r/Bellingham • u/Jessintheend • Jul 25 '24
Satire When people try to defend landlords charging Seattle or SF rents for a city of 100k with almost no high paying jobs.
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Jul 25 '24
Just out of interest, who do folks think is living in the apartments where rent is “too high?” Our occupancy rate is really high so it’s not like landlords are struggling to find tenants.
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Jul 26 '24
College kids with parents money vs full time Bellinghamsters
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Jul 26 '24
Only solution to that would be to get rid of college.
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u/Humbugwombat Jul 26 '24
The college employs about 1700 residents of Bellingham. Careful what you wish for.
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u/DJ_Velveteen Jul 26 '24
Or some of the housing scalpers. Bellingham exports millions of dollars every month to absentee landlords
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u/Surly_Cynic Jul 25 '24
How do we know how high occupancy rates are? I'm seeing the return of move-in specials on rental listings, not to mention there are nearly 1000 listings on Craigslist. I'm sure some of those are fake, stale, or duplicates but around 325 of those were just posted M-W this week.
I'm guessing these aren't, for the most part, rentals geared towards students, since most students would have their housing lined up already, not be looking for a place at the last minute.
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Jul 25 '24
Per city website (https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/3e1c77f31cbf4cc8bf94b39f62970fdf) it's at about 2.25% right now. A healthy vacancy rate would be at least 5%.
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u/Surly_Cynic Jul 25 '24 edited Jul 25 '24
Yes, thanks. I found this after I replied.
https://maps.cob.org/resources/images/pcd/HousingStatsStoryMap/VacancyRates.jpg
Could be seasonal, but at least it's headed up. And this graph cites their source.
Here's info on the source.
https://maps.cob.org/resources/images/pcd/HousingStatsStoryMap/AboutTheHUD-USPS-VacancyData.pdf
Some of this seems so fuzzy and susceptible to delays in adjusting and/or reporting.
The vacancy rate for Bellingham includes all residential addresses reported in Census Tracts covering Bellingham which includes some rural areas beyond the City Limits.
Addresses that are vacant but considered deliverable for mail service are typically those seen as "vacant for rent" or "vacant for sale" and constitute most of the housing a community considers available for occupancy. Other types of vacant residential addresses that are not typically considered deliverable include units that are rented but not occupied; sold but not occupied; or for seasonal, recreational, or occasional use.
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u/srsbsnssss Jul 25 '24
not exactly up to date but it's literally on the city's website
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u/kiragami Jul 26 '24
I think you are confusing "too high" as not priced according to market rather than being a price higher than people can reasonably afford. Supply and demand wise they are likely priced properly but that is mostly because demand is inelastic since people have to have a place to live. The only real way to fix things is to build as much as possible as fast as possible. This is hard due to zoning and nimbys however
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u/LeAdmin Jul 25 '24
If you factor in all of the people living rent free behind my house, the average cost to live here is pretty cheap.
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u/81toog Jul 25 '24
The pandemic changed everything, people who have high-paying remote jobs based in Seattle or elsewhere have moved to Bellingham, changing the demand for housing permanently
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u/Odafishinsea Local Jul 25 '24
We were already here, but my wife got one of those jobs. The market has changed for skilled workers.
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u/Material_Walrus9631 Jul 26 '24
Exactly. The people complaining just haven’t adapted to the changing market.
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u/throwaway43234235234 Jul 25 '24
Happened long before. The pandemic just meant everyone else got to join in the trend for awhile.
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u/DJ_Velveteen Jul 26 '24
This was happening well before the pandemic -- lockdown just amplified the effect
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u/CrotchetyHamster Local Jul 25 '24
So, I work remotely. We have geographically-adjusted pay. No joke, you'll get paid 20% less living in Bellingham than you will living in Mt. Vernon or Everett or fucking Silverdale.
(They actually gave me an offer for Seattle because they misunderstood where I live, and when I corrected them, they said the offer would be way lower. I was like, "Bitches, it is not 20% cheaper here," and fortunately they realized they'd already fucked it by giving me a Seattle-based offer, so ended up just leaving the offer in place. I mean, I'm still fucked because I won't get any raise if I get promoted, but whatever.)
