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I would say the best thing people can do is save and invest their butts off so they don't have to depend on wage and salary income.
But...but...but... the most critical thing is to spend your money on the latest large screen TVs, clothes, Nikes, and of course cars. Gotta impress people you don't know with things you can't afford.
With the rental / housing market there's not much anyone can do. Most landlords charge market rent. You can't really do otherwise - trying to be "nice" and charge sub-market rents usually means you'll get bad tenants.
The real estate market is a perfect example of supply/demand. There's only so much land and people want to live in certain areas where land is a lot more limited.
Rising rents in my area has caused some homelessness - when they rise so rapidly it hurts the people who were already borderline. There is a limit to government can do. When government incentivizes "affordable housing" it usually doesn't stay affordable for long. What government COULD do - is have units built further out and build train / bus systems to them. But that is incredibly expensive and no one wants to pay taxes for that.
Salt Lake City actually did a pretty novel thing and just bought some units and allowed homeless people to live in them, no questions asked. It works a lot better than tying strings to it like no drugs, alcohol, etc... the only rule was you can't do anything that harms your neighbors.
Not always true, just have to weed out the ones that are working for a living vs those just living off the government. Most just over market them to keep from having to weed them out, so they know they will get those in the higher in market to rent. They do hurt those that need a place to live and not many can afford to live in the country as well. Not alot of cars and gas prices kinda deter that theory. Limited resources as well in the country makes a difference. We look and not much of a change moving 50 miles out. We would have to drive 100 miles a day to find anything remotely cheaper, but eat it up in gas wear and tear on the cars. If there is some type of anit-gouging rule than it needs to be made. No need to charge rent 1k for a 2 bedroom and get same typical house across town for lessor price. Yea they need to make some money, but when your home payment is 500 and your charging 1k. than yea your just being flat out greedy.
Not always true, just have to weed out the ones that are working for a living vs those just living off the government. Most just over market them to keep from having to weed them out, so they know they will get those in the higher in market to rent. They do hurt those that need a place to live and not many can afford to live in the country as well. Not alot of cars and gas prices kinda deter that theory. Limited resources as well in the country makes a difference. We look and not much of a change moving 50 miles out. We would have to drive 100 miles a day to find anything remotely cheaper, but eat it up in gas wear and tear on the cars. If there is some type of anit-gouging rule than it needs to be made. No need to charge rent 1k for a 2 bedroom and get same typical house across town for lessor price. Yea they need to make some money, but when your home payment is 500 and your charging 1k. than yea your just being flat out greedy.
There is actually a lot more than just the mortgage payment in terms of expenses for a landlord.
In L.A many landlords are lucky to break even after all expenses.
This is the mortgage, taxes,insurance,maintenance, utilities,etc.
You see buildings for sale and they are telling you the return is 4%...not sure how that is greedy.
People still buy these buildings because they HOPE they will go up in price/appreciate.
If you really look at the expenses to run a business or own an investment property you'll see why businesses have to charge what they charge and why landlords have to charge what they charge.
A common misconception. There is no "skills gap" - there is only a training gap created by greedy corporations who basically want custom-made candidates who already have 3 to 5 years doing that exact same job. When I was between jobs, it was laughable to look at the ads; a good chunk of them literally excluded anyone who wasn't a current or former employee of the company in question. Then, these same corporations have the nerve to whine about "being unable to find qualified US applicants" - so they can bring in more visa workers from overseas. It is shameless, transparent, and laughable.
Even if the engineering field has recovered a bit since 2013 - which I doubt it has given the recent crash in the US energy sector - back then there were literally a bit more engineering graduates THAT YEAR than engineering jobs open in the whole nation - and that doesn't even count all the existing engineers between jobs or not in engineering any longer. If engineering is in such dismal shape, a lot other once supposedly safe professions are no doubt in a similar position. And yet big business wants to blame the victim, as always, even as they keep shipping more jobs overseas.
Thank you! This nonsense is so frustrating to hear as a (STEM!) grad student who has lost research funding not due to lack of skill or effort but to the fact that no one wants to educate or train anymore when cheap foreign labor is available.
There is actually a lot more than just the mortgage payment in terms of expenses for a landlord.
In L.A many landlords are lucky to break even after all expenses.
This is the mortgage, taxes,insurance,maintenance, utilities,etc.
You see buildings for sale and they are telling you the return is 4%...not sure how that is greedy.
People still buy these buildings because they HOPE they will go up in price/appreciate.
If you really look at the expenses to run a business or own an investment property you'll see why businesses have to charge what they charge and why landlords have to charge what they charge.
I have yet to qualify for a good home so i rent, but i been through the paperwork. Most homes here the taxes and insurance are tied into the payment. Best offer i can get is 800 with all fees, but the interest rate is just too high for me. Working on my credit to get it lower.. but still you can tell that some homes are paid off and they are just pocketing the rent.. If they refuse to fix the problem right and choose to band-aid it.. than yea thats greedy.
...Right now the USDA is generating more rules. They are currently in the open for public comment stage. The draft of these rules, so far, will cause all livestock and poultry farmers to rebuild a lot of fencing and enclosures. Which will drive up local organic food prices.
Wait. You're saying career bureaucrats with gold-plated pensions & Cadillac health care can sit back and create more rules so their personal empires get larger and larger, justifying their own promotions and increased pensions?
Has to be some regulation for any property owner that is renting out to keep from price gouging the poor sorta speak.
There is no such thing as "price gouging." It does not exist.
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You're saying career bureaucrats with gold-plated pensions & Cadillac health care can sit back and create more rules so their personal empires get larger and larger, justifying their own promotions and increased pensions? 
