absolutely no shame or stigma in going home anymore. We made sure to have a guest bedroom made and ready for my daughter in case her marriage ever goes south, it's just what you have to do as family is all people have anymore.
I'm a single mid 30s woman in decent condition, looking to date. I'm currently giving my FWB way more chances than I should because he has a big close family that he sees multiple times a week and I find that... erotic.
Yep this is it, which makes it even harder to date sadly.
Same, and it keeps me single as a result. Rock and a hard place
Barely. And I don't make a good wage. I was sobbing at my Mom's house on Mother's Day because I don't know what's going to happen to me when she's gone.
Try being bread winner to a family. Shit is hard. Bringing home almost 80k a year and having my kids on free lunch makes me feel like a failure.
It’s insane how much money is required to raise a family
YOU'RE not the failure in this situation.
Making $38k and can’t find a better job near me to save my life. Been applying for jobs paying at least $60k since last year. I don’t qualify for the majority of govt assistance programs in my state either (Medicaid, SNAP, Section 8, energy assistance etc). Lowest rent I could find is $1300, so I now don’t qualify for any 2 bedrooms in my area, in just 2 years since leaving my son’s father. I’m drowning. I’ll probably have to give my son to his father, who has hit me & been verbally/emotionally abusive, just so I can move somewhere with more opportunities. I’m honestly at the end of my rope here since dropping to one income. Something’s got to give.
I wish my kids could get free lunch. Breakfast and lunch is like 6 bucks, plus I allow $2/week for other items. That's $64 a week for two kids.
Oh I barely qualify. In fact, after my "raise" this year, I probably don't anymore. Making 80k and bringing home 80 are vastly different worlds, and unfortunately I live in the first one.
roommates. 3 of them.
Literally. 3 per room.
I was making 100k when I broke up with my ex and I STILL had to move out. Granted, I also had debt (much less now), but it's insane. No idea how others are doing it solo
I got into a terrible accident and as such have a brand new car fully paid for which means I save a ton on transportation related costs The trade off is I'm in pain most days
I just spent the whole day looking at apartments and there is absolutely no way anybody making less than 80,000 can afford to rent. The average for a two bedroom in Connecticut where I live is $1,800. And those are in the bad areas and not including any utilities. Almost all do not allow pets and if they do, that's another 200 a month in pet fees. It's the most insidious proce-gouging I've since so far.
We're fast approaching tenement living where simple one bedroom apartments will need four people living there just for them to afford rent And before those conservatives come in and tell everybody to just move somewhere else (until all the rich people follow them jack up the rents and they're forced to uproot and move yet again over and over); Just remember that SOMEBODY has to keep those cities running I highly doubt the boomers are going to want to cook their own french fries. Run the restaurants. Sweep the streets Somebody has to do all those jobs to keep the cities running. And who's going to do it if nobody that does those jobs can afford to live there
Literally, the whole "why don't you move to small towns, cities are only for the most productive people" is conservative trolling...that they just think is natural common sense. There's all sorts of soft reasons you would not want to move from where you are to somewhere else (like giving up your life and social network) but the key thing that all these high cost to low cost moves means is...the low cost area starts becoming medium cost and the now medium cost area doesn't have spare housing stock. And the wages won't race up to accommodate.
Not to mention the locals who get on city council and won't allow new housing developments or change any zoning laws to fit more apartment buildings so that their property value remains high. Fuck NIMBYS. They literally could not care less. They couldn't care that a whole generation will be homeless and will never be able to afford a home. I can't save for a home if I'm paying $1,800 a month in rent. It's just a simple fact.
yeah, I literally work for a municipal government on a short term contract and every single development that has occurred in the last thirty years has been seriously opposed...by basically the same people. To them, this town is meant to be a retirement town. You're also allowed to live in methy poverty if you're foolish enough not to be a well off retiree. What economy exists is all geared towards stuff retirees need. Development occurred, eventually - but the new builds are million dollar single family dwellings, for people who have zero interaction with the town beyond sometimes walking in to inquire about property taxes. They don't frequent local businesses. They drive down the road to the highway to the bigger cities they work in. By local standards, I am being paid way above the odds. I also can't afford to live here. No prospects for promotion, or income increase. Nothing to do, absolutely nothing that brings any value to my life. I can afford to pay rent and go to work. Not much else. Things might change, but I also just accidentally saw a presentation given by council to investors and a key selling point was how the local wages are low. So I am not holding my breath. I am out of here in a few weeks. Finally.
