Comment by dmbche 3 days ago
1. Isn't that a big if in itself?
2. Keeping houses off market and renting them for a profit is a bad thing as it is harvesting the money the renters could be putting to the side to buy a house AND hikes the price of houses, making it even harder for renters to become owners.
Can't your friend buy and then sell when they are ready to move?
> In general, rent payments are less than mortgage payments for the same property (though this can vary in specific cases due to a number of factors).
This didn't seem true to me - Anecdotally, my friends pay more in rent for apartments than I do for my mortgage on a single-family home in my area.
Then I googled it, and turns out my city is one of the top five US cities with the highest ratio of renting vs owning cost, and indeed a place where it costs nearly twice as much to rent as it does to own.
> and indeed a place where it costs nearly twice as much to rent as it does to own.
Which is exactly where the supply and demand is out of whack. But fortunately, the more people buy places to rent out, the cheaper it becomes to rent.
The renters in your area would love if investors bought a ton of properties and rented them out, increasing supply and therefore bringing down rates! And if rents are really 2x mortgage payments, then there should be tons of people lining up to do so, since it's basically just free money lying around. The invisible hand and everything.
1. Investors make money by doing other things than renting properties, do they? Even property investors are able to sell at a profit.
2.Nearly half of renters in the USA are cost burdened (https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2024/renter-h...).
It is mental gymnastics to say that renters are saving by renting.
And about realtor fees, that sure would affect my decision to move or not. Or to rent an appartment/condo, which is almost always possible, especially in urban centers.
1. Not really? You make money by renting until you sell. What other things are you talking about?
2. And lots of homeowners are cost-burdened too. What's your point? The US is an expensive place for everything. Mortgage rates are crazy expensive now too.
It's not mental gymnastics to say you can save by renting. There are lots of online calculators where you can see the places in the US where it's cheaper to rent than to buy.
And sometimes you have to move for a job, period. And families don't always want to rent an apartment, they want to rent a house with a backyard, you know?
1. So investments can be in other sectors than housing, I've heard. I'm sure you can look it up. Or you're welcome to lecture me too.
2. If a homeowner has more than one property, why not sell one of the properties when you become cost burdened? Also, I think at some point you stop paying a mortgage, right? I don't think that's the case with renting.Oh and it's a neat financial tool too, a mortgage.
So yeah renters would be better off owning, other than in some niche situations.
I don't understand what brings people to move for jobs if the salary doesn't make housing trivial for them. You're saying people on a 50k salary will move cities rather than change jobs?
Edit0: and that link I sent earlier that you probably didn't open shows that renters on average pay 30% of income on housing, while owners with mortgages paid 20% and 10% without a mortgage. Renters are the in the absolute worst situation however you want to cut it.
1. I mean, investors invest to make money. You make money by renting. Otherwise you're just throwing money away, which isn't what investors like to do.
2. In general, rent payments are less than mortgage payments for the same property (though this can vary in specific cases due to a number of factors). So the point is the renters get to save more money than they would with a mortgage.
And the problem with buying and selling is the realtor fee on both ends. You can't buy and sell a house every year or two. You'd go broke real quick.