[blakesq]

why is $10 bucks per hour the right number? Wouldn't it be better if the minimum wage was $20/hour?

Is it fair that some people can drive a Lexus and others cannot? Therefore the minimum wage probably should be $100/hour, or more. What is wrong with having a minimum wage of $100/hour? Is it because you hate poor people?

Originally Posted by mikelizard860

That's the most absurd logic I've ever heard. The fact you'd compare 10 bucks an hour to 50 or 100 an hour is insane. The fact that's your starting point for a debate ends it right there because there's really nothing to say to that.
A full time job in the richest country in the world should provide a basic living wage. Period. Especially when you have billionaires and millionaires in the country who became like that not for curing cancer that's for sure! Income inequality. Not a complex thing to understand. The minimum wage used to be higher and the cost of living was cheaper. There was also less millionaires and billionaires. I wonder if that's a coincidence? lol

Hey why not just pay people whatever the market will bear and soon you'll be able to get a job for a dollar an hour and live in a cage like in hong kong(a VERY RICH city)...oh and pay RENT for the cage. Because you know damn well the people with the power(the money) will drive down wages as much as they can get away with! Ever read about the French revolution? This has happened throughout history. The haves will **** on the have nots until they fight back. That's what these basic things like workers rights and a descent wage are about. The new deal by Roosevelt launched this country into an absolute economic powerhouse. And it's all the things the right is fighting against.
Hong Kong's cage homes: Tens of thousands living in 6ft by 2ft rabbit hutches | Mail Online

[Mike 75]

Originally Posted by mikelizard860

They should really set the minimum wage to cost of living index and adjust it every year accordingly. They also need to do something about housing. The cost is out of control due to free market speculative investments especially in multi family apartments. The truth of why urban sprawl is so bad is not due to us building highways, but due to people moving farther from the city so they can afford a home. The "free" market isn't working for housing. It's led to unaffordable housing in many area's of the country with nyc and it's metro area being the worst offender. But even cities like Boston are very close to that now. Just keeps getting worse.

NYC has rent control and has some of the highest rents in the country. Its simple supply and demand. Until supply is increased to adequately meet the demand, rents will continue to climb. Not much the gov't can do except try and incentivize the construction of new units.

[mikelizard860]

Originally Posted by Mike 75

NYC has rent control and has some of the highest rents in the country. Its simple supply and demand. Until supply is increased to adequately meet the demand, rents will continue to climb. Not much the gov't can do except try and incentivize the construction of new units.

Rent control was killed a long time ago. It died with the people who lived in the apartments. They were also bought out if they didn't die. Supply and demand can be manipulated(ask the oil industry) by speculation as well as knowing when to or not to build more housing/apt units. NYC apartments are now "investments". Lots of people from overseas have apartments there that are basically safety deposit boxes. They don't even live there. Manhattan is obviously lacking space. Elsewhere is not. No reason people should be forced to pay 1k or more a month for 1 bedroom in central ct. Outrageous. The people who own these apartment complex's are making a fortune. They jack up rent all the time and then when they sell the place is worth more due to higher rents. Ask sterling about making money in apt buildings.....lol He made just a bit.

[mlassoff]

Originally Posted by blakesq

Is it fair that some people can drive a Lexus and others cannot?

The question is more like: Is it fair that some people can afford to feed their kids properly and others cannot?

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by mikelizard860

Rent control was killed a long time ago. It died with the people who lived in the apartments. They were also bought out if they didn't die. Supply and demand can be manipulated(ask the oil industry) by speculation as well as knowing when to or not to build more housing/apt units. NYC apartments are now "investments". Lots of people from overseas have apartments there that are basically safety deposit boxes. They don't even live there. Manhattan is obviously lacking space. Elsewhere is not. No reason people should be forced to pay 1k or more a month for 1 bedroom in central ct. Outrageous. The people who own these apartment complex's are making a fortune. They jack up rent all the time and then when they sell the place is worth more due to higher rents. Ask sterling about making money in apt buildings.....lol He made just a bit.