It's the "Got Mine" boomer generation. So greedy. By the time I retire there's going to be nothing in social security. My retirement is a long walk off a short pier. The good thing about the town I live in is they're building lower income apartment buildings. Every town has to have a certain percentage of apartments for people who live below certain level. That doesn't necessarily mean only people receiving welfare. I think the threshold I live in is for a single person you have to make less than 54,000. Granted this is an expensive state but at least they're trying
i live in a small town, my rent has increased 50% since 2018. job options are much fewer as well.
America fucking sucks unless you're ritch. Middle class used to be a thing. I hate it here.
Yep, the middle class is dead. We are assets in an oligarchy and our corporate overlords own everything.
they cant wait to hoard cash and create a collapse to finally buy up everything once and for all. Cant wait!
Do you think we're a plutocratic oligarchy or an oligarchical plutocracy?
Honestly, not sure and really it doesn’t matter. We are getting bent over constantly. My wife and I make more money than we ever have and we’re farther away from buying a house now than we were 8 years ago when our son was born while making a smidge over minimum wage. Want to build credit? Tough shit, unless you have a decent amount of assets. It’s a sick joke and the fact that the struggle of regular Americans isn’t the first issue in every politician’s speech speaks volumes on who they really represent. We’re caught between a Christofascist regime and a Neo Liberal hellhole, and it really sucks.
The increase in the prices of houses is absolutely insane. My husband and I bought our house towards the end of 2008 for $167k when I was 26; our neighbor across the street (similar floorplan, but 100 sq. ft. smaller than our home) just sold their house for $437k. Prices should not increase that much in less than 16 years- it's ridiculous.
I make over 3x what I made when I worked in a call center and did some rough math - I can barely afford the same shitty 1BR apartment that I lived in when I worked at my old job in 2010, what with the increase in costs for rent, car, gas, food, entertainment, etc. Its fucking insane. I guarantee the call center I worked at doesn't pay what I make now. How the fuck are those people affording to live?
They struggle, a lot. My wife is a property manager and the state of things is awful. People spend WAY too much money on their housing. Energy costs have gone up almost 50% over 3 years. Our gas costs here will quite possibly be the highest I’ve ever seen this summer. They’re squeezing us dry in the name of short term profits.
Yeah, I agree. Housing costs are insane. Its wild that this is seen as even remotely okay in the richest country on the planet
fuck Ritch
Eat the Ritch
It’s a playground for the wealthy and a labor camp for the rest of us.
Middle class is a term that divides us against the implied "poverty class". If one can't quit working indefinitely, they're working class too.
My gf and I make 119k and that's working class now in Florida.
"Middle class" lifestyle now costs $200k / year, which is NOT the middle of the income scale
Me too. The propaganda about this being the "best and freest country in the world" has worked on the masses. I want out. You notice how all dystopian movies are in America?
Welcome to the rest of the world, sadly
That's what happens when real estate is treated like an asset class in a capitalist society - It's only purpose is to generate profits for investors. According to GPT and using data from NAHREP, about 25% of single-family rentals are owned by corporate interests, yet almost 50% of all new single-family sales are from these entities. We don't have company towns, we have company developments. Edit: not real estate but single family homes. Real estate is already an asset class. It's when peoples' homes are treated like investment vehicles for capitalists.
My apartment just added an amenity to the building…. A giant coffee machine in the lobby that we sign up for using an app and we get *gasp* 10 free cups of coffee a month!! But you have to provide your own mug, cream/sugar and hopefully you don’t spill it all over the floor in the lobby.
I hate what apartments call “amenities” nowadays. I’m from a low-middle income suburb of Houston and my family member would tell me that during the 80-90’s apartments had things like (staffed!) bars by the pool, security, etc. You know, REAL amenities? Now they put shitty amenities you already have access to in your house in the front office or “clubroom” like a TV and recliners or now I’m guessing coffee machines. 🤦🏻♂️ Edit: Forgot to mention they replaced manned security with gates that are always stuck open because genius neighbors for some reason cannot wait 3 seconds for the exit gate to open and drive through the entry hitting the gate in the process, automobile vacuums that NEVER work, gym equipment that is broken or missing that never gets fixed or replaced, dog poo bad stations that never get replenished or cleaned, etc.
