Idk if the real estate agents are lying, or there is just a lack of class now. People think sweats or pajama pants are ok to wear in public and a vinyl plank floor is luxurious. And updating means they've painted everything gray. Ugh
Ha! The rental market is even worse! I’ve been looking to move out of my current rental due to an ADU being built literally on top of me (Thanks Gov Gruesome for the awesome 4’ setbacks you’ve allowed, for the proliferation of “housing” that you have mandated.). There is NO TRUTH in advertising rentals, that is for sure! I have seen more homes that are not fit for animals, being advertised for rent at exhorbitant cost, than I can stand. I have been looking for over 3 years now, and it has only gotten worse.
A cuckoo is a human who lands in another’s nest and messes it up.
A parasite at best, always living in the future, not settling and not of family or its values, a feint stumbling knowledge of inventions, democracy and feelings of being home, surrounded by the Hollywood of friendly neighbours and shared plates of food.
The economy of hate, doesn’t put out the fire, it throws on more fuel, not sand.
You can trash talk ‘luxury vinyl plank’ flooring all you want but I love the stuff we used during our remodel. Five years in with dogs ripshitting around the house all day and night and it still looks terrific.
Well, if luxury is defined as ‘something that provides pleasure, satisfaction, or ease,’ my vinyl plank flooring checks all the boxes as it looks great, is comfortable under foot, requires minimal care and maintenance, and, as previously noted, has stood up to all the abuse my dogs can dish out without any demonstrable wear after five years.
I'm in my mid 50's and living in the 3rd cheap dump that I've fixed up over time. You learn as you go, mistakes pave the way for future better decisions. The house matters far less than the spot is the biggest lesson I have learned A house can pretty much always be fixed. Knowing how much fixin is necessary is an art and a science. Spot on to point out media and consumer culture influence has blinded people.
We are already in collapse and the dishonesty is rife. It must be really challenging , not just the house hunting, but the being “homeless’, in insecure times. I like how you have used the images to illustrate Bull Shit V’s Reality , that could be applied in so many ways.
I wish you success in finding a home that provides you safety, pleasure and comfort.
There's a lot to consider when buying a house these days which would be stressful I guess. I got a nice house by being in the right place at the right time. It was an improbable set of circumstances that allowed it to happen and I often wonder if it was weird luck or something else. Like the" law of attraction", I knew what I wanted and it came to me. I don't really believe in luck much but maybe I just got lucky.
It sounds like a deceptive and difficult market now where you are and hopefully your instincts will serve you well.
We have always been "guided" into the perfect place at the perfect time, so we're confident the same will happen again. Just amazing to be seeing what we're seeing. Hope you'll come see us when we do get a place!
Now the truth is in the title. I was a “low income housing provider” for years I went through boxes & boxes of LVT’s predecessor plain old vinyl tile. It was relatively inexpensive looked good for a while easy to install and remove at the end of it’s useful life. Thankfully my housing requirements at this stage in my life are modest. A 600 sq ft condo in a senior citizen ghetto suits me just fine. Unfortunately the biggest culprit in the accelerating housing costs problem has been and continue to be government regulations at multiple levels. Are we on our way back to tar paper 10 X 10 shacks & thatched roofs ? Or will it be tents ?
In some ways, the housing shortage is a myth. There are lots of empty houses (or soon to be empty.)
Here are the problems.
For a long time now, fueled by HGTV and the like have glamorized a fictional version of "house flipping." It has been the staple of people wanting to work for themselves and escape being a corporate drone. The problem is that they have sunken their money into houses that were too expensive to begin with and made "upgrades" that were at best unasked for and at worst a quick bandaid applied by an inexperienced amateaur to cover serious faults that are barely enough to hide the flaws.
Similarly, we have had the boom of hose taking on the same housing with a eye on living the easy life as a landlord. Build it and they will come. Only they have found that their dreams are money pits, the renters trash the place, and the taxes keep going up on the thin margins that actually exist in the rental world.
With those disasters on the market, companies like Blackrock have stepped in and bought the best of those that they could find because they could actually afford to squeeze some profit from the bad business decisions made by those amateurs who got in over their heads and decided to cut their losses.
The final piece of the puzzle has been the desperation of the builders and financiers who have slapped every upgrade that ignorant buyers watching the same HGTV shows believed were necessities so they could to squeeze more profit. Granite countertops in homes that barely justified formica counters. Something on the floor that from 20 feet away looked somewhat like real flooring that was quick and easy to install. Of course those same ignorant people are signing up to pay tons of interest on those ridiculous upgrades that they can't afford in the first place. That has been built on the same model that the automakers have been using for decades to the point where it is almost impossible to find a car without all the "luxuries" that have driven the cost and have priced everyone out of the market.
