America's Housing Crisis

Where do these folks live now? The vast majority can't be homeless, since homeless people can't afford new apartments or houses. They want to live closer to work? That;s nice, but what about folks who worked hard all their lives, lived in crappy apartments for years, and finally were able to afford a house in the burbs with a little buffer space between neighbors? Now they have to give that up because other people somewhere are having too many kids.

It;s a continual cycle where I live. City says we need jobs so let's give some big tax breaks to bring employers to town, Usually they hire a bunch of folks from out of town. Then the city cries about not enough housing. They tear down all the cool old homes occupied by old folks on fixed incomes. and build ugly shit that is still not affordable for those old people or most of the rest.

The construction companies and realtors sure make out, though, so I guess iit's all good.

And so it goes.

Government bureaucracy is the problem.  

Are you self quarantining today?

I believe we need to take a serious look at how housing is viewed / classified in this nation. 

Instead of being a commodity, perhaps housing ought to be looked upon as a primary property right.

Nobody gets seconds until everybody gets firsts.

For example:  if you don't own a home, you are able to compel / force a sale of a second homeowner (at fair market value).

That’s insanity.  Thanks for the laughs, but what would I expect from a dbmb where grown ass adults still think it’s cool to say 420.

>>>>>if you don't own a home, you are able to compel / force a sale of a second homeowner (at fair market value)

Lolololol.

Don't even know where to start here.

.

It's about property, just like 250+ yeas ago.

Insert British Empire for Local Government.

So much for not being a ruled peoples.

Don't even know where to start here.<<<

Then how about starting on these hypothetical extremes:

Would it be fair / healthy for one person to own all the residential property in the US and have everyone renting from said individual?

Would it be fair / healthy for 1,000,000 foreigners to own all residential property in the US and have everyone renting from said individuals?

Isn’t more government regulation basically like the government owning all the housing?  Lol.

https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/07/03/google-tesla-apple-facebook-rake-...

keep bending over for the corporations.

Big dif. between your hypotheticals and somebody wanting to own a second house for some income when they retire.

corporations should just have whole towns like the old days.

Parts of Vermont have a major housing crunch. For instance, my rental would get over 100% more just 25 miles away. That's just stupid. Vermont is trying, though: https://housingtrustfundproject.org/vermont-passes-budget-with-historic-...

I still haven't raised my rent in well over 3 years. I guess I'm grossly under-charging, but I don't care. It's May have to raise the rent a bit, though, because the tenants have been bugging me over small things. They called me because their drain was clogged, because they had a few ants, and because there was a mouse. That's annoying shit that they should be taking care of. It's not there were infestations. Oh well.

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1288509568578777088

SO Presidential!

For example:  if you don't own a home, you are able to compel / force a sale of a second homeowner (at fair market value).

How would fair market value be determined? In highly desirable waterfront areas current fair market value might be 3 to 30 million dollars. Not sure how someone without  who could not afford a 150k home could buy that. Chances are that home isn't even in an area that well paying jobs are available; so how is that helping at all? 

Do I agree that there is a housing crisis? You betcha. When I came into adulthood, the way most people bought their first home was by working hard, forgoing most extra pleasures and socking that money away for a down payment, maybe working a second job, doing what it took to advance your career which normally increased your earning power. I know plenty of people who would only eat out once or twice a month and make a six pack last a week. Still things like higher density housing needs to be built. Mass transit needs to be increased. 

Blacks and Hispanics have never worked as hard as white people. 

What sort of bullshit statement is that? 

That may be true in many locales. There are also quite a few "suburbs" in New Jersey that have a healthy mix of races and backgrounds and in those areas the common denominator is hard work in their 20's and 30's. When I was that age and till to a lesser extent now, I commonly worked 60+ hours a week. I did so to get ahead. These days, as a business owner, I still work over 40 hrs a week. I do it to stay afloat now though. Sometimes you have to do what you have to do to survive and no amount of bitching will make it better so I find it a waste of energy to do so. In all cases my time is better spent figuring out how to make things better and then doing those things.  

Colt's Neck??? Seriously? That's your example of what an average suburb is in New Jersey? That would be like me saying the average suburb in California is Palo Alto although there is a least few horse farms in Colt's Neck. 

 This: "When I came into adulthood, the way most people bought their first home was by working hard, forgoing most extra pleasures and socking that money away for a down payment, maybe working a second job, doing what it took to advance your career which normally increased your earning power. I know plenty of people who would only eat out once or twice a month and make a six pack last a week." 

"Blacks and Hispanics have never worked as hard as white people". perfect slacking,racist BS

slacker is a slacker indeed     and a  HATER / WHINER / VICTIM -- poor  poor me

get a job,  or if you think that you have one,  try to advance your skills and marketability

get off the couch whiner- man-up as it were (not wanting to be sexist, but it fits)

Yes, I am blessed - and yes, I worked hard, got started with a 10% down payment, in a good market, and the investment and effort paid off, and one day I will be able to go to a concert again,

>>Hopefully one day soon the republicans will lose control of all 3 branches of government<<

yes politicians in large suck, and they are politicians which by definition means compromises

we need to get out of this downward moral spiral, and ony the rich  / white and haters count

go back to sucking on your thumb - blame everyone else -  but don't look in the mirror....