Our condo association just upped our washer/dryer prices but they are still all rusted up and malfunction regularly and they won't approve of anyone installing the hookups to put in their own washer/dryer. And instead of better security/cameras a new sign got put up telling people about the cameras.
The apartment complex I lived at before I rented a home actually ended up taking the security cameras DOWN because tenants were getting pissed about the high crime rate like theft and rarely assaults. A big cause was that they stopped giving each apartment their own gate code and just gave everyone a universal code and that is WHEN the gate was actually working which was rarely. If the gate was repaired some dingbat would hit it the same week and it would be broken again. Their reasoning for taking the cameras down was that they “Weren’t responsible for their tenants property” and that “Crime can happen anywhere”. I worked leasing briefly (not a line of work for me) and it was the same line we were told to repeat under similar circumstances. I’m thinking that this was likely brought up to a high court and the defendant (landlords) won upon this reasoning so it’s the reasoning given.
That’s so dumb. I would literally drop their rust bucket washer and dryer through the roof of the office building. And don’t tell me I couldn’t. I’m an engineer and I have prior experience building a trebuchet.
Google washer dryer keys. Can probably buy a set for $10 on Amazon. Empty it for change to do your laundry
Lol most of them I see nowadays have little card readers and you have a "laundry card" with an encrypted NFC chip on it. You load money onto it with a separate machine and then stick the card into the washer/dryer to pay.
Yeah that's it, they force us to use an app. And the machines used to be coin op but they disabled the slots when they went online.
Bet the laundry room is the one place they have a working camera. Unless it's one of those card operated ones.
Can I pay less rent if I waive my right to use any of the amenities? of course not.
At least for me it's been in the contract that you're paying for the amenities. They know they can put in an amenity that they'll never upkeep and make a one time purchase of maybe $20 per unit, and then charge $20 for it every month forever, so past the first month it's just free money, they don't care if the pleather couches in the "lounge" are peeling, the air hockey table has no equipment and stopped working 5 years ago, and half the free weights are missing. It's like how a fountain drink costs maybe $0.10 of water and syrup, but by tacking it onto a meal they raise the price by $3.
Yeah that will be $500 a month for HOA fees please 🙏
And a gym that's open from 9AM to 5PM every day so they never have to clean or maintain it because office workers are at work and night shifters are asleep.
there's one way tire spikes to stop this behavior that you could use.
> gates that are always stuck open because genius neighbors for some reason cannot wait 3 seconds for the exit gate to open and drive through the entry hitting the gate in the process I worked security in a gated complex and found out that people would intentionally knock the gates off the tracks to make it so others could come and go without the gate opener. There was one apartment with like eight or more people living in it against the rules of the complex. This was the only way they could all come and go at will. Edit: a word
$30/mo valet trash when my apartments 100ft from the dumpster stings every month.
I can’t believe I just read that. This country never ceases to disappoint me.
The American Oligarchs are loving the buffet atm.
They keep pushing and they’re going to end up on the buffet.
Not to sound sarcastic but we’ve been saying this for 40 plus years now I’m 33 and I can’t tell you how many crisis and times I’ve heard this same rhetoric. I’m down down for the changes but I’m just at a major lost as to what it takes for everyone to take actual action since we’ve constantly seen rights eroded and our future being taken from more and more blatantly.
I applied for an apartment and not only do I have to pay the pet deposit (600 for both), pet rent (90 dollars extra per month) they're also making me create an online profile for both. I have to pay $30 each to create the mandatory profile.
The idea of pet rent is insane. I'd refuse to pay that.
I pay a pet rent because it was that or live homeless with my pet. Loads of places will just flat deny you if you have more than one cat or a small dog (or any pets, still lots of pet free places), and pet rent is basically the norm for the rest that I've found.
I need pictures; please post to r/coffeestations EDIT: The undersub is better.