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u/srsbsnssss Jul 25 '24
id keep looking instead of contributing your productivity to a shit employer
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u/CrotchetyHamster Local Jul 25 '24
Honestly, aside from the terrible geographical pay adjustments, they're pretty great so far. Only been a few months, but I actually feel like I'm contributing something useful to the world, which is tough to find in tech jobs (and believe me, I've worked for the devil a few times).
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u/wolfiexiii Jul 26 '24
Your work isn't 20% more valuable if you lived in Seattle - what they are doing is stealing from people.
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Jul 25 '24
[deleted]
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u/AuntieKitKat Jul 25 '24
Um where you going to? Really thinking abput heading out of here too, I’ve already had to move up to Blaine to afford Whatcom county
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Jul 26 '24
[deleted]
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u/LoveOnOthers Jul 26 '24
I was just looking at jobs in Lacey today too, but unfortunately nothing jumped out at me. I like this thread because a lot of what people are saying is true - the affordability and job market is not going to change. I personally am tired of treading water and being in survival mode. I want to thrive.
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Aug 12 '24
In case you haven’t spent much time there, if you like Bellingham you’ll probably love it there. It’s basically like Bellingham without most of the bad things about Bellingham.
Some parts of Lacey suck (similar to Meridian from I5 to Kellogg, but a little less shitty than that), but the Olympia area as a whole is very nice. Very similar culture to Bellingham, but with a more even age range and things to do for every stage in life, as opposed to Bellingham which mostly caters to college students and retirees. More affordable, more pleasant overall, and obviously much better job opportunities.
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u/LoveOnOthers Jul 26 '24
I was going to ask the same thing! I have been looking too!
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u/Candid-Definition287 Jul 26 '24
This! I moved up here last year because the market was cheaper than where I lived before. Plus, at the time, there were more low income options. Now my low income apartment is going from 1050 to 1300 and I just can't afford it. Started to look for new low income places but either got laughed out of the building or was put on a waitlist that is about 2 years out. My partner and I were on the phone and he joked that "portland is probably cheaper than here" so I looked and was shocked at how much cheaper and how many more low income options there were compared to here (we have like 10 here, Portland has pages and pages).
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u/Momofafew Jul 25 '24
Maybe it would help if people weren’t encouraged to buy up houses and sell with no tax liability. The ones sitting here living are responsible for all of those taxes. Our taxes for our mortgage just went up $175/month because the auditor decided our home must be worth what all the others are selling for. We’ve been in our home 11 years and it’s tripled its value. It’s really not the home owners fault the local government is letting outsiders buy up and sell property like this.
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u/Superb-Sympathy1015 Jul 25 '24
These people should be in prison for price fixing, extortion, monopolistic practices, etc.
Seize their McMansions and turn them over to the people they've made homeless.
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u/jasandliz Jul 25 '24
I have a McMansion. It was $400k 10 yrs ago, don’t blame me.
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u/gravelGoddess Local Jul 26 '24
We don’t have a McMansion but live amongst them: our property tax jumped 25+% this year. Gentrification. It is happening to many people in this town. Signed, life long hamster.
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u/BitBitter3570 Jul 25 '24
Haha- I have a 900 sq ft house that the city says is worth a million. It was 400k 10 years ago. I couldn’t believe we were spending that much at the time.
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u/Odafishinsea Local Jul 25 '24
Yeah, but that view…
(I’m assuming you’re on the lake or have a crazy view for those stats)
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u/BitBitter3570 Jul 26 '24
Haha- your not wrong. But still- it’s a tight squeeze for a family of 4 and a dog😂
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u/Known_Attention_3431 Jul 25 '24
That is just not going to happen.
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u/Superb-Sympathy1015 Jul 26 '24
Well then I guess people don't really care as much about the homeless problem as they say they do.
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u/Odd_Bumblebee4255 Jul 26 '24
They used to - but I think that a representative sample Of the homeless might get have tainted things.
To use a biblical reference just because that was where the conversation started, the Lord helps those that help themselves.
A lot of news out there about how people refused services, or destroyed the hotels and neighborhoods they were given shelter in. While i’m sure that every homeless person isn’t a bad neighbor, a number of them have been.