Lltd, I'm sure your down payment 20,30 or whatever many years ago is not what it is now. Will million dollar homes be worth 2 million in 10 yrs, I dunno.  The paths are not as obtainable for most as they once were.

I do feel badly that you have not been abe to own a home, and so clearly wish to ( and wanting California makes that infinitely harder) - but honestly, I feel that you do whine a lot,

I hope my message is as much a pep talk- ie make it happen, if you stumble and fall  >>> get up, dust off, and keep on relentlessly -I wish you well, and hope your horizons expand

peace

that is true mr root beer, and yes $30K 30 years ago, is equivalent to$ 60k in todays dollar

and i did have a good job and career growth ( lucky and also Deadicated)-   >kind of the right place right time, and yes, tbh right person

and I do love owning a home, and have spent several ( prob over 5) thousands of hours improving it, I love working with my hands, designing, building,  recycling, many  projects and lots of maintenance too

i wish that for many more folks - it is harder and harder , and the quality of life does degrade....

Sweat equity 

I hear that some people are thinking that the old dream of owning a home is just that, an old dream. I can see it both ways.

I bought my house 41 years ago after renting for 3 years. I was really lucky, I mean really lucky.

I wish you could own your own home, Knotesau, since you want it so much.

Most people hire low wage laborers from the slums to do those things now. 

Who are these "most people?" And who are these low wage laborers from the "slums" you talk about? Do many people who live in an affluent area hire others to do home maintenance? They sure do, mainly because they make more money working their regular job than save doing their own maintenance. Home contracting seems to be one of those jobs that if you work hard you will end up doing quite well for yourself and there is a ton of work for everyone. I have a middle range project that is too big for me to do and every contractor I've contacted is telling me that they are working 100 hour weeks and can't get to me until sometime in the fall, if then. The guy I contracted to redo my bathroom back in the early spring is a perfect example of what I am saying about working hard. He was juggling multiple job sites concurrently and his if any of his crew had any delay on any of those jobs they went to a job site that they could work at right then. We became friendly and since I used to have a business that did in home custom finishing we talked shop a lot. I complimented him on how hard working his crew was and asked what does he pay them. He told me. Any member of his crew made the minimum of $30 an hour, including the just hired with beginner skills. Those guys might only be ripping things down and carrying materials from point A to point B. His main crew were employees, not sub-contractors. They got hourly wage plus overtime and benefits. And they all averaged 50 hours a week all year long, often double that. So, the rookies on the crew with beginner skills was making approx 85k a year plus benefits. If you were willing to work more hours, these guys have to be making close to 100k by the end of the year. Watching them work I was impressed with their hustle. They were always looking for something to do in their down time that wasn't lunch. You could see that they knew they had a good job that rewarded them for their hustle quite well. 

Of course I realize that many people don't have it in them to work like that. It's a choice one must make but if you have the drive and focus you can do fairly well for yourself. But, in NJ at least, if you are making 85k - 100k a year you can buy a house. It may not be in the most desirable area or in the best condition but you can do it and a lot of people do just that. 

New Jersey’s affordability crisis has been exacerbated as a result of not enforcing Mount Laurel. According to Gordon, rents in New Jersey have risen at twice the expected rate of incomes since 2000.  This high increase in rent is a direct result of exclusionary policies by wealthy, predominantly white municipalities which restrict new apartments from being built.

https://monarchhousing.org/2019/07/26/the-deep-rooted-problem-behind-new...

No argument there. That article concerns itself with the many municipalities in NJ not allowing high density housing to be built for the rental market, which leads to higher rents. What it does not address is the possibility of being able to work hard and buy a place of your own if you are willing to do the work and delay gratifications. 

A minimum down payment for a home in Slacker's neck of the woods is right around $150K (but probably more). 

At least $300k JR.  Banks want at least 20-25% down now for jumbo mortgages.  This ain't 2007 anymore. 

Why is it ok for affluent people to move to a place that needs low wage laborers but doesn't have any apartments for them?

Before that can be addressed properly some clarification is needed. What do you consider low wage laborers? How close do you feel the apartments need to be?

There's still plenty of FHA loans available for 3% down.

The upper limit for FHA loans in the highest-cost counties is $765,600 — San Francisco County, California, for example. Some counties have housing prices that fall somewhere in between, so the FHA loan limits are in the middle, too. An example is Denver County, Colorado, where the 2020 FHA loan limit is $575,000.

Service workers. The closer the better if you want (taco trucks).

How is your credit, slacker?

Service workers. The closer the better if you want to reduce CO2.

And what sort of wage do these service workers earn? On a more personal level; do you want to own or do you want to rent? If it's rent, what do you consider a reasonable rent? 

slack my pool guy buddy is having his busiest year ever.

Any and every laborer I hire makes more per hour than I do, and I have a fucking Master's degree.

Do you need more pool clients, Slacker? 

During school hours your son's teacher will be teaching remotely, right? 

maybe the other low wage guy can live with you because poor people are supposed to live in overcrowded conditions.

Jesus, will one of you rich Bay Area fucks just give Knotesau a house already. This is brutal.

Lol, Tatters. The rich fucks should  reward his incessant whining?! Besides, I guarantee that he'd still be whining, so not a good plan. 
 

If someone gave the Slackers a house he would complain about the property taxes.