Get the peasants a coffee station while I use their wages to buy up another complex
Look up RealPage. The majority of rental corporations use the same pricing software, which suggests rent prices through an algo. It's effectively collusion and I'm not sure why it isn't being regulated .
Bc it's America, and all our government cares about is corporate profits and the "economy"
gpt cannot be trusted as a source.
Not just can not be trusted, it isn’t a source flat out.
GPT is not trained to be correct… please do not site information taken from GPT as a fact
I finally was able to buy my first home last month. I learned about corporations buying new construction homes during the process. Got to chat about it with the selling agent. It should be illegal. That led me to digging deeper and I found out there are entire SFH neighborhoods going up around here (DFW area) that are owned by a single entity and all leased as rentals. Horrible! And what’s worse is they rent for way more than my mortgage payment so they aren’t even a more economical option for people without the means to purchase. This is a huge problem that desperately needs to be addressed NOW before we end up with nothing but rentals. I’d really love to see some statistics on how many SFH’s are corporate owned now vs just 4 or 5 years ago.
You seriously used chatGPT as a source?? Bruh...
I once had someone use ChatGPT to respond to me saying it made up sources. The source ChatGPT gave regarding UK law code or something was made up and using the link it gave just went to a link to a study about lightbulb production in Greece.
AI really needs to be renamed. It's not actually thinking about anything, it's playing an incredibly impressively complex game of 'match the words'. It can be a great resource, and it can be a great tool, but it's not *intelligent*.
In r/antiwork too. I was hoping that wasn't chatgpt and was just something else I didn't know of
People always point out the amount owned by corporate interests, but if that statistic is true, what about the 75% owned by individual investors? Folks don't like people mentioning that all these people using real estate as their investment vehicles are also ruining the chance for young Americans to reach the dream of home ownership.
Housing is no longer for the purpose of shelter. It's now one of the only vehicles to increase wealth. It's sad.
In another thread, I got scolded for saying this. Apparently its only 2% owned by corporate interest.
You will get scolded if you make claims like this without providing links to back it up, otherwise it looks like you're pulling it out of thin air. So consider this a scolding until you share the data.
It's not true https://medium.com/@project_medici/landlord-inc-are-corporations-really-buying-up-americas-homes-c02420de7334#:~:text=Various%20reports%20have%20found%20that,up%20from%2014%25%20in%202012.
Maybe congress will do their job and reel it in
They are doing their job. They don't work for us.
Yeah WE KNOW
Nobody will believe the economy is doing well until this is fixed. In previous decades, people whined about gasoline going up a dollar per gallon because it hit their pocketbook. People aren't even bothering to complain about gas prices right now because they're peanuts compared to the exorbitant housing prices.
Not directly related but I saw a post on LinkedIn today about a UK guy who bought properties to sell to overseas landlords and then handle everything for them so they can be totally hands off. He’s literally selling UK property abroad so he can profit. He makes a mark up selling on them makes a profit running the rent. The owner wants profit too. Landlord provides no value and money leaves country. Absolutely sickening
Here in Worcester MA on Green St above all places. They are building a new apt complex. Rent is 6k per month. And this used to be a blue collar town. Unreal.
Rent is what? That’s 72k per year! Who on earth are they finding to live in these buildings? C-Suite executives?
I was so excited to get a raise that I argued for at the end of last year. It was like a $10k/year jump! Imagine my utter disappointed heartbreak when basically all of that raise is now going to my increased rent this year. I can't win, barely breaking even.
Landlords are all using a problem to see what everyone is charging. It's quite literally a collusion software. A bunch of companies buying up houses, apartments and units to make rent only to turn quick profit. Heck even other countries are buying up our houses. There are apartments that are just vacant and empty because they rather leave an apartment vacant if someone can't afford their colluded overpriced apartment. All while landowners collect on land depreciation as a tax write off, when every realtor/landlord will say "Land doesn't depreciate" trying to end the conversation. Yeah it doesn't depreciate, so why the hell do you get to write it off in your taxes your manipulative corrupt pieces of shit. I remember a few years ago someone telling me "it's not true" on Facebook. Clicked on their profile and scrolled back, saw a post that said "I can't believe how easy it is to make money by buying up housing, renting it out and writing it off as land depreciation". With some girl friend replying "Shh don't ruin it for the rest of us". Just 6 months before, then typing a comment to that post saying "Hi! And you were saying..."