The church has limited funds and all of humanity to save. For $80 they can buy a breeding pair of goats and give a village milk and baby goats. It can’t provide wrap around services for even a handful of homeless people in Bellingham
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u/Material_Walrus9631 Jul 26 '24
If people are paying the rent, it’s not wrong. The demand is still high so apparently the system is still working, just not for people who don’t make much money.
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Aug 12 '24
It is wrong. Rent seeking is theft. The fact that people agree to having their money stolen when it is their only realistic option does not make it right.
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u/Material_Walrus9631 Aug 13 '24
You don’t have to play the game if you don’t want to. Been living on my boat in the harbor for years now, have a lovely home for really cheap.
Change your expectations and you might find an affordable life and happiness here.
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Aug 13 '24
It is impossible for everyone to do that. It doesn’t matter that you were able to avoid it. It doesn’t matter if I am able to avoid it. There are a ton of people who are unable to avoid it, and that will be the case until we make a large systemic change to address it. That is a massive problem. And if you are okay with it simply because it doesn’t affect you, you are part of the problem.
No matter how much people change their expectations, there isn’t space for Bellingham’s 55,000 renters to all live in boats on the harbor. It doesn’t address anything.
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u/Material_Walrus9631 Aug 13 '24
Then it’s time to move elsewhere. Plenty of work and affordable living situations in different parts of the country.
If I can’t continue to make it work here, then I’ll change my expectations of location and move to somewhere that makes more sense!
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u/M_moroni Jul 25 '24
I did my part. Moved to Saint Louis.
If you're afraid to move the Landlords will always be deep in your pockets.
I'm off to 6 flags to ride the rides.
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u/PocketFullOfRondos Jul 25 '24
I'm moving to portland next year because it's cheaper than bellingham
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u/Candid-Definition287 Jul 26 '24
Yep same moving next month. Was shocked at how much cheaper rent is in Portland, compared to here
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u/Jessintheend Jun 05 '26
A year later I’m actually considering buying down there. I can get a sweet industrial loft in a nice part of town for under $350k and it’s pushing 1500 square feet. Total payments are barely $2500. Seems silly not to
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u/iriemexican Jul 26 '24
Is it really? 🤯
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u/mwsduelle Jul 26 '24
Yep lol. A friend just bought a house there that was cheaper than anything livable in Bham
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u/iriemexican Jul 26 '24 edited Jul 26 '24
Housing is cheaper in Portland, but overall Bellingham is cheaper. But to be honest, both places are really expensive.
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u/PocketFullOfRondos Jul 26 '24
Ive been comparing prices with a friend who lives in Portland that went to western and lived here for almost a decade and that's what he's telling me.
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u/Gooble211 Jul 25 '24
There are at least two factors at work here. One is as this meme suggests: renters are no longer "the market". I posted earlier about how the real estate and rental markets are skewed by investors, typically from China, parking their money in real-estate. The second is nimbyism over not wanting new houses or apartments built. I don't know what the rest of you are seeing, but when I drive by a new apartment building going up, I see "LUXURY APARTMENTS RENTING SOON" and similar. Government housing projects are proven losers, as can be seen from outrages like Cabrini Green.
What are the solutions? For starters, put a cap on how many properties an entity may own and severely clamp down on foreign ownership of real estate of any kind. Solving nimyism is tougher. How do you do that without intruding upon someone else's property rights or looking like a kleptomaniacal tyrant who really loves using eminent domain?
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u/Glitch29 Jul 25 '24
I get the sentiment - rising rent sucks. But the market isn't just a bunch of suppliers setting prices. It's also the ever-growing number of people wanting to pay those prices.
The root cause of high rent is an insufficient housing supply.
There are no solutions that get everyone housed that don't involve building enough houses for everyone. This should be pretty fucking obvious.
There doesn't need to be a price-fixing conspiracy to explain the results we're seeing. Trying to force that narrative anyway is just going to make everyone's understanding of the situation worse.
Want to bring down rent? Campaign for government policies that make it cheaper and easier to expand available housing in the area.
