It's a good question with no good answer.
Obviously, renting needs to be an option for those that actually want to rent because they don't expect to be somewhere on a long-term basis.
But rent-seeking (among other forms of treating real estate as an investment) is an absolute and utter cancer. Buying a house for the sole purpose of extracting profit makes you a financial vampire, as far as I'm concerned.
The problem is made worse by banks that don't trust you with a $2,000/month mortgage payment while the landlord will happily let you sign a $2,500/month rental agreement.
Look, housing can either be affordable, or it can be a form of investment. It's simply not possible to be both. Landlords are participating in the investment camp, which causes a negative effect on affordability.
What's the alternative? I don't know. But I don't need to have a solution in mind to point out the problem.
Obviously, renting needs to be an option for those that actually want to rent because they don't expect to be somewhere on a long-term basis.
But rent-seeking (among other forms of treating real estate as an investment) is an absolute and utter cancer. Buying a house for the sole purpose of extracting profit makes you a financial vampire, as far as I'm concerned.
The problem is made worse by banks that don't trust you with a $2,000/month mortgage payment while the landlord will happily let you sign a $2,500/month rental agreement.
Look, housing can either be affordable, or it can be a form of investment. It's simply not possible to be both. Landlords are participating in the investment camp, which causes a negative effect on affordability.
What's the alternative? I don't know. But I don't need to have a solution in mind to point out the problem.