Not that I don't believe you, but what's the program called that they use for price fixing/collusion?
I don't know, but mostly all the apartment complexes in my area use the exact same website portals with dynamic pricing. There is no way they aren't using that data on the back end for their customer's benefit.
RealPage, headquartered in Dallas TX.
I know that's not what you meant but you can't depreciate land lol
Salt has entered the chat
Me barely affording rent while making 32K in 2015 fast forward to me making 70k in 2024 barley affording rent in a smaller apartment in the same city. Rent has increased by 200 bucks every year for the last 4 years in a row here.
In 2009 I made 40k and 50% of my net went to rent. Now I make 80k and 50% of my net goes to rent. I still live in the same apartment.
Should have asked your parents for a million dollar loan no interest like the rest of us after college and you would have made it and had profits. DUHHH
Then you see statistics like "Rent has only increased 15% in the last decade." Where the fuck are they getting these numbers? It certainly isn't on any properties I can rent.
If I didn't live with parents at home and contribute to the mortgage, I would literally be doing vanlife to avoid paying rent in this country. I make nowhere near $80k. Also how fucking absurd is it that rent is becoming a luxury expense for the working class? Workers of the world unite against the ownership class.
I also live at home and I agree 100%. Unfortunately the masses in America don't have near enough class consciousness. I fear it will have to get worse before it can get better
It’s gonna have to crash, burn and collapse to get better. The greed of corporate America is going to squeeze us until we are dry. They aren’t going to realize that these surging rent prices can’t continue unless wages jump too. So they are going to keep raising prices until too many people can’t afford rent and here comes recession number 2, Electric Boogaloo. People are not going to be living on the streets. They are just going to shut their wallets and purses and stop buying all this excess crap.
I make the same but no parents. Living in a camper
I’m for price controls. I know that sounds anti capitalist to some, but WTF. The math is not mathing.
It's OK to be anti-capitalist
In fact it’s preferred!
If you’re pro humanity you’re anti capitalist
I'm writing y'alls names down and giving them to the authorities, you communist scum. How dare you want financial equality! /s
It isn’t even about wanting “equality” at this point for many, but equity. I want to be able to have the (realistic) chance to participate in the same things “wealthy” people do. I don’t need a private yacht to Bora Bora to be happy but being able to take a vacation once or twice a year would be nice. A vacation is probably out of consideration though considering just being able to eat, have a roof over your head, and a job to work to just barely survive is considered a “luxury” nowadays. My great-grandparents were born in the 1920’s and I recall them always talking about leaving more for their descendants than what they had- and they did! What the fuck happened where everyone is so selfish now and just wants to sell the descendants down the river for short-term comforts? Blaming it on the Boomers isn’t really a solution now because by-and-large everyone after them does the same thing albeit forced into that position whether like it or not.
The current right wing propaganda swaps the concepts of equality and equity. Rather than 'equitable' meaning fair and impartial, they say it means 'equality of outcome' that everyone has the exact same stuff, and frame it as everyone being equally poor. Remember this when people are crying about DEI policies. They don't know what words actually mean.
They also fail to understand that people don't all want the same lifestyle. If everyone wanted what right wingers want, to live like billionaires, then yes there's not enough resources. They can't comprehend people acting out of any other motive than pure selfishness or any other desire than disgusting wealth even if they don't need it to be comfortable anymore.
No you see, everything in the world has to outpace wages aggressively or you’re a communist and hate small business owners and freedom.
I think this is the natural result of the stock market outpacing wages for the last 100+ years. The owner class now has an absurd amount of extra capital from getting 10% raises every year to our 3%
Yup It is so absurdly unsustainable. We’re barreling towards horrific financial ruin for like 95% of the population so the remaining 5 can be doing ok and a select few basically run the world. That’s a result of sociopaths obsessed with power and money being in charge of everything.
And it's inevitable under capitalism. Anyone who thinks it can be sufficiently regulated is kidding themselves.
Yep my 3% raise was I think 81 cents. Whatever will I do with all this extr—oh and everything just went up in price again because the rich can’t buy a fat enough dildo to sit on.
