[twister244]

Personally, I have benefited from owning multiple properties. I bought my first place (1B condo in Denver) in 2018 and am not renting it out. Needless to say I have a nice cushion of equity on the place that is slowly growing.

I bought a 2bed condo a year ago here in Chicago, and am renting my second bedroom out. Again, slowly building up equity on this property at the same time. This doesn't preclude me from doing normal 401k or side Robinhood investments..... And that's the point. It's not always an either/or thing. Most folks who own a home/condo ALSO are contributing to other traditional investments.

I think the solution will be some sort of a balancing act. You can't forbid any investors from buying up a property and renting it out, but there should be some limits, especially if construction to match demand for folks who want to own their own place isn't keeping up. Otherwise, you will most certainly get a "You will own nothing and like it" scenario, which I don't want.

On a micro level, one can certainly do things locally. Here in Chicago, it's pretty common for HOAs to have caps on how many condos can be rented out. I think most HOAs also forbid AirBnBs. That doesn't really help with SFH or 2/3 flats, but it does help buffer for folks who want to own a condo.