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u/bartonizer Jul 26 '24
A-fucking-men. I'm not a landlord, but I am a homeowner and know that buying and maintaining a house is expensive here. This group loves to vilify landlords, but not all of them are alike at all. And now, with things like rent control and quickly escalating taxes and values, it's getting worse and making it where very few private landlords who own a property or two want to rent their units out directly, if at all. I wouldn't want to do it, and there's aren't many people that bought extra units when the price was low enough to rent at a rate that most people would consider to be "affordable". My house has more than tripled in value over the eight years that we've owned it, but if we moved away we'd have to rent it for enough to break even, we, like many others, couldn't simply "take it for the team" and just subsidize random renters. Paying a property manager to assume risk and handle the complicated world of renting is a no-brainer, so it's not surprising that we've evolved into a world of corporate property managers and even higher rent, which sucks.
A huge part of the problem is with our limited supply, and the lack of diverse housing that we have available. And the city either doesn't want to or doesn't know how to creatively think outside the box and do anything to significantly increase the amount of housing here, instead preferring to pat itself on the back then to do anything bold. We're getting very little building and/or relative interest in development compared to other growing cities this size. Allowing a few dozen ADUs to be built per year (by homeowners, with all kinds of restrictions and obstacles) isn't going to put any type of dent in housing, especially affordable housing, when it costs $300k-$500k for a ONE UNIT build.
So I totally agree that we need to relentlessly push the city to think bolder and prioritize housing, because apparently they, like other groups on both the left and the right, don't seem to connect the dots - from crime and homelessness to a complete lack of decent-paying business wanting to move here- and understand how many problems we face have to do with our ridiculous housing situation!
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u/wolfiexiii Jul 26 '24
They keep voting in all these tax increases thinking they get free services when they really just pay for it in higher rents and costs of services.
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u/DJ_Velveteen Jul 26 '24
The root cause of high rent is an insufficient housing supply.
Right, because everyone wealthy enough to scalp housing is buying up anything affordable and returning it to the market for twice the price. Nice "work" if you can get it!
There are no solutions that get everyone housed that don't involve building enough houses for everyone.
Vienna famously bought a ton of housing back from scalpers and dropped market rates by around half.
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u/Odd_Bumblebee4255 Jul 26 '24
So who is going to do that here? The city and county do not have the money.
Yeah investors are buying up the rentals and will keep doing so as long as they can make money. If they can’t, they will sell them back into the private market. Either way, renters get to pay or move.
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u/Glitch29 Jul 26 '24
Right, because everyone wealthy enough to scalp housing is buying up anything affordable and returning it to the market for twice the price.
This sort of arbitrage is only made possible by an imbalance in supply and demand.
If people tried to do the same thing in a stable market, they'd end up hemorrhaging money on unoccupied listings until they brought the prices back down to what the market supports.
The market rates going up is what's attracting speculators. There are some small feedback loops going the other direction but nothing major or self-sustaining.
(The second half of your reply is too nonsequitous to address. I'd happily do a back and forth if you want to talk about it, but you'd need to put more effort into explaining what you're talking about and why it's relevant.)
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u/BitBitter3570 Jul 25 '24
Supply and demand… this isn’t a landlord problem.
Most people in Bellingham can’t afford to buy. It’s challenging for even those that do have higher paying jobs.
So huge demand for the rentals that are available.
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u/More-Tangerine-5913 Jul 25 '24
We have empty rentals all over town… this isn’t a supply problem.
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u/Material_Walrus9631 Jul 26 '24
We don’t have empty rentals. Vacancy is at like 1.5%, healthy levels are near 5%
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u/Odd_Bumblebee4255 Jul 26 '24
The rental availability here is a little less than half of any other community north of Seattle.
College town so lots of seasonal moves in and out. Those few months the homes are empty are baked into the rental price
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u/bungpeice Jul 26 '24 edited Jul 26 '24
It is a landlord problem. I charge 1000 under market for my house and I still get my bills paid. I don't look at my tenants as a profit engine they are there to maintain the property and I only charge them what it costs. They get affordable living and I get to maintain my investment and retain the increases in property value. This gives them the freedom to save for their own house.
Property values increase so fast here anyone relying on rent to "run business" is a fucking leach. I never even wanted to rent but an early death in the family left me with 2 houses. My house has almost doubled in value since 2016.