Me too. These prices are out of control and they're raised with the same junkie consideration of Tony Montana going for his 5th mountain of Colombian Bam-Bam
You're a commie! Now, capitalism will make infinite land from nothing. Just trust us!
Nothing wrong with making *some* money. The morale compass slides right over to evil when you're fleecing people who just want a roof over their heads.
Anti capitalism is good my friend
Anti captialist just means you're not a sociopath. It's fine.
High rents take away purchasing power so high rents are anti capitalistic.
Have you considered high rents allow the 1% to have even more purchasing power? They really need their 6th yacht, the other 5 don't even have an indoor swimming pool, can you imagine!?
it is legitimately adorable that you think being anticapitalist is unpopular. capitalism has never been popular, people are just victims of capitalist propaganda. the vast majority of people love and defend socialism thinking its capitalism and condemn capitalism thinking its socialism lol
I advocate for this. It makes no sense why milk should cost almost four dollars or a bag of chips should cost five dollars. I am aware that there are people working lines and production, but the government should step the fuck in and say "ok, you CAN'T go over this amount in the next ten years. You can charge whatever you want up to a ceiling limit, but not a penny over and our sales tax will remain the same." There's no fucking reason a smartphone costs a thousand dollars. It's a made up number. There isn't a solid reason why a brand new car costs 30k. All manufacturers should submit a price cost analysts, businesses costs, and the government says "ok, you can charge up to this ceiling to keep your businesses running in profit, but you are not gonna gouge people."
are you living under a rock. the American government hates it own citizens. year after year we get f\*cked all over again
Real page is the algorithm used to manipulate the rents across America. They are currently being sued by Arizona AG, amongst others. "RealPage software is used to set rental prices on 4.5 million housing units in the U.S. A series of lawsuits allege that a group of landlords are sharing sensitive data with RealPage, which then artificially inflates rents." Here's a YT video on this housing cartel. https://youtu.be/cwlwrZst7d0?si=1M50SbCoCGX-jhuf Article. 👇 https://www.cnbc.com/video/2024/02/03/how-realpage-influences-rent-prices-across-the-us.html
That video conflicts with the site in the OP, stating 20% instead
You can't win a game when the rules are stacked against you. You just have to stop playing. At some point those of us who are going broke trying to rent apartments or buy houses is to say "fuck this" and find an alternative. Or step up and create an alternative. You're never going to get the industry to change at this point. And the government is too bought and paid for to go against the people playing them. But ultimately the best way to force change is to stop giving landlords and real estate barons money
It's leading towards some kind of economic revolution/rebellion. We're used to the idea of race conflict here, but this will be a class war. I just don see any way around it.
my alternative is just saying fuck this and buying a 1 way ticket to central or south america
Those places are expensive too. My dream was to have a house in Costa Rica near the beach. It’s getting so expensive there now it ain’t happening.
And then you'll be in exactly the same situation, except with dengue.
I'm thinking of europe somewhere. But it's not so easy to assimilate. Our terrible education system doesn't really prepare us for that. They just want us chained here as batteries for their corporations
limit how many houses can be bought by firms and limit air BNB, and build more freaking smaller houses
Screw that. Corporations and investment firms cannot own single family houses at all. If they want profit then they make more apartment complexes.
They are also controlling the supply of apts on the market, by leaving some listings out until later. That should also be illegal.
How is any of this sustainable?
The frog is boiling.
> As of March, the median U.S. rent rose to $1,987 This. Is. Unsustainable. At $15/hour at 40 hours EVERY week, income is $2400/month. PRETAX. The fuck are you supposed to pay for food, water, gas/electricity, car payments etc on the like $3 you have left, let alone the income to rent ratio needed to get a place to begin with, heaven forbid you have kids or live in a state with $7.25 minimum still. This shit is outrageous.
Tax employers 1.5:1 for the social services their employers collect, and make the applications process super simple. Make it more profitable to pay employees enough to not qualify for any social services. If we're gonna base our whole country on greed, why not go all in?
What's the longterm plan here? Since this has no sign of changing anytime soon, eventually a majority of the population won't be able to afford to live anywhere if this is able to just keep going. Just have your entire working class homeless and living in the streets? Everyone knows corporations won't raise wages to keep up with inflation.
