Big corporations are buying up homes and “eroding the American dream of homeownership

[chris08876]

Just on a side note, speaking about NJ, the prices continue to go down statewide. Cooling market in general. If one wants to move to the Garden State, might be a good opportunity to do so come summer time or fall of 2023.

[jmecklenborg]

I went to a real estate investor networking event last week, the first since covid hit. There wasn't a single well-dressed person in the place. It was a bunch of men and women with untucked shirts eating pizza and chicken wings who figured out how to do this by themselves 20+ years ago, many of whom are now sitting on millions of dollars in properties in multiple states, with tens of thousands coming in free and clear every month.

A hedge fund guy flew in from New York for this event and was trying to match his money up with a deal but I don't think he made anything happen. I talked to him for about 20 minutes and it's great to hear stuff right from the horse's mouth. These people are smart as hell and they don't give a flying F what people are saying about them on Twitter.

The high rent problem isn't going to go away until we start overbuilding housing like we did in the postwar years. So don't get mad at the people making money off this situation - either join them or start figuring out how to build homes and apartments for way less than it currently costs.

[yaletown_fella]

Originally Posted by jmecklenborg

I went to a real estate investor networking event last week, the first since covid hit. There wasn't a single well-dressed person in the place. It was a bunch of men and women with untucked shirts eating pizza and chicken wings who figured out how to do this by themselves 20+ years ago, many of whom are now sitting on millions of dollars in properties in multiple states, with tens of thousands coming in free and clear every month.

A hedge fund guy flew in from New York for this event and was trying to match his money up with a deal but I don't think he made anything happen. I talked to him for about 20 minutes and it's great to hear stuff right from the horse's mouth. These people are smart as hell and they don't give a flying F what people are saying about them on Twitter.

The high rent problem isn't going to go away until we start overbuilding housing like we did in the postwar years. So don't get mad at the people making money off this situation - either join them or start figuring out how to build homes and apartments for way less than it currently costs.

I agree that the key to dealing with the bad actors is diluting them away with more supply. Not more regulation (apart from maybe rent control fixed to the CPI)

[Tuckerman]

The Atlanta Journal Constitution has conducted a very well done and comprehensive study of this problem in the Atlanta area. The situation is quite bad. Here is a brief quotation from their recent investigation:
"Since the Great Recession, large investors have snapped up more than 65,000 homes in metro Atlanta and converted them to rentals. And the flood of Wall Street cash is pushing homeownership out of reach for many middle class families.

Investors buy in all but the wealthiest neighborhoods, but their homes are disproportionately found in African American communities.

Priced out of buying, families who wind up renting from these same firms can face deplorable conditions, exorbitant fees and frequent eviction filings by out-of-state landlords driven to maximize shareholder profits.

Metro Atlanta is ground zero for the investor takeover of the American Dream."

[SFBruin]

Out of curiosity, are there any other large-scale commodities that corporations are ending the chance of owning?