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The landlord hate is fucking exhausting around here. See an old comment of mine from reddit:
I had a very devout Christian landlord. We got a letter before Christmas, "Costs are going up for me..." Here we go. Well, we were getting a sweet deal as it was.
"...and I know costs are going up for you too so we're dropping your rent from $550 to $500. Have a Merry Christmas." That wasn't for December, it was from there on out. I don't cry over much of anything but I teared up reading that.
Dude walked the walked without talking a bunch of talk.
And that wasn't just us. He did that for everyone. Also, although only a trailer house, it was in the bougie suburb in 2018. The rent was already so low as to be unheard of. Dude bought the 6-trailer park and the RV place across the street, fixed it all up very nicely, no raise in rent. Since we were on the end facing his junkyard of crap, he put a privacy fence in for our wedding present.
Dated a girl in his largest RV park. Haven't seen a nicer one unless it was on the beach or somewhere upscale. Everyone got free internet.
INB4, "Yeah, well, that's an exception. Most landlords, bla, bla, bla." I've had all sorts over 30-years of renting. Almost all were guys who had a house or three and were barely making anything on the deal after mortgage and repairs. Institutional investors are 100% of the problem.
You can actually be a good landlord. In theory. But at the point where you actually become a good landlord, it's more of a public service than something you actually make money on.
But at the point where you actually become a good landlord, it’s more of a public service than something you actually make money on.
Why is that a but? They're still a landlord, right? I really don't get the attempt of separation of the same thing.
Because most people don't get into real estate to do public good. Most people get into real estate, become landlords, to make money off people's need for land and housing. It'd be like trying to whitewash criminality because vigilante heroes exist. Yeah, vigilantes might exist and are technically criminals, but that's not really the core conception of "a criminal".
I'll just point out I've had a lot of landlords and never had one do that. Nor have I known one. While they may exist, I'll count it in the realm of "I'll likely never see one in my lifetime." Or maybe I'll see one. So to me, the Good Landlord is a theoretical or a parable.
Because if you're a landlord as an individual, a a human being, you're not what people mean when they say "landlord". You rent property - you can do that with a conscience, but that doesn't deserve the title of landlord
The term "landlord" refers to people who own homes as a business - people who create layers between them and the people they affect, bureaucracies or sheer numbers they can min-max without guilt.
That subtle difference is everything
How do you call an individual that rents you a place then?
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/landlord
A person that leases real property; a lessor.
I really don't see the distinction. And while I'm not a native speaker, I've never heard nor think this is a common distinction or understanding.
Landlord is singular. It does not sound like a company or manager.
Context matters - the person I rent from is my landlord, but that person is not primarily defined as a landlord. They rent out a couple properties, but they have a job - being a landlord is not their career
You can call them a landlord (and they can call themselves one in certain contexts), but in the larger systematic context someone who rents out a room obviously is categorically different.
The line is blurry, but honestly I don't think it matters if you rent out your basement, your old house, or even a few houses. At some point it becomes a full time job (for someone), and that's where I think the line is
And as far as companies, the landlords are the ones who own the company holding ownership.
It can also refer to the company itself as it's a person legally (unfortunately). It's not used that way in everyday conversation
But in everyday conversation it's normal to refer to the manager of the management company as your landlord, which is often an employee of a company that oversees bookkeeping and maintenance hired by the actual owners
Ultimately, I think it's important to fight for this distinction because language changes with use. By dragging in everyone who owns a second property or rents a room, we draw a line on the wrong side of working class people and their family who aren't the problem
Are you the same person that always claims they know very nice police officers whenever someone says "ACAB"?
I’m familiar with some positively pleasant police officers that help around the local elementary school. All the adults and kids love them.
That doesn’t make me reject ACAB though. I don’t know what those cops have been up to in the 99% of their working hours where I don’t see them. Normally nice people do horrible shit all the time even without qualified immunity!
And even if they are as squeaky clean as cops be, the saying isn’t “a few good apples purifies the bunch.”
I fully believe that there are copsswho are nice people. But systemic issues don't go away by individuals not being dicks.
All Carsalemen ARE Bastards.
I say defund the dealerships.
Your lifetime of experiences does not consistute a meaningful sample size when compared to everyone else's. It can leave you feeling or believing something completely different than everyone else, for good reason, but that doesn't make it true.
Most landlords own property because it is a vehicle for wealth growth. And if someone owns something because it makes them money every year they are likely attempting to or interested in maximizing that return. That means cheap maintenance, little to no improvements, and an increasing price tag like an investment vehicle instead of a decreasing price tag like a consumable good.
If landlords were systemically good, if the overwhelmingly majority of landlords were good, rent would go down every year as the building and utilities get used - only going back up after real meaningful renovations.
My last flat had an awful kitchen design, very aesthetic but a nightmare to actually cook in. Can you imagine living in your own home and hating something you Interface with everyday multiple times and not changing it despite knowing you have the money and skills to do so? I can't. But because I have a landlord, because people have landlords they are stuck with the decisions of someone who either makes absolutely or relatively bad decisions all the time. My current flat the bathroom is a nightmare to live with because a quarter of the room is a bathtub and yet there's no place to put your toothbrush or plug in a water pick/hair dryer/razor. I'd happily change the entire bathroom, renovate it to include a decent sized shower, add electrical outlets and kitchen sink that isn't just a bowl - but again I can't because that isn't putting money into my landlords pockets and because they're not planning on living here ever again (if they ever did) they don't care how it is to live in. That's what being a landlord does to someone naturally, it's understandable but the reality is you care less about a place you're not living in, you're spending a lot of money for a place you're not living in so you want to make that money back so you can improve the place you are actually living in so you're naturally getting more stingy and cheap at your other properties, and over time the incentives of the system realign your values and behaviors.
No, I don't think your lifetime of "good landlord stories" is a meaningful data point to change what the overwhelming majority of people experience every day of their lives nor the systemic logic/reality of the situations. Good people can become landlords with good intent but they can't stay good and be a landlord because being a landlord is inherently an anti-productive thing to be in society - overtime the incentives change people into doing things that hurt others for their own interest.
I think you're mixing up "there are bad landlords" with "landlording is bad". I'm sure there were good slave owners as well but it doesn't mean slavery was good. In someways landlords are modern slave owners. They can treat you humanely but at the end of the day they're taking a slice of your money just so you could have a roof over your head.
Hypothetically, if tomorrow your government would say that whatever house/apartment you live in right now is legally yours to keep would you miss your landlord? I very much doubt it.
Are you saying there should only be owning housing? What do the people that can't afford a house or flat do? Is it entirely the states job to build housing then and give housing away?
Are you saying there should only be owning housing?
Isn't this the world right now? Even you rent your landlord owns the house you rent.
What do the people that can't afford a house or flat do?
Part of the reason people can't afford a house is because of landlords. If housing would be more affordable more people could afford houses.
Is it entirely the states job to build housing then and give housing away?
Not entirely, but where I live the state has built social housing for people who couldn't even afford to rent a house. The state owns the house, but they're not trying to extract profits from the people living there. The state is simply giving them a roof because otherwise those people would live on the street. I see nothing wrong with that.
Isn’t this the world right now? Even you rent your landlord owns the house you rent.
It's the opposite. I asked whether they were saying there should not be any renting, only owning.
Well, that comparison in no way minimizes the trauma of slavery.