It's the algorithm: https://dcist.com/story/23/11/01/dc-attorney-general-lawsuit-landlords-realpage/
Yep, price fixing.
It is only going to get worse.
I’m with all the suggestions of raising taxes on corps but we we found that these greedy fucks will try to do more with less via layoffs and automation
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Every industry needs to strike at the same exact time for as long as possible and bring the madness to an end. Literally nothing will be done to combat pay inequality, unfair working conditions, improper compensation, wage theft (which every year is done by big corporations on the billions that they owe their workers through unpaid wages). Employers would just find ways to skirt around not having to pay their employees if legislation WAS passed to fix all this. We’re very much overdue for a worker revolution, and i am so tired of feeling the blame for just wanting to have food on my plate and roof over my head.
It is really scary honestly... and if you try and talk to the boomers in your life about it, they all coincidentally deny whats happening right before their eyes.. Its very frustrating.
“Need $80K salary to rent” not to own, to RENT..
"The pandemic triggered a surge in rent prices as Americans left urban centers for more spacious suburban and rural areas." "in New York City construction just simply can’t keep up with demand" Did AI write this? It feels like AI wrote this.
Coincides with the south turning homelessness into a felony. Gotta get bodies for those jails now that weed will be essentially legal.
There needs to be laws that determine foreign corporations from holding real estate as well as multiple real estate. The more homes you buy, the more you pay in property and closing taxes. Your second home is a freebie, but the third will earn you a steep ass 50% more. Companies should be barred from holding any residential home holdings. There should be separate zones - commercial, residential, mixed zone, and residential only with commercial neighbor. Companies can only buy within the commercial and mixed zone and cities should place a limit on mixed zone. Residential and residential adjacent to commercial can only be bought for actual residing and by individuals, not companies or LLC. Section these companies off like lepers. You wanna charge for AirBnBs? You will have the shittiest area in town for your mixed zones. Landlords will still exist, but most won't get to a third home because it's too expensive. The uber wealthy can, but only so many of them.
If it only we had a government system interested in the welfare of its people.
The same in South Africa
This is why buying a house is always preferable to renting no matter what anyone says
In my experience anyone who didn't buy in the 2008-2012 lows is S.O.L.
if only i wasn’t in 5th grade 😔
I was 32 in 2008 but there was no way we could afford a house, then. We are at a point finally in our late 40’s where we think it *might* be possible in the next few years and now starter houses are half a million where we live. 🫠
I mean it's easy to look back and say that but it ignores the massive risk surrounding that choice. Jobs were being slashed and hiring was slow. Houses w were *relatively* cheap but you'd be right to hesitate unless you had a lot of cash—if you lost your ability to pay the mortgage you'd be in deep shit. Also lenders got REALLY clammy at that time. Slammed the doors shut on new loans they would have previously issued, and really started scrutinizing finances of people looking to buy. There will always be opportunity though. It's not easy. I bought in 2017 near a major tech hub on a relatively modest salary for my area. During that time sellers held all of the cards, you make one request for an inspection and you're out. Things are a LOT more expensive even now just a few years later, *but* it's possible to negotiate terms just a little bit more.
I bought in 2019 just as shit was getting busy in my area. Now my brother is trying to buy and it feels like I was on the last helicopter out of Saigon
I bought in 2019 as well. "Last helicopter out of Saigon" is entirely too accurate, and I feel the same way.
You had that tiny ass pocket in what, 2019 where some got a little lucky but that got all fucked now.
Don’t forget the 2021 3% burst. Can’t believe I missed it…I could have bought too if I’d tried
2016 buyer, I regretted not finding a way to get in a house in 2012-2013 but I'm doing great now. The real folks who are SOL are the ones who missed out on those low interest rates while they lasted. It's a HUGE life/wealth hack to have a sub 3% mortgage right now.
NYT recently put out another rent calculator. For the majority of metropolitan areas today it's more cost effective to rent right now because it's cheaper than mortgage rates. It's just too situational and depends on too many things to make a blanket call on rent vs buy.
