this post was submitted on 09 Dec 2024
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No Stupid Questions

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Reason I'm asking is because I have an aunt that owns like maybe 3 - 5 (not sure the exact amount) small townhouses around the city (well, when I say "city" think of like the areas around a city where theres no tall buildings, but only small 2-3 stories single family homes in the neighborhood) and have these houses up for rent, and honestly, my aunt and her husband doesn't seem like a terrible people. They still work a normal job, and have to pay taxes like everyone else have to. They still have their own debts to pay. I'm not sure exactly how, but my parents say they did a combination of saving up money and taking loans from banks to be able to buy these properties, fix them, then put them up for rent. They don't overcharge, and usually charge slightly below the market to retain tenants, and fix things (or hire people to fix things) when their tenants request them.

I mean, they are just trying to survive in this capitalistic world. They wanna save up for retirement, and fund their kids to college, and leave something for their kids, so they have less of stress in life. I don't see them as bad people. I mean, its not like they own multiple apartment buildings, or doing excessive wealth hoarding.

Do leftists mean people like my aunt too? Or are they an exception to the "landlords are bad" sentinment?

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 hours ago* (last edited 9 hours ago) (1 children)

But resources aren't being distributed fairly.

Right, because the system is broken.

That's a rather arbitrary rule.

It's basically co-ownership, which is already an established way to buy and own a property.

Assuming you do have all the right rules in place, what makes this setup more desirable than simply renting at cost?

At the end of your lease, if you choose not to renew, you still have equity in a property which is worth something, rather than ending up with nothing in the current system.

Just so we're on the same page, we're still talking about OP's question, right?

The relationship between a landlord (parasite) and a renter (host) is absolutely a net negative for the renter*, because at the termination of the relationship, the landlord ends up with much more than they started with (equity in a property + profit from rent) and the renter ends up with less than they started with (lost money in rent payments).

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

Right, because the system is broken.

Exactly. So what's not to understand? A broken system means problems exist, and you can do things to compensate for those problems. Things that provide value to others. Now, we can go into what it means to "need" something and whether we ever actually "need" anything, but that's a whole other discussion and not the one we're here to have. In this context, "someone needs to do X" means that doing X provides value to someone else.

It's basically co-ownership, which is already an established way to buy and own a property.

Co-ownership refers to the ownership structure, doesn't it? I'm talking about the threshold you proposed for the landlord-tenant relationship to not be parasitic.

the landlord ends up with more than they started with (equity in a property + profit from rent) and the renter ends up with less than they started with (lost money in rent payments).

And I'm saying it doesn't have to be that way. Do we at least agree that if the landlords sets the rent at $1/month, then the transaction will be to the benefit of the tenant? And if you set it to market rates, then it benefits the landlord. There exists some middle ground between $1/month and market rates where it's a net neutral.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

Do we at least agree that if the landlords sets the rent at $1/month, then the transaction will be to the benefit of the tenant?

No. A tenant never gains anything once the terms of the lease expire. The property owner is the only one that gains, as long as the price of rent is a positive number.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 hours ago

once the terms of the lease expire

I feel like this is the main point of contention. No, you're left with no new physical assets after spending that $1. But why is that a problem? Not everything is about physical possessions. If you purchase a meal and eat it, you're left with nothing at the end of the meal. If you pay someone to move an old couch out of your home, then you're left with nothing after they're done. If you pay a taxi to drive you home, you've again gained nothing physical at the end of the transaction. But in all these cases, you've gained something, or else you wouldn't spend your money there.

When you pay a landlord for shelter, you've exchanged some sum of money so that you're protected from the elements and live to see the next day. Similar to buying a meal and eating it.