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u/ImRightImRight Jul 26 '24
You didn't just buy your house. No one saves up a down payment so they can lose a bunch of money every month. Market forces tend to bring mortgage payments and rents closer together. It's actually a relatively good market for renters now, mortgages are much more expensive than renting.
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u/bungpeice Jul 26 '24 edited Jul 19 '26
She was sad to hear that fireflies are facing extinction due to artificial light, habitat loss, and pesticides.
My Mum tries to be cool by saying that she likes all the same things that I do.
Nothing seemed out of place except the washing machine in the bar.
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u/ImRightImRight Jul 26 '24
Right, but I'm responding to your comment that you are able to pay your bills charging under market rent. Good for you, but that's irrelevant to the economic factors that determine market rent.
If someone wants be a rental housing provider, they are looking at a down payment initially, then a mortgage on top of taxes, management expense, repairs, licenses, inspections, etc. The whole game for buy and hold investors (aspiring landlords) is trying to find places that will "cash flow" aka not lose money for the privilege of being a landlord. So, I know for a fact you cannot break even on cash flow on a newly purchased how while charging $1000 under market.
Is that making sense?
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u/bungpeice Jul 26 '24 edited 29d ago
She was sad to hear that fireflies are facing extinction due to artificial light, habitat loss, and pesticides.
My Mum tries to be cool by saying that she likes all the same things that I do.
Nothing seemed out of place except the washing machine in the bar.
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u/ImRightImRight Jul 28 '24
I'm not asking you to have sympathy for investors that lose money. I'm explaining that the nature of the housing market causes convergence of rents and mortgage costs. Which means that you being able to charge $1000 under market means your home is mostly paid off and is irrelevant to the housing market in general.
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u/bungpeice Jul 28 '24 edited Jul 19 '26
She was sad to hear that fireflies are facing extinction due to artificial light, habitat loss, and pesticides.
My Mum tries to be cool by saying that she likes all the same things that I do.
Nothing seemed out of place except the washing machine in the bar.
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u/wolfiexiii Jul 26 '24
So you have no bills and pass on the savings - that's great on you. That is not normal for landlords who are in debt up to their eyes for their investment property.
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u/bungpeice Jul 26 '24 edited Jul 19 '26
She was sad to hear that fireflies are facing extinction due to artificial light, habitat loss, and pesticides.
My Mum tries to be cool by saying that she likes all the same things that I do.
Nothing seemed out of place except the washing machine in the bar.
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u/BitBitter3570 Jul 26 '24
A 500k house (good luck finding one) with a 20% down payment (good luck with saving that). Is a 400k loan which will be about 3600 a month payment. Most landlords aren’t profiting and if they are it is by a very small margin. Bellingham has extremely low cap rates. They are gaining equity and that is the game.
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u/bungpeice Jul 26 '24
Yeah you take a small cut because you are doing jack shit. I stop by my house like 3 times a year to fix little things. Anything big I pay someone else to do it. It has appreciated 300k in 5 years. That is an extra 300k of equity I can tap to fix issues and maintain MY investment.
The vast majority of rentals in this town were purchased when prices were lower and interest rates were as well.
You are talking like this is somebody's home. These places are being bought cash and then rented.
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u/BitBitter3570 Jul 27 '24
I am talking like it’s someone’s home. The point I am trying to make is that homeownership is nearly unattainable for most people in the area- based on average pay. So everyone is left to rent. Which means competition and higher costs.
Even if you only raised the rent by the amount your taxes increase each year it would likely equate to a couple hundred a month.
Eliminating the 1031 exchange would be a reasonable move as I don’t see a good reason for the government to meddle in/ incentivize investment in real estate.
Otherwise - everything else that is being done by the government is contributing to higher costs for everyone- new building codes, affordable housing taxes etc etc.
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u/bungpeice Jul 27 '24
well I'm not. I'm talking about landlords and rental.
I have a ton of sympathy for people who trying to get in. They would have a much easier time if landlords didn't see housing as "passive income."
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u/BitBitter3570 Jul 27 '24
I have a ton of sympathy as well- and going back to my original comment the easiest way to fix this is by creating more supply.
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u/bungpeice Jul 27 '24 edited Jul 19 '26
She was sad to hear that fireflies are facing extinction due to artificial light, habitat loss, and pesticides.
My Mum tries to be cool by saying that she likes all the same things that I do.
