Graflex01867 t1_j8q6g2x wrote on February 16, 2023 at 3:45 AM

Reply to comment by SuckMyAssmar in Gentrification by [deleted]

There was about a 10 year gap between the time I graduated college and the time my parents could retire. I’m pretty sure it will be at least another 10 years before they move on to “new accommodations.” Great, so I get an apartment I haven’t lived in for 20 something years!

SuckMyAssmar t1_j8q8d3m wrote on February 16, 2023 at 4:01 AM

Would you consider renovating it and renting it out or selling it?

Graflex01867 t1_j8qh8uu wrote on February 16, 2023 at 5:24 AM

This is all hypothetical - but I don’t know that I could.

I don’t think I’d want to rent it out myself, since I don’t really want to be a landlord. There’s enough to deal with at my own place. I don’t want to deal with collecting rent, and managing the property. (That’s assuming I COULD sub-lease it, and that the lease wouldn’t end at my parents death.)

If I have my own place, I might not want to renovate another, then move. I might not be able to afford it. Even cheap rent is still rent. Renovations are expensive. (And as a rental, I still don’t own it, so I can’t just change whatever I want how I want.)

I think the bigger point I’m suggesting is that even with rent control, the turnover can still be pretty long. There’s also other factors - like after college, I was single. So I find a bachelor pad - really cheap, and rent controlled - but what if I start a relationship, and start a family - do I stay cramped in a cheap apartment, or find something bigger? (The same could be said about a new job - if I keep the cheap housing, is it worth doubling my commute?)

I could see rent control actually encouraging a bit of stagnation in housing. I’d rather see rents in general coming down on their own, or maybe making it easier to buy in like a condo style apartment instead.