• TWeaK@lemm.ee
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    9 months ago

    The renter has no real choice, though. The renter can either accept the price the landlord offers, or go to another landlord who offers the same price, or be homeless. This makes the renter open to exploitation by landlords. Sure, every landlord does it - but that doesn’t make it any less exploitation.

    This is exactly the type of thing where government should come in and regulate. I’m saying that such regulation should position rents as lower than mortgage rates.

    • yo_scottie_oh
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      9 months ago

      The renter has no real choice

      See, I don’t buy this. The renter may not like the other options because they’re in a less desirable neighborhood or farther out from the city center, but that is not the same as having no choice.

      • TWeaK@lemm.ee
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        9 months ago

        In my experience prices don’t vary that much across cities, you’d have to move far away to actually get a cheaper rent. Doing that means finding a new job and all sorts of other difficulties.

        In any case, the tenancy simple isn’t worth the rent that’s charged. If owning the property you live in is worth some amount, then renting it should be worth less.

        • yo_scottie_oh
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          9 months ago

          This is why we’re just not going to agree—you’re saying because the property owner does not live there, they should operate at a loss, which I disagree with.

          • TWeaK@lemm.ee
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            9 months ago

            It’s not a loss though. They’re buying a property, they get to keep the property at the end of it - and further the property will almost certainly increase in value.

            Why should the tenant pay more than it costs to own a property, if they don’t get to own anything?

            If a landlord doesn’t like the opportunity because it isn’t profitable enough, they could always sell the property - creating more opportunity for renters to buy their own homes. Right now, with no rent control, the system is pure exploitation.