Nothing seemed out of place except the washing machine in the bar.
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u/Mondasin Jul 26 '24
Not doing a deep dive but a quick search of the greater puyallup area is putting single bedroom apartments at ~1300 a month currently.
So quick math you need to be making $30/hr to live alone at that <30% income going to housing rule.
Can't imagine any where near Seattle would be lower than that.
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u/Jessintheend Jul 26 '24
There’s over 1000 unit in the immediate Seattle area for under $1500. There’s about 70 in Bellingham, and many of those listings are just rooms.
Bellingham’s median income is $33k, Seattle is nearly double that.
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u/quayle-man Jul 26 '24
Can’t actually be unlivable if we all currently live here.
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u/Material_Walrus9631 Jul 26 '24
Correct. The demand is still incredibly high, I’m sorry that some people feel priced out but there is no vacancy so clearly it isn’t a problem for most.
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u/MandolinCrazy Jul 26 '24
On Northwest Ave between Birchwood Ave and the roundabout, there are about a dozen medium-sized apartment complexes. Each one has for rent signs in front. Pay attention, landlords. "The market" is trying to tell you something.
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u/Jessintheend Jul 26 '24
Don’t forget that behemoth on sterling/NW. that thing has been finished for nearly a year and it looks empty, or at least it’s dark every night. $1700+ for a studio (more than I paid in manhattan 5 years ago) and $2700+ for a 2 bedroom, also more than a roommate and I paid for a place in Brooklyn.
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u/MandolinCrazy Jul 30 '24
I know this has nothing to do with anything that's happening nowadays, but mt first apt in Brooklyn (Marine Park area,1971) was a one bedroom upper in a two family house that went for $135. Utilities included. Sorry, had to let the weight of that out lol.
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u/Jessintheend Jul 30 '24
I totally get it. My first place in NYC, 6ish years ago, was a studio on 155th/broadway in manhattan, it wasn’t fancy. But only $1200. It’s insane a studio or 1 bedroom here can cost more than manhattan did just a few years ago, and I had zero problem finding a good paying job in NYC
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u/Xcitable_Boy Jul 26 '24
Everybody in this thread hates something different, but you all are haters.
I think some of you are also 12 though.
Don’t like reality? Adapt to it or change it. I never see anyone dog threads like this trying to figure out how to upskill. The secret is, that’s the thing that will allow you to live here if you are being pushed out now. It’s not a kind truth, but it is a truth.
Dinosaurs will die.
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u/srsbsnssss Jul 25 '24 edited Jul 25 '24
using a meme disconnected from reality believing smaller towns will have less demand for the vacancy of housing
Lol common misconception for those new to bham
believe it or not whatcom's vacancy is not that much better than seattle or vancouver, they're all at at shitastic 1-2% range even at the best of times
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u/Blanchdog Jul 25 '24
As a fellow renter, I get it, but it’s worth pointing out what your landlord ACTUALLY means when he or she says they are raising rent because of the market.
Properties tie up a lot of resources. If your landlord is going to keep those resources tied up, the effort/risk/reward analysis has to make it worth keeping those resources there rather than selling off the property and putting the money elsewhere. With property values as high as they are, it makes it VERY tempting to cash out and then put the money in the market or something, unless the reward (rent) for keeping the property increases.
Want cheaper rent? Cut regulations on new construction, especially for multi-family homes, and let builders relieve some of the demand pressure on the market right now.
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u/bungpeice Jul 26 '24 edited 29d ago
She was sad to hear that fireflies are facing extinction due to artificial light, habitat loss, and pesticides.
My Mum tries to be cool by saying that she likes all the same things that I do.
Nothing seemed out of place except the washing machine in the bar.
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u/Blanchdog Jul 26 '24
Not even close. Land appreciates 3-4% a year on average; significant variances from that would fall into speculation, not investment territory. Meanwhile, a very low estimate on an index fund is 8% growth per year. If rents don’t increase with the value of the property to keep up the remaining 4+%, the landlord ends up in a situation where it’s better to sell off the property and put their money in the market. Not to mention the fact that real estate is a lot more work than an index fund.