There are some bargains to be found though. They are just not move in ready. They are generally the places that the amateurs got half way through before either running out of money or realizing that they are not going to get the returns that they dreamed of. Institutional investors will dump them as soon as they can find something that will give a better return.
Look at how the cost of homes increased from 2019 to 2020, its obvious the increase was engineered to keep the average family from being homeowners, most young adults today will never know what it's like to pay off your school loan, mortgage and car and retire. They will be paying rent, leasing vehicles or paying for ride services and their social security will be garnished for their school loan payments.
I don't think it was some nefarious coordinated plan.
It is much simpler to just see that people saw an opportunity to make more money.
It doesn't take much more material to build a 3000 sq. ft. house over a 1200 sq. ft. house on the same lot and there is a lot more profit in it.
Building officials are much more motivated to approve building plans for $400K houses than $100K houses. They get more tax revenue.
Investors that can't make much on other investments buy houses to fix up minimally and sell for a profit. Maybe they will rent them for a while for the short period that they still look nice and don't cost a lot to maintain.
Similarly, the young adults choose to gamble that the investment that they make in their education will be without risk. They will get that diploma and feel that the high salary that they will receive is a given. They won't be in the 50% that don't graduate and not earn the kind of money that they are obligated to in their loan repayment. They are encouraged (and lied to) by the system to take those risks. The financial institutions give them out like candy since the money and their profit is guaranteed by the government.
Look at the people who enroll in professional programs that rack up hundreds of thousands in debt and don't graduate, or worse, graduate and fail to pass the exams to allow them to work in the field.
It doesn't even have to be that dramatic. Thousands of people get advanced credentials for administrative positions that they never get chosen for. People stay in school to get a Master's or Doctorate straight out of graduation only to get chosen for the same job that their Bachelor's would have gotten them.
There are certainly a lot of empty houses that could be fixed up with some elbow grease, but in our experience a lot of them are not for sale. Sometimes the actual owner is not even clear, and sometimes people would rather hold on to the crumbling shell than sell it to someone else.
I look online and see lots of them that I like. Unfortunately, most are in the land of ice and snow and I don't want to do that, even if it is pretty. If anything, I often think about going somewhere without seasons at all....
Idk if the real estate agents are lying, or there is just a lack of class now. People think sweats or pajama pants are ok to wear in public and a vinyl plank floor is luxurious. And updating means they've painted everything gray. Ugh
Yes! So true.
Simulacra abounds!
Ha! The rental market is even worse! I’ve been looking to move out of my current rental due to an ADU being built literally on top of me (Thanks Gov Gruesome for the awesome 4’ setbacks you’ve allowed, for the proliferation of “housing” that you have mandated.). There is NO TRUTH in advertising rentals, that is for sure! I have seen more homes that are not fit for animals, being advertised for rent at exhorbitant cost, than I can stand. I have been looking for over 3 years now, and it has only gotten worse.
A cuckoo is a human who lands in another’s nest and messes it up.
A parasite at best, always living in the future, not settling and not of family or its values, a feint stumbling knowledge of inventions, democracy and feelings of being home, surrounded by the Hollywood of friendly neighbours and shared plates of food.
The economy of hate, doesn’t put out the fire, it throws on more fuel, not sand.
Yep, feel the same way about escort sites
You can trash talk ‘luxury vinyl plank’ flooring all you want but I love the stuff we used during our remodel. Five years in with dogs ripshitting around the house all day and night and it still looks terrific.
It's the "luxury" we object to, not the plank flooring. Use it all you want. But let's be precise about what actually is, and isn't, luxury.
Well, if luxury is defined as ‘something that provides pleasure, satisfaction, or ease,’ my vinyl plank flooring checks all the boxes as it looks great, is comfortable under foot, requires minimal care and maintenance, and, as previously noted, has stood up to all the abuse my dogs can dish out without any demonstrable wear after five years.
We just seem to have different definitions. 🤷♂️
I'm in my mid 50's and living in the 3rd cheap dump that I've fixed up over time. You learn as you go, mistakes pave the way for future better decisions. The house matters far less than the spot is the biggest lesson I have learned A house can pretty much always be fixed. Knowing how much fixin is necessary is an art and a science. Spot on to point out media and consumer culture influence has blinded people.
Evidence that "Collapse is optional"...great post!
We are already in collapse and the dishonesty is rife. It must be really challenging , not just the house hunting, but the being “homeless’, in insecure times. I like how you have used the images to illustrate Bull Shit V’s Reality , that could be applied in so many ways.
I wish you success in finding a home that provides you safety, pleasure and comfort.
There's a lot to consider when buying a house these days which would be stressful I guess. I got a nice house by being in the right place at the right time. It was an improbable set of circumstances that allowed it to happen and I often wonder if it was weird luck or something else. Like the" law of attraction", I knew what I wanted and it came to me. I don't really believe in luck much but maybe I just got lucky.
