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Location: Georgia, on the Florida line, right above Tallahassee
10,471 posts, read 15,831,906 times
Reputation: 6438
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It hit me like a ton of bricks. It's so simple, so elegant, so dastardly in its effectiveness, it should've been seen earlier than today....but wasn't.
Rents need to go up.
Think about it. Are homes too expensive? NO! If they were, we wouldn't be trying to prop up the market. They're supposed to be this expensive.
What the U.S. needs to do is raise rents - nationwide. Simple, effective. Dastardly. Home prices don't have to fall if rents increase dramatically. What we need to do it make it just as expensive to rent as to buy. I suggest taxes. New, wonderful taxes. Rents should correlate to housing. In fact, rents should include things like "Roof gonna cave in sometime this year, better get it replaced" fees and "Dang 'ol lawn mower died" surcharge and the ever popular "ARGH! #$%# KIDS AND THEIR #$%#$ BASEBALLS!!! tax."
Look, if you made renting the same as buying a home, you'd make people want to buy a home. But....and here's the kicker...make owning a home cheaper than renting. See? That's the secret. Renters know it. It's cheaper to rent. But what if it wasn't? Paradigm shift, people.......paradigm shift.
Say it with me. Feel it...... as it rolls off the tongue. No more housing problems. Renting would only be used by those who didn't want to upkeep a house. Same as buying furniture, really. You know, you can rent furniture or you can buy it. Who buys it? EVERYONE BUYS IT.
But, why? Why, 70Ford? Why do they buy it?
Because it makes more economic sense to buy than rent.
Location: Jonquil City (aka Smyrna) Georgia- by Atlanta
16,259 posts, read 24,761,129 times
Reputation: 3587
Quote:
Originally Posted by 70Ford
It hit me like a ton of bricks. It's so simple, so elegant, so dastardly in its effectiveness, it should've been seen earlier than today....but wasn't.
Rents need to go up.
Think about it. Are homes too expensive? NO! If they were, we wouldn't be trying to prop up the market. They're supposed to be this expensive.
What the U.S. needs to do is raise rents - nationwide. Simple, effective. Dastardly. Home prices don't have to fall if rents increase dramatically. What we need to do it make it just as expensive to rent as to buy. I suggest taxes. New, wonderful taxes. Rents should correlate to housing. In fact, rents should include things like "Roof gonna cave in sometime this year, better get it replaced" fees and "Dang 'ol lawn mower died" surcharge and the ever popular "ARGH! #$%# KIDS AND THEIR #$%#$ BASEBALLS!!! tax."
Look, if you made renting the same as buying a home, you'd make people want to buy a home. But....and here's the kicker...make owning a home cheaper than renting. See? That's the secret. Renters know it. It's cheaper to rent. But what if it wasn't? Paradigm shift, people.......paradigm shift.
Say it with me. Feel it...... as it rolls off the tongue. No more housing problems. Renting would only be used by those who didn't want to upkeep a house. Same as buying furniture, really. You know, you can rent furniture or you can buy it. Who buys it? EVERYONE BUYS IT.
But, why? Why, 70Ford? Why do they buy it?
Because it makes more economic sense to buy than rent.
That is where you are wrong. Home prices were artificially propped up by smoke and mirror loans (zero down, interest only) and by unbridled specultation and flipping of condos. The real price of a home is what the wages of the people buying them can afford. Wages in the 95-2005 were going up about 4% or so a year. House prices were going up about 20% a year and in the markets hardest hit, 50% a year. Even an idiot could see it was not sustainable. The cost of homeownership should probably be in the area of 10 to 15% above renting. In some places like Los Angeles, it was 250% above rent!
A house shouldn't cost 400K or 300K for that matter. That's just plain ridiculous. And renters who know that they can't afford homes or don't wish to spend half or more of their monthly income on mortgage because it isn't economically feasible, read: FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY, be punished. YOur idea sucks.
The only answer to this whole problem is we need to create jobs. They should have taken all the money they have given to all these failing companies, and loaned it to people who want to start a business. No taxes for at least two years. Let every Tom, Dick, and Harry who wants to start a business give it a shot. If 100,000 people start a business and only half are still in business a year or two from now, that would be great. Nothing will turn this economy around except for more jobs. We need to let the big companies fail and use the money for small business. If there are no jobs, people are losing their jobs, and people are worried about losing their jobs this country is going nowhere. Simple as that.
The only answer to this whole problem is we need to create jobs. They should have taken all the money they have given to all these failing companies, and loaned it to people who want to start a business. No taxes for at least two years. Let every Tom, Dick, and Harry who wants to start a business give it a shot. If 100,000 people start a business and only half are still in business a year or two from now, that would be great. Nothing will turn this economy around except for more jobs. We need to let the big companies fail and use the money for small business. If there are no jobs, people are losing their jobs, and people are worried about losing their jobs this country is going nowhere. Simple as that.
The economy is contracting because of a loss of demand. What demand segment are all of these people with loan money going to fill? Who is going to buy their stuff? Better yet, what kind of "jobs" are most of these loans going to result in? McJobs? Small mom and pop businesses normally do not pay sustainable wages.
The economy is contracting because of a loss of demand. What demand segment are all of these people with loan money going to fill? Who is going to buy their stuff? Better yet, what kind of "jobs" are most of these loans going to result in? McJobs? Small mom and pop businesses normally do not pay sustainable wages.
Who knows? Throw it at a wall and see what sticks! If someone happens to have a great product that people will buy than thats awesome! We have to start somewhere.
Already cheaper to buy than rent in my area anyways...
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