City with world’s most expensive housing asks: what to with 40,000 empty units

Maybe lower the rent, lol...

 

same same but different down here. Amazing when a crises is on a war time effort rolls out, cost is not an issue. Crises over and it goes back to the same ol slow grind and not enough money for housing.

Think largely though small time investors hinder as much as they help. I know a single guy with no dependants who is up to his 5th house. Yes he provides housing for 4 people / families, reduces his tax while increasing his wealth. But he also provides housing insecurity, high rental rates, and unnecessary inequality.

Renting is a dead end game particularly as you age, trapping you into work until you are virtually dead. You never pay off a rental unlike home ownership. Investment properties remove potential home ownership in areas often close to peoples work, but we tend to live in a world about cash more so than community.

 

Jaffles, I was lucky to find this place when property prices went through the roof... but at least I'm free & clear, which is SO important in this Brave New Fraudulent Third World. I keep telling my niece & nephew to get out of Kalifornia and relocate in the boondocks, where buying a house is cheaper than renting. No way will they ever be able to buy homes of their own in Kalifornia, and they're already in their 30s. They have jobs, but the real estate market is insane out there on the coast, and rents are high too... ugh. Quality of life dramatically improves once a person leaves the Big City for good... I would've left earlier, but I had family commitments, I'm just glad I eventually got out of that rat race. And you're spot on about those investment groups, they were the cause of much annoyance when I sold my home in Arizona and started looking for another fixer home... on several occasions, I learned to my dismay that some of those investors had already snatched up a property I liked. There ought to be a law about regular folks getting first crack at a property... those who actually need homes, and not some greedy investors simply out to make money. But how likely is that to happen? All I can say is that prospective home buyers need to act fast once they see a property they like, otherwise it'll be snatched up by investors.

 

All signs of a bubble. The correction is coming. Sales prices still increasing, sales have slowed a bit. Still strong historically.

 

Indeed, I echo your thoughts. 9 years ago my wife and I set in motion a plan to move out of the city to be close to her parents as they move into their 80s. We thought if we are leaving may as well bring mine parents along too. I would start a new career driving trucks while educating myself with in-laws business and related industry. Our kids would get a simpler life, closer to grandparents, and we could all share in life's knowledge and personal understandings while being closer to each other. All sounds a bit weird like that.

In reality I know earn more money than I ever have. On top of that my wife and her two brothers along with her parents now profit share from a business making more than ever. Our parents have us around every day for whatever if needed. We have a simple life that is clean, relaxed, fun, and meaningful. All the family near or far have prospered and grown in ways none of us expected.

For us living in the city with my parents on the other side, my wife's parents some way south, the hours lost on your life driving the kids to school or work, plus the endless noise, pollution, and movement have all been lost moving to the country.

I can't recommend putting some brain power into a move enough.

 

Jaffles, that's really cool how it panned out for y'all, and I'm truly happy for ya... my own life is so much more peaceful & stress-free after bailing from the Big City, it's amazing! And all around this big ol' world, multiple generations live under one roof, or right next to each other, it's only in the "civilized" countries that folks get bashed for doing this, pfffffft. Chinatown, I was checking listings every single morning to find a new home after selling my home in Benson, AZ, and I managed to spot the recent listing for this place... I'm talking about a home listed 5 minutes ago, aye? I called the realtor and actually got through, explained that I had the cash and was willing to pay full price right away... I also told the gal that I was an Army vet who was living in a tent with three cats, all true, so she helped me out BIG-TIME by telling other callers that the property was already under contract. She didn't have to do that, you understand, and she would have made more money by letting a bidding war start, but she styled me out... otherwise I probably wouldn't be here, ya know? I'm just glad it all worked out and I have a roof over my head again, plus I own the property free & clear. I can hunker down here while this whole crazy political scene sorts itself out... and this is a good area to be in if social unrest starts rocking those Big Cities, lol.

P.S. I wake here every morning to birds singing in the trees and brush, sun streaming through the pines, wonderful peace & tranquility unlike anything I ever experienced in the Big City. Honestly, living here in the boondocks is almost like camping, except I have utilities and life is easy. No crowds, no traffic, no police or ambulance sirens, no smog, virtually no crime... I say "virtually" because there MIGHT be a 'chicken rustler' in the neighborhood, lol. Folks out here in the boondocks are armed and ready to deal with any perps who make the unwise decision to commit crime in Redneck Land... probably use those perps for target practice, solely as a form of redneck entertainment, lol. Meh, beats ridiculous video games hands down...

 

Great to hear Railsplitter. Trouble might be the more we talk about it the more move out of the cities and make the country too busy. Where I live there is constant awareness and complaints over to much development being planned.
Reckon I have the best of both worlds. I live on a 550m high plateau behind the Gold Coast. So nice and cool with little humidity. If I want everything a big city has I can travel 20 to 30 minutes off the mountain. Other wise I share a 7.5 x 5 mile space with 8000 other people. I'm down the more unpopulated end and yes birds, mammals, and reptiles are a daily experience. Like you say no traffic, its 9 minutes into town every day regardless. The nigh sky looks like you are in the desert as we have street or ambient lighting up here. Really is quite special.

 

Maybe so... I spent two glorious years in the White Mountains of Arizona, living on the outskirts of a small town called Show Low, and I wanted to return to that area after I sold my home in Benson, but I was priced out... however, I heard that folks were pouring into that area from the coast, which is why the prices are skyrocketing, so maybe I'm better off here in a lesser-known area. I still have heaps of trail riding & offroad action here, same way I had it in Show Low, so that's good... if I'm gonna give up the ocean, I'll trade it for unlimited dirt biking & offroad action mere minutes from my home, lol. Here are some pics from yesterday's cycle ride in the Sacramento Mountains of New Mexico, it was a beautiful day...












The snowmelt at higher elevations turned some of the trails into mud bogs, lol... had to turn back at one point, since I didn't want the KLR to get trapped in some snowy & muddy location. The bike is heavy and difficult for one guy to turn around on some of those narrower trails, especially if there's a grade involved (which there usually is). Gonna have to clean the bike after yesterday's ride, but that's alright, I'll take care of it... BTW, you can see White Sands in some of those shots, and that trail leading down off the range is great (Trail #90), I've done it before. That overlook on the rim is primo, a good spot to have a beer and eat lunch (steak sandwich yesterday, lol). Pics #6-9 are all taken from that same overlook, you can see for miles and the views don't suck... beats looking at Compton, North Philly or the Lower Bronx, lol.