How private equity is changing housing

Everyone wants to finger someone to blame rather than (before trying to) fix the fucking problem.

Here’s a novel and brazen idea: if a domicile has been vacant inside a metropolitan area for more than thirty days, it’s up for grabs. Be it an apartment, a condo, a house, whatever, but if someone isn’t living in that space for more than thirty days, let folks claim it as abandoned property.

Watch rents and values plummet real fucking fast as folks seek to claim their “winnings” before their shit gets taken. That’ll at least jumpstart the real discussion of making sure housing is accessible to those who need it rather than constant finger pointing.

Because sometimes you just need a bigger fire to create the necessary action to solve the underlying problems.

EDIT: I am honestly so sick of the current housing crisis and seeing a swath of vacant apartments and condos as “investment properties” here in New England that yes, I am serious, and I’ve got a mental map of about a dozen large starter units that have been vacant for a year or so that I’d rush to claim one of.

Your investment is irrelevant when humans lack basic necessities like shelter, and I’m tired of being civil or polite about this so your ego doesn’t get bruised.

Many valid reasons for a property to be vacant. It may need renovations or repair and that can take a lot longer than 30 days. But maybe there's some time frame that makes sense.

I'm not convinced that commercial ownership is the problem. Or if it is, it's not a new problem. Slumlords have been around forever.

The main problem is we just don't have enough housing supply. Investor-owners can only hold units vacant to support higher rents up to a point. If there are enough vacant units available and enough supply that property values are not appreciating like crazy, someone will crack and cut the rent or sell out so they can get a better return on their money.

I refuse to buy that argument of availability alone (or hell, any standalone argument) when we have continued reporting of landlords and PE leveraging services like RealPage that are designed to maximize rents and revenue, including by keeping units vacant. Every time I’m driving through a dark city at night, residences and condos devoid of furniture (or using an interior design motif with no signs of life), I’m reminded how many of these are investments by a vacant owner designed to capitalize on lax regulation and lack of supply in in-demand areas. I drive by huge corporate plazas clustered together on high-value land because companies demanded everyone live in the same areas rather than spread out to reduce costs, driving up demand further.

I am unbelievably sick of seeing the symptoms go unaddressed while commenters and armchair economists bicker and debate who is the sole source of blame that must foot the bill. We need action, and we need to be brave enough to be willing to admit this isn’t working for the masses anymore.

I’m unbelievably tired of this cowardly pussy-footing by people who can’t or won’t envision a better future that also doesn’t involve number go up on property forever without further investment.