Haha, can you imagine landlords playing the victim like this xD classic. Cracked me up, thanks mate!
Friend tried renting some property in FL. It was a miserable experience with tenants who constantly trashed the places, having to hound them for rent while she had to pay the mortgage on time, etc. She eventually sold it and said “Never again.”
Not counting corporate landlords, cause that’s a whole other can of worms, 50% of landlords are below average landlords, and 50% of tenants are below average tenants. So 75% of leases have one below average party, antidotaly anyway. (Obviously this isn’t real math)
We rented a house after we moved out of it. It was a nightmare, and we’ll never do it again. They stopped paying rent for months, then wouldn’t move out. If they had a legitimate hardship we would have worked something out, but they were just shit people. We ended up having to take them to court to get them out. If they had just left without it going that far, we wouldn’t have even pursued the back rent. The house was deep down nasty when we got in after they left.
There are definitely predatory landlords, and there do need to be protections in place. However just because someone charges money to live in a property they own, they aren’t necessary brutal capitalists out to fuck over anyone they can
Paranormal story here…
I have the first good landlords I’ve had in my entire life. We have a clean, decent townhouse - two stories w/ unfinished basement. It’s in a safe residential/school zone, right behind my work, and he’s renting it to us for several hundred less than he could be getting based on other similar rentals. I guess he grew up here and has sentimental attachment, and just wants it taken care of. He purchased the connecting unit and is renting it equally low to other great tenants who take care of it. Guy is a defense lawyer and doesn’t need to squeeze every drop out of it I guess.
Him and his wife are super considerate of our time and our needs, get us nursery/greenhouse gift cards in the spring and Christmas baskets every year. They’re fucking anomaly and it’s absolutely perplexing after two decades of shitty landlords.
We rent our starter home out because we want to eventually move back in when we retire. We keep the rent affordable and fix anything that breaks. Only rent increases that happen are due to HOA and property tax increases.
My wife and I hope to be in a similar situation in a few years.
I’ve stopped mentioning it because there was so much negative reaction and I’m tired of explaining. I usually just blurt out whatever is on my mind but this is now among the things I treat as taboo.
What people need to realize is that there are different kinds of people. All kinds of people. There are greedy, corrupt, evil business owners, landlords, politicians, lawyers, cops, etc. But it’s not the job that is the problem. It’s the people.
The only thing that makes the world better is when better people go into those professions. And the only way that happens is if we appropriately respect the importance of the role.
We aren’t interested in price gouging some struggling family that is having trouble making ends meet. We just want to cover maintenance and taxes. If you treat us and our home with respect we will treat you with respect.
I feel like that’s how it should be.
I appreciate your story.
If it’s not unwelcome, I’d offer, I guess, a bit of an explanation, as I think the lines get kinda blurred in the passion of the moment.
From a leftist perspective, the root of the issue is not personal culpability (as in liberalism’s emphasis on the individual), but with the system of organization that creates the “material” conditions. Basically, it’s exactly the opposite of what you said:
But it’s not the job that is the problem. It’s the people.
It’s not the people that’s the problem, it’s the system. There is obviously a spectrum of landlords that make the situation better or worse, but the issue is with the underlying relationship of private ownership itself.
We have to stop seeing rented property as a paternalistic relationship; “this is mine because I paid for it”, and more of a coming together of joint interest; “this is ours, because I may have paid for it at first, but you are actually living in it”. We let authority be derived from that notion of ownership, and that’s the point of concern for those of us being critical of landlords. That we place emphasis on ownership is not anyone’s fault (mostly), but it is the thing we need to be able to discuss without alienating others.
I’m truly sorry for making you feel alienated, I hope my explanation is helpful and not adding to your discomfort.
I’m sure others will disagree but I’m fine with this, especially since it sounds like you’re being fair, not greedy, and have a reasonable exit strategy.
You aren’t hoarding wealth, buying up all the starter homes, making them into unsightly mcmanasions, and then putting them up for rent like a bunch of houses in my neighborhood. Like 7 houses on my block are owned by 2 people.
You can afford to carry two mortgages? Or do you rent out your house and rent something else to live in?
Landlord struggle lmao. Must be nice living off of other peoples paycheques, ngl
Wear and tear along with damages are almost always put to the feet of the current renter or they’re reno-victed.
Majority of landlords, both corporate and private, abuse the system to profiteer adding vastly more to the rent price than is actually necessary to cover their costs, and pretending otherwise is disingenuous at best or intentionally malicious at worst.
I didn’t feel it necessary to have to go and explain this in my reply because, as people posting here, we all very likely have the privilege of living (or having lived) in a house or apartment and by virtue of experiencing reality, innately understand that wear and tear occurs as well as damages over time, so pretending like “maintenance costs and mortgages exist bro” is a serious counter argument is unbelievably derivative and completely incompetent.
You assume that they are all overcharging wildly and that all maintenance is trivial. Mortgages are an actual thing, go buy some property and find out. People rent out property to make a profit, not out of love. Also, living in a home or apt you pay for isn’t a “privilege” anymore than the food I buy is.
unbelievably derivative and completely incompetent
You had me thinking you wanted to make an intelligent point until you broke out the shitpost. You got me!
