• NutWrench@lemmy.ml
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    9 months ago

    How about we ban companies like Blackstone from buying up all the auction homes, lightly flipping them and then putting them back on the market as overpriced rentals?

    They’re a big reason for our housing shortage.

    • takeda@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      Why not both? Airbnb severely increases prices, and properties bought by corporations do the same. I’m tired of not doing anything because "what about "

        • abraxas@sh.itjust.works
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          9 months ago

          Freaking crazy numbers. It’s been years since I’ve seen a hotel room for anywhere near $180. I dont’ use AirBnB often, but when I do it’s because they are dramatically cheaper than the hotels in the area.

          • buzz86us@lemmy.world
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            9 months ago

            Try having to go to NYC at a few days notice ouch… Like all I could find was $150… I just rented a uhaul and used my gym membership… Just last year I could have been in a nice room in someone’s house for $40

            • abraxas@sh.itjust.works
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              9 months ago

              Yeah. A few years ago I got a 3-bedroom apartment in Denver for something like $100/night. It was incredible.

              Now…I dunno. Haven’t done AirBnB in a while

            • I highly doubt these prices. I live in Brooklyn and had to deal with a shit Airbnb next door to me. Their shitty closet was going for $400-$500 a night depending on the time of year. It was also absolutely miserable to live next to.

              Meanwhile hotels in the area are maybe $200 at the cheapest, not really sure where you’re seeing $150. In Manhattan proper they start at $300 minimum.

              • buzz86us@lemmy.world
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                9 months ago

                I was mostly in LIC or the Bronx… I tend to do Jersey city now. I rent a private room so I’m not being part of the problem.

          • Olgratin_Magmatoe@startrek.website
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            9 months ago

            Granted, the above is more of a general trend then a hard and fast rule. The city and area you live in will greatly effect the rates for both.

            At the end of the day I think it is quite clear that AirBnB is a net negative to society, and a huge one at that. So fuck em.

            • abraxas@sh.itjust.works
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              9 months ago

              …which is weird, because at first AirBnB had a huge positive influence. Often times hotels had regional monopolies and individuals owned an extra condo… Like a match made in heaven the hotels got much-needed competition and people were able to do something more flexible than timeshare with their vacation/work/whatever condo

              The issue seems to be businesses that buy property to use for the exclusive purpose of AirBnB

    • Octavio@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      What about if we crowdfund a competitor to blackstone that rents out the houses at like a 20% discount to market rate and earmark a portion of rent collected each month for the tenants to have an equity stake in the property. Then more people would want to rent from us and eventually the vampires would lose interest. I wonder if something like that would be possible. Instead of legislating them out, we buy them out. But it does require a critical mass of people willing to set aside a bit of money that they don’t expect a market return on. But maybe if they thought of it more as charity.

      • mob@sopuli.xyz
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        9 months ago

        Well, besides the fact that I imagine most people in the target audience would rather buy their first house than crowdfund discounted rental rates…

        Do you pinky swear that once you overtake Blackstone , the 150 billion dollar company, you’ll have the same intentions?

        • Octavio@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          That’s the flaw in the slaw, I guess. No matter how carefully you craft the by-laws, once it gets big enough, someone will figure out a way to hi-kack it to concentrate wealth.

        • MonkeMischief@lemmy.today
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          9 months ago

          Boromir: But it is a gift. A gift to the foes of Mordor. Why not use this Ring? Long has my father, the Steward of Gondor, kept the forces of Mordor at bay. By the blood of our people are your lands kept safe! Give Gondor the weapon of the enemy! Let us use it against him!”

          Strider: You cannot wield it. None of us can. The One Ring answers to Sauron alone. It has no other master."


          Trying to fight and compete with a system that thrives on greed using its own tools and rules requires the ruthless use of greed to compete, and greed has a way of warping ones’ heart to continue forever justifying itself until its host is left an empty husk, having made a barren wasteland of all they hoped to save.

          Capital knows its masters, and it will not be wielded by people who would subvert its influence.

    • fidodo@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      Any industry based on scarce resources or monopolies should be strictly regulated and given profit caps. Land is limited so corporations should not be able to monopolize that land for boundless profits.