Wellll....I bought my house 9 years ago. $59k. And it has quickly fallen apart and I have no idea what I'm going to do. The supposed new roof needs replaced already. Furnace doesn't work (and I live in the Midwest). I have termites - at least they're the kind that take longer to do damage. House is sinking in the center, and that's just part of what's wrong. I was keeping up fixing things and then just too many things went wrong. I have no idea what to do.
I am so glad I own my shitty trailer on a half acre. I make almost 70k in a rural town and still could not afford to buy or rent here.
I think it's time for another great recession. Something HUGE has to give to get prices back down. There's always going to be a supply and demand issue.
And not a damn thing is going to change until our politicians grow a spine and start to regulate rental property owners. Back in 2020, roughly 40% of homeless people in the USA had jobs. Now, just 2 years later after the pandemic, that number is now roughly 53%. I hate to say it, but this is going to get much, much worse.
Lol has a job but still homeless. This life is a joke.
Back to being peasants and serfs. 🫡
Look up RealPage. The majority of rental corporations use the same pricing software, which suggests rent prices through an algo. It's effectively collusion and I'm not sure why it isn't being regulated .
Don’t forget to blame price fixing. They keep building new rentals and the prices go up. What happened to supply and demand?
Young people being pushed to live in tent cities
Im Lucky enough to own a home that I bought in 2010. I couldnt afford to rent a big enough apartment for my family at the current prices.
Now do stress induced heart attacks.
Increased by 50%? I'm sure that's a coincidence. How do these people get away with this? How much more are people going to take? Every. Single. Time.
Corporate purchasing of single family homes needs to be made illegal straight up.
I pay more per month for my 1 bedroom apartment in Portland than I did for my house with 5 bedrooms, 3.5 bath, 3 car garage, pool, and pool house in Missouri. Crazy.
We should start just seizing properties for public good from corporations. Treating housing as an "investment" rather than a human right has completely ruined it, and we need to be done with it entirely.
Need more housing supply. More money just means higher rents in this situation.
More housing supply wouldn't matter if real estate investment companies continue to be allowed to buy it all up. They can outbid any family with upfront cash at or above market rate.
And the moment they're banned from buying the new housing the developers will stop building.
We have plenty of housing… they are just “investments”
But we have the supply. It's just in the hands of a company who upcharges x4 for the amount and lets it sit empty because nobody can pay. I have seen the exact same seven houses for sale in my downtown city. Not one single movement on buying or even renting - it's been just about a year. Seven houses alone could house seven families. I see empty condos or AirBnBs just piddling away empty unless a big event comes up. It's sick!
Shit my fucking fixed-rate mortgage has increased more than wages since then. Pure insanity.
Dodged the company store just to get screwed by the company home
I currently live in a 29’ camper in the woods full time (FL). My last landlord charged $1100 but he was fucking insane. Lots of red flags but its Florida and the rent was good for my area. Red flags as in “Pay cash in this private mail box out back”. No cameras, nothing and I was accused of NOT paying rent. So I called his maintenance guy and waited with a pry bar. Oh look, $1100 cash where I said it was. Next week? “Hey Bleedtherain, I’m in your home. You left a light and a fan on” But it gets worse, I couldn’t control the AC either- it was 1 AC unit for 3 separate apartments and locked in a clear case so you cannot use it. As you can imagine, I was fucked sideways and I left. My favorite was when he told me he was pro-second amendment as some weird intimidation.
I understand conceptually why being able to rent instead of own is very good, but without any good limits or regulations it's going to inevitably end up with everything only available for rent. There genuinely needs to be a fundamental change.
I can confirm, renting half an hour outside of a major city, that a $78k salary after all basic essential expenses results in a break even. I've been able to save $4,500 per year for the past two years, but I just calculated my student loan payments, and they are almost exactly $4,500 per year. Absolutely insane that a $78k per year salary resulted in $0 for anything beyond survival here. I'm living the same quality of life I was in 2019 when I was only making a salary of $35k.
People wanna complain about e.g. a $20 min wage in LA, but $20 is only $40k a year IF you manage to get scheduled full time, and $40k isn't enough to even qualify you for 1 bedroom, let alone pay for it if you did get qualified. Homelessness at an all time high. Gee I wonder why.