That sounds right. And, I have to admit, it's pretty good politics to ban a mostly imaginary thing that is a popular talking point. Since it's barely going to affect anyone, it'll be easy to pass.

And it may win votes for Republicans in swing districts, since the "BlackRock bought all the houses!" line is heard much more often from the Left, meaning this is something you can show an on-the-fence voter to signal how you are against those evil Wall Street guys.

I wonder if he'll be able to resist slipping in some kind of small-time grift for a family member or campaign donor, though.

People are always looking for an outside villain in this story. Over the years it's been "Chinese buyers", AirBnBs, private equity, or "the rich" generally, but the thing is that the system is working exactly as it is supposed to. Middle class homeowners demand that their homes go up in value every year and they get what they want. Homes are explicitly called investments my every mainstream organization with any stake in the game. The ones responsible are indeed your neighbors, but not just the ones with investment properties. Talk to these people and between complaints about the price of eggs going up a buck or two you'll hear them mention "property values" frequently in casual conversation and beam with pride as they show you their Zillow Zestimate. Your government is happy for the increase in tax revenue (even as they carve out exemptions for their voter base). The ever increasing prices are all going to be paid by future generations, so there is no need to worry.

If Black Rock is guilty of anything here above all else, it's taking advantage of a situation deliberately created for someone else. If government policy wasn't already going balls to the wall trying to constantly pump up property values, there'd be no investment returns to be had.

Give me the levers of federal, state, and local government and I promise you I can completely tank property values in 48 hours or less.

Daily reminder that the largest purchasers of residential real estate through these intermediary firms (since that's all they are... they own them in trust for others) are public employee pension plans.

There is no key word here. It's an aspirational assertion on social media. Everyone asking about how it will be implemented is asking questions Trump has spent zero seconds considering. He will maybe sign some EO that will have very limited scope but mostly he is asking Congress to figure it out. Given the makeup of the Senate it will require bipartisan support which means at least months of haggling if they even consider his request. So we really have no idea what the policy will be or when we'll see it.

Black rock shouldn't buy any family homes. Not a single one.

I'm sick of the arguments that rely on the meaning of "most/many/some/not all". The arguments are irrefutable because you can always weasel your way through the meaning of the quantifier, or the false implication that only the "biggest" of something needs redress before the next in line.

A person owning a second home is fine, that's one of the paths towards financial independence: small business ownership. Someone starting out in a tiny money making operation is a good thing, and they do not need to compete with a trillion dollar empire!

[dead]

From the moment I saw this in the WSJ this morning, I was wondering what people were going to come up with in order to be against this obviously-good idea, just because Trump said it.

Now I know.

Yeah, that's why Blackstone's stock fell 9% on this news. It doesn't affect them at all.

Yes, It should be expanded that no company can own residential property, and more importantly, each person can only own one property.

People should go find something else to invest their savings in.