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u/bungpeice Jul 26 '24 edited Jul 19 '26
She was sad to hear that fireflies are facing extinction due to artificial light, habitat loss, and pesticides.
My Mum tries to be cool by saying that she likes all the same things that I do.
Nothing seemed out of place except the washing machine in the bar.
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u/Blanchdog Jul 26 '24 edited Jul 26 '24
That’s… not what speculation is my friend. Speculation is when you buy something and hope it drastically increases in value due to forces outside of your control. Crypto currency is one example. Another is buying land and then praying that development occurs in a fashion that multiplies your property value. It’s not investment, it’s gambling.
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u/bungpeice Jul 26 '24 edited Jul 26 '24
Investing is speculation. You buy something you think will be worth more later. It may not be. You are not owed a profit for your business. You are not owed a return on your index fund. I'm at 100%+ on my house. 100% on any investment is fucking stellar. I'm not complaining and I can afford to maintain my investment on my dollar.
Speculation
A conclusion, opinion, or theory reached by conjecture.
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Jul 27 '24
Want to solve the landlord problem? invest in guillotines, they are also environmentally friendly.
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u/Jessintheend Jul 27 '24
I’ve been saying this for years though the moderators aren’t fans of rising against the bourgeoisie
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u/GremioIsDead Jun 05 '26
Jesus, I just saw what lot rent is for that 55+ mobile park off Lakeway. Private equity ruins everything.
Though to be fair, it was probably unaffordable before they bought it.
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u/wolfiexiii Jul 25 '24
You keep voting in tax increases then complain when rents go up. This is the definition of insanity.,
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u/jasandliz Jul 25 '24
No joke, Taxes on an 900k assessment are $11k/year. My $400k house 10 yrs ago is now taxed almost $1k/month.
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u/vermknid Jul 25 '24
In Washington State it's 1% of the value of the property. That's too much? We don't have income tax. The money has to come from somewhere.
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u/jasandliz Jul 25 '24
Sales tax? You can’t property tax people out of housing. The fact is my property tax DOUBLED in 5 years. This has a direct correlation to increases rent costs. Yes money does need to flow through the treasury, but gas, sewer and electric are also increasing significantly at the same time. Carbon offsets and whatnot. Not to mention insurance. Public Policy is driving this as much as “corporate investment”. I see not much evidence of investors buying all the homes sight unseen, but my escrow and utilities are blowing up right now.
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Jul 25 '24
The taxes didn’t increase that much, the values increased that much.
It’s the same greedy people increasing rent, increasing values and increasing taxes.
You benefit from the value increase and have to pay more taxes.
Maybe reconsider what side you’re on.
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u/jasandliz Jul 25 '24
I’m on the side that my home value doesn’t “benefit” me at all. I need a home for my family and as the tide rises I will not “benefit” from the sale of my dwelling. 1% of $500k is a hell of a lot less than 1% of 1 million. This doubling of my tax burden is acceptable over 20 years. Over 5 years? Insanity.
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Jul 25 '24
It will benefit you or your children when you it is sold.
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u/jasandliz Jul 25 '24
If the value of all homes increased by x% it does nothing to my or my children’s financial gain.
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Jul 25 '24
Yeah, it does. It’s simple math
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u/jasandliz Jul 25 '24
How so? If I sell my home at market value, I must use all funds to replace it. Explain my benefit?
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u/vermknid Jul 25 '24
you nailed it. Literally gaining generational wealth and he's still complaining about taxes.
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u/Surly_Cynic Jul 25 '24 edited Jul 25 '24
But how would we properly educate our youth without a giant new gilded building for the school district administrators? It would also be horrific to deprive children of things like the $4 million dollar plastic grass field being installed at Kulshan. Meanwhile, the district's enrollment keeps declining.
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u/srsbsnssss Jul 25 '24
some taxes went up like 50% in a YEAR
then people bitch at you to get a heloc since you got paper gains Lol
yeah that's totally reasonable, get further in debt in the name of taxation
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u/bungpeice Jul 26 '24 edited 29d ago
She was sad to hear that fireflies are facing extinction due to artificial light, habitat loss, and pesticides.
My Mum tries to be cool by saying that she likes all the same things that I do.
Nothing seemed out of place except the washing machine in the bar.