You obviously have not been a landlord. People are not making the millions you think they are off of the rents they charge. There are so many costs, real and hidden that make owning real estate a costly investment. Remeber the owner has to pay taxes and maintenance costs as well as repairs. Then there are problems with renters who don't pay or the time between when the renters move out and new tenants are found and move in. When you add it up a landlord is not making the killing you think they are. Jay

[mikelizard860]

Originally Posted by JayCT

You obviously have not been a landlord. People are not making the millions you think they are off of the rents they charge. There are so many costs, real and hidden that make owning real estate a costly investment. Remeber the owner has to pay taxes and maintenance costs as well as repairs. Then there are problems with renters who don't pay or the time between when the renters move out and new tenants are found and move in. When you add it up a landlord is not making the killing you think they are. Jay

YES they are making millions. In some cases billions have been made in the real estate game. Do you want me give specific examples of multimillionaire companies/people who own buildings? There's a bunch right in ct. Just look who owns some of the complexes in rocky hill.
You're comparing a person renting out a few units to big developers/owners? It's not even a comparison.
It's a speculative investment. Think if you bought an apartment building in the early 80's in nyc and sold it 15 years later. Because they were able to jack the rent up not only did they get increased revenue each month, but when they went to sell the building it was worth an absolute fortune and you'd outright own the building because the tenants are paying your mortgage(if you even took one out and didn't pay all cash) People have made billions in owning/developing apartment complexes.

1,000 a month for 1 bedroom = 12,000 a year. What's average maintenance cost on a 1 bedroom per year spread out over 10 years?(If you have any brains you don't contract work out. You either do it yourself or have a live in maintenance guy)

If you diversify and don't over leverage yourself and know what you're doing it's a good investment. It's where the smart money goes. Dumb people put their money in stocks. Smart money goes in apartment complexes or buying businesses. Investments you control. Of course you need a fortune to start with.

Oh and no money down real estate is total crap. Don't even think about it if you don't have at least 50% cash to put down and running costs as well. This is where people do the math wrong. You also have to figure in a vacany rate, people not paying ect. Do the math right and have the cash and you'll be making bank on the backs of people struggling to pay their rent.

[mikelizard860]

And that's why you need regulation. Turning 4 walls, a roof, small sq footage, for someone to sleep and eat into a speculative instrument is wrong. Plenty of other things to speculate and make money on. Just another example of the ownership class taking advantage of people.

[Mr_250]

Originally Posted by JayCT

You obviously have not been a landlord. People are not making the millions you think they are off of the rents they charge. There are so many costs, real and hidden that make owning real estate a costly investment. Remeber the owner has to pay taxes and maintenance costs as well as repairs. Then there are problems with renters who don't pay or the time between when the renters move out and new tenants are found and move in. When you add it up a landlord is not making the killing you think they are. Jay

I'm going to have to agree with jay. My family is very involved in the residential property business both owning and property management. My family sold off many of its properties in 2008 only holding onto the ones in decent towns. By no means do you just buy a property and make a killing. Remember you gave mortgage, insurance, taxes, income taxes, repairs, maintaining the property and holding cost if there are no one renting. Unless you buy a property cash you will only be making a small percentage of your money back per month. The large bought complexes in CT are heavily mortgage or subsided using Real estate trust funds.

Can't forget lawyer fees to set up a lease and if it ever comes to it eviction.

[mikelizard860]

Originally Posted by Mr_250

I'm going to have to agree with jay. My family is very involved in the residential property business both owning and property management. My family sold off many of its properties in 2008 only holding onto the ones in decent towns. By no means do you just buy a property and make a killing. Remember you gave mortgage, insurance, taxes, income taxes, repairs, maintaining the property and holding cost if there are no one renting. Unless you buy a property cash you will only be making a small percentage of your money back per month. The large bought complexes in CT are heavily mortgage or subsided using Real estate trust funds.

Can't forget lawyer fees to set up a lease and if it ever comes to it eviction.

When you have a lot of properties, you will make a ****load of money.

The mortgage that you're(the tenants) paying is going straight to your net worth. There's also all kinds of tax advantages from this type of "income". You're not going to get taxed like a nurse where they jack nearly half your pay. lol

You can NOT deny people make billions in rental real estate. Just ask donald sterling. Again a ton of profit.
Are you actually saying people don't make a killing in real estate investment? And who's paying for all that profit? The homeowners/renters due to increased rents. And tax payers in some cases due to government programs. It's all being funneled right back to the top 1% all while they complain about taxes. Love the irony of that.

It's like saying you can't make a ton of money in oil exploration and exxon doesn't make much money just because your oil company failed.

[blakesq]

The liberals have still not explained why a minimum wage of $100 per hour is not better than $10 per hour. I guess deep down they understand that the federal government forcing a minimum wage for unskilled and unexperienced workers is a bad idea.