It sounds like a deceptive and difficult market now where you are and hopefully your instincts will serve you well.
We have always been "guided" into the perfect place at the perfect time, so we're confident the same will happen again. Just amazing to be seeing what we're seeing. Hope you'll come see us when we do get a place!
Now the truth is in the title. I was a “low income housing provider” for years I went through boxes & boxes of LVT’s predecessor plain old vinyl tile. It was relatively inexpensive looked good for a while easy to install and remove at the end of it’s useful life. Thankfully my housing requirements at this stage in my life are modest. A 600 sq ft condo in a senior citizen ghetto suits me just fine. Unfortunately the biggest culprit in the accelerating housing costs problem has been and continue to be government regulations at multiple levels. Are we on our way back to tar paper 10 X 10 shacks & thatched roofs ? Or will it be tents ?
It will cubicles in a 15 minute smart city
Or sleeping capsules like the ones in Tokyo
Or vans down by the river?
Vans can be too pricey
That's already well underway, cars as well
In some ways, the housing shortage is a myth. There are lots of empty houses (or soon to be empty.)
Here are the problems.
For a long time now, fueled by HGTV and the like have glamorized a fictional version of "house flipping." It has been the staple of people wanting to work for themselves and escape being a corporate drone. The problem is that they have sunken their money into houses that were too expensive to begin with and made "upgrades" that were at best unasked for and at worst a quick bandaid applied by an inexperienced amateaur to cover serious faults that are barely enough to hide the flaws.
Similarly, we have had the boom of hose taking on the same housing with a eye on living the easy life as a landlord. Build it and they will come. Only they have found that their dreams are money pits, the renters trash the place, and the taxes keep going up on the thin margins that actually exist in the rental world.
With those disasters on the market, companies like Blackrock have stepped in and bought the best of those that they could find because they could actually afford to squeeze some profit from the bad business decisions made by those amateurs who got in over their heads and decided to cut their losses.
The final piece of the puzzle has been the desperation of the builders and financiers who have slapped every upgrade that ignorant buyers watching the same HGTV shows believed were necessities so they could to squeeze more profit. Granite countertops in homes that barely justified formica counters. Something on the floor that from 20 feet away looked somewhat like real flooring that was quick and easy to install. Of course those same ignorant people are signing up to pay tons of interest on those ridiculous upgrades that they can't afford in the first place. That has been built on the same model that the automakers have been using for decades to the point where it is almost impossible to find a car without all the "luxuries" that have driven the cost and have priced everyone out of the market.
There are some bargains to be found though. They are just not move in ready. They are generally the places that the amateurs got half way through before either running out of money or realizing that they are not going to get the returns that they dreamed of. Institutional investors will dump them as soon as they can find something that will give a better return.
Look at how the cost of homes increased from 2019 to 2020, its obvious the increase was engineered to keep the average family from being homeowners, most young adults today will never know what it's like to pay off your school loan, mortgage and car and retire. They will be paying rent, leasing vehicles or paying for ride services and their social security will be garnished for their school loan payments.
I don't think it was some nefarious coordinated plan.
It is much simpler to just see that people saw an opportunity to make more money.
It doesn't take much more material to build a 3000 sq. ft. house over a 1200 sq. ft. house on the same lot and there is a lot more profit in it.
Building officials are much more motivated to approve building plans for $400K houses than $100K houses. They get more tax revenue.
Investors that can't make much on other investments buy houses to fix up minimally and sell for a profit. Maybe they will rent them for a while for the short period that they still look nice and don't cost a lot to maintain.
Similarly, the young adults choose to gamble that the investment that they make in their education will be without risk. They will get that diploma and feel that the high salary that they will receive is a given. They won't be in the 50% that don't graduate and not earn the kind of money that they are obligated to in their loan repayment. They are encouraged (and lied to) by the system to take those risks. The financial institutions give them out like candy since the money and their profit is guaranteed by the government.
Look at the people who enroll in professional programs that rack up hundreds of thousands in debt and don't graduate, or worse, graduate and fail to pass the exams to allow them to work in the field.
It doesn't even have to be that dramatic. Thousands of people get advanced credentials for administrative positions that they never get chosen for. People stay in school to get a Master's or Doctorate straight out of graduation only to get chosen for the same job that their Bachelor's would have gotten them.
There are certainly a lot of empty houses that could be fixed up with some elbow grease, but in our experience a lot of them are not for sale. Sometimes the actual owner is not even clear, and sometimes people would rather hold on to the crumbling shell than sell it to someone else.
I look online and see lots of them that I like. Unfortunately, most are in the land of ice and snow and I don't want to do that, even if it is pretty. If anything, I often think about going somewhere without seasons at all....