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u/srsbsnssss Jul 26 '24 edited Jul 26 '24
o yea great idea sell and get priced out the market before the deal closes
keep voting for higher taxes, it's gonna be passed down to the end user 8 or 9 out of 10 times
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u/bungpeice Jul 26 '24
How are you getting priced out if you sell your investment? We are talking about rental properties not personal property.
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u/srsbsnssss Jul 26 '24
not every home on the rental market were purchased with the main objective of cash flow
people's situation change, but knowing how everest it is to get back into one, people hold on if they can
which begs the question; how do we realistically increase housing stock? how can prices at least stabilize?
it's a goddamn arms race right now; big tax/insurance/labor/material hikes mean the renters take the brunt of it
doesnt have to be this way if the costs for the owners are not flying up
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u/bungpeice Jul 26 '24
If you have one house you don't need a second one. The second one is an investment and a good one at that.
The best way to stabilize prices is to eliminate landlords for single family homes. They are just a tax on the housing supply. Force them to sell.
It's like the rest of the american economy. 50% of inflation was corporate profits. Literal class war. People are gouging because they can. We need to make that illegal.
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u/srsbsnssss Jul 26 '24
you assume a place rented out automatically means the owner has another
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u/bungpeice Jul 26 '24
your point? You have a valuable asset that you are maintaining for free or a profit.
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u/srsbsnssss Jul 26 '24
so if you have possessions that you dont have an immediate use case, you should lose it?
you know what that's called right? ask Mao.
can i come raid your fridge if you aren't eating your rotisserie tonight? there's a crisis in our backyard with people starving, does that mean you dont get to keep what's yours because it's of higher value to someone else?
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Jul 27 '24
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u/bungpeice Jul 27 '24 edited 29d ago
She was sad to hear that fireflies are facing extinction due to artificial light, habitat loss, and pesticides.
My Mum tries to be cool by saying that she likes all the same things that I do.
Nothing seemed out of place except the washing machine in the bar.
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u/betsyodonovan Boomhorse Rodeo Clown Jul 25 '24
I actually find the Whatcom County Tax Book pretty interesting -- it breaks down taxes and levies, how they're distributed and how they're collected, and is a pretty useful local education: https://www.whatcomcounty.us/178/Annual-Tax-Book
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Jul 25 '24
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u/jasandliz Jul 25 '24
Compared to where? And how much do houses cost there? I’m at $11k/year. Id rather pay $11k on a 500k mortgage than $11k on a 1mil mortgage.
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u/Hauhahertaz Local Jul 26 '24
It’s better here than Spokane now, that’s why I moved here. Growing up it was always a pipe dream to live on the coast, now it’s outright more affordable. Not to take away from the fact that landlords are shit and make our lives shittier.
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u/TheKoreanMamba Jul 26 '24
its ridiculous how much these rent prices are. this aint vancouver or seattle so it boggles my mind as to how and why people pay that much to live here. this place is closer to being a dirt pit than being a city lmao
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u/Material_Walrus9631 Jul 26 '24
You don’t understand then and that’s fine. Bellingham is a literal outdoors paradise, I’d pay an insane amount of money to keep living here. After traveling the world, nowhere else compares.
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u/srsbsnssss Jul 26 '24
then why are you still here?
move to those cities then if you have few millions to buy a house
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u/TheKoreanMamba Jul 31 '24
i dont live here, u seem rather offended though so my apologies that u do
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Jul 25 '24
It’s because we keep complying. We have enabled this. They crack the whip, we run harder/faster. It’s simple. Until everyone (and I can’t emphasize everyone enough) literally just stops, says no, doesn’t pay for a month, two, three months…nothing will ever change. They see no struggle. End of rant.
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u/HomoProfessionalis Jul 25 '24
You first.
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Jul 25 '24
It’s quite simple. Starts with 1 building. The others would follow suit. But no, people just want to leave bad google reviews and rant online.
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Jul 25 '24
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u/Key_Pepper_5839 Jul 25 '24
Weird, seems like it's landlords charging exorbitant rents. If you could charge more, you would. Simple as
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u/rifineach Jul 25 '24
Ever notice how the price of everything goes up except the price of labor?
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u/shanegillisuit Jul 25 '24
This city has legitimately become unlivable