alt Hacker News> IMO it's a crooked notion that landlords are rent seeking and nothing else - they do create supply and maintain housing.
They don’t create supply in any way, the only ones who do that are builders. But sure they maintain houses. Although just the bare minimum, they will never fix it nicely - just enough to rent it out.
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> But sure they maintain houses. Although just the bare minimum, they will never fix it nicely - just enough to rent it out.
Depends a lot on the landlord. Many will fix it up nicely because they can charge a higher rent. Much of my work is repairing rental properties and I've seen all types of landlords. I try not to work for the cheap ones if I can help it because I don't want my name associated with the crap they want me to do.
How does one propose to supply the market for temporary housing without landlords? Students, travelers, new residents to an area, people early in their careers switching jobs frequently, all of these people have a need for temporary housing. If the only people who own buildings live in them, where do these people find their housing?
I spent over a decade living in various rentals after I moved to a new state. I didn't have the money to buy when I first moved, and even if I had, I didn't know the area well enough to know whether I would want to buy where I first lived. And having the ability to just pick up and move meant I had a lot of flexibility for chasing job opportunities. Don't get me wrong, there's plenty to love about the home I own now, but it absolutely ties me down and anchors me in ways that renting never did. I for one am glad to have had people willing to rent property to me.
Of course landlords create supply.
A renter is someone looking to rent. If someone buys a home then rents it out they just +1 the supply of rental units.
The actual value of landlording is offloading financial risk. The tenant pays a stable rent including a premium in exchange for maintenance, repairs, and not having to sell a home in order to move to a new one.
I just can't bring myself to agree with the hard-line socialists who think landlording is fundamentally a bad thing. There are a lot of problems with it, but it does have a legitimate place in the world.
> They don’t create supply in any way, the only ones who do that are builders.
For a house to be available for me to rent, both things need to happen.
Someone had to build it, obviously. But just as necessary, someone needs to offer it up for a rental.