Explain Like I’m Five

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ELI5: USians, why not buy/rent an office, instead of a home at this point? (lemmy.ml)

submitted 6 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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I'm not from the US, but I've heard about the housing shortage crisis as well as the commercial real-estate vacancy crisis. I'm pretty sure the US government will bail out the rich folks again.

Honestly, people need a cheap place to live, right? Why not just buy a commercial property about as big as an ideally small home and call it a day? Isn't that a win-win situation? Or are there laws that make it illegal?

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[–] satanmat 32 points 6 months ago (1 children)

In theory you could….

But;

It isn’t zoned for residential use, so you’d have legal issues;

You’d likely be in an area that isn’t good for residential usage; a lack of grocery stores and schools etc. — it might be doable for a single person but not a family.

Office buildings are not designed as homes so there’s likely a high cost to do the conversion; bathrooms and kitchens — also access. buildings would need to be set up for 24/7 access so people can come and go