UST/Luna - Worthless now!

Discussion in 'Off-Topic Discussions' started by AsianStew, May 14, 2022.

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  1. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    That's a HUGE problem here. People who can't buy a home suddenly can't afford increased rent. It's brutal. I don't like where I live now, but I'm a pensioner and here, I've been the beneficiary of 17 years of rent control - so I'm here for half the going price. I move, I'm totally screwed. Plus, rent control was abolished altogether on buildings newer than 1995. Many tenants in Toronto faced immediate increases, up to 50%+. Doug Ford, our dropout Conservative leader, often talks about abolishing rent control totally. He's wealthy, and has wealthy supporters, who would benefit from the scrapping of rent control. He hasn't said anything about that since the pandemic, but...
     
    Last edited: Jul 18, 2022
  2. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    While I can understand your personal interest for it being retained, especially as a pensioner, rent control creates a vicious cycle of housing shortages and higher rents. The better public policy is to create incentives for new housing to be built, not to suppress them.

    Of course, that's a problem in the US as well.
     
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  3. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    I suspect you're right, Steve. But it might take a long, long time to improve things -especially at the lower income end. Can they wait till I'm dead? :)
     
  4. nosborne48

    nosborne48 Well-Known Member

    A major factor in the shortage of affordable housing in major U.S. metropolitan areas is land use regulation a.k.a. zoning. Minimum lot sizes, restrictions on multi-family housing, restrictions on the placement of manufactured housing, all these common zoning regulations "keep out the riff-raff" meaning working and lower middle class people. It's one tragic consequence of NIMBY-ism. What I find particulary galling is that these regulations are strictly enforced in supposedly "progressive" places like the Bay Area. A "progressive" is someone who ardently seeks social justice so long as it requires no sacrifice from HIM.:mad:
     
  5. nosborne48

    nosborne48 Well-Known Member

    I would like to see co-operative mobile home parks. The tenant buys a condominium share in the land and receives the right to place a manufactured home on a designated lot. Good luck with this. The surrounding community will fight hard against any such proposal and, since they have more money and influence, they will succeed. They'll talk about "traffic" and "urban density" that strains "utilities and infrastructure" and such but the real issue, the unspoken issue, is "We don't want your kind here." I've DONE this work. I've seen it. It makes me sick. That's where I learned never to trust ideologues in any context. They're liars.
     
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  6. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    :eek:
    Rent control here, for a long time, worked in favour of the tenant. Wherever they moved, rent control ensured they paid the same rent as the departing tenant. No sudden ratcheting up. That was changed in the 90s in two ways:

    (1) Rent control no longer applied at all to buildings completed in 1995 or later
    (2) For the others, if a tenant moved, the landlord could raise the rent to whatever he wished, then rent control took over again. Controlled increases yearly, based on the new rent.

    We're living in a pretty merciless rental world here. In our town, thousands of people are paying more than 30% of their income for rent. There are many paying over 40% and a significant number paying over 50%. For bottom-end accommodations. I join the 50%+ club if I move. And it's not just for pensioners. Lots of working people.

    That's wrong, Steve. And I don't have an answer. To paraphrase Scarlett O'Hara - "Steve, what shall ah do?":eek:
     
    Last edited: Jul 20, 2022
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  7. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    It worked in favor of the tenants of that time at the expense of tenants today, because it prevented enough housing from being built. Building and maintaining housing isn't free; the more you suppress incentives to do it, the less of it you'll get.

    So, when it comes to what one should do, remember the saying that if one finds oneself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop digging. Along the same lines, zoning often suppresses affordable housing as well.
     
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  8. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    Don't see how that applies to me personally, or to the large number of people facing struggles with hyper-increasing rent. What, exactly, do we stop digging? Or do we just stop living?
     
  9. Dustin

    Dustin Well-Known Member

    I think the "one" here was referring to the policymakers who want to make housing affordable. Massively increasing building of reasonable homes should theoretically lead to a reduction in rents as there's more competition among landlords but it takes time and money. At the same time, eliminating rent controls in 1995 did not lead to the creation of more affordable housing, which might be the result of restrictive zoning or builders only wanting to build houses for the rich.

    "In a new report, Scotiabank Economics rated Ontario the worst province when it comes to homes per capita, so far behind the rest of the pack that we would need more than 650,000 units built immediately to meet Canada's average. And, Canada's average isn't all that great either, having the lowest number of housing units per 1,000 citizens of any G7 country. When looking at this group of nations, Ontario would need a whopping or 1.2 million homes to catch up."

    https://www.blogto.com/real-estate-toronto/2022/01/ontario-less-housing-stock-canada/
     
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  10. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    Not gonna happen. We'll never catch up. Example: My city (Hamilton) had quite a number of low-rental housing units in the North end. Real estate prices rose astronomically (Toronto influx) in the newly "hot, hot North End," so the City kicked out the low-income tenants and sold all the units. (Yeah - they can do that -legally.) The City did try to save face, saying they'd earmarked $2 million of the sale for low-income housing. What'll that buy, now? 4 units? 5? They sold a LOT more than that!

    Incidentally, Hamilton ON has the highest property taxes in Canada. Higher than Vancouver, Steve! I was right first time. They'd rather all the poor or elderly die. Then they don't have to be bothered with 'em. That pleases everybody.
     
  11. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    Not solely what the builders want. It's not always a matter of choice. If only corporate landlords who want to make maximum money want to build, that's whom the builders serve. If nobody wants affordable housing built (and nobody will pay for it) then no builder starts any. They have to go where the money is.
     
  12. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    I take that back. It's simply not true. Told to me by someone at my end, who should have known better. Yes, high. But not even the highest in Ontario, let alone Canada.

    https://www.hamiltonnews.com/news-story/9292818-hamilton-residents-pay-higher-property-taxes-than-other-ontario-municipalities-says-report/#:~:text=Hamilton residents continue to pay,compiled by city finance staff.

    That's not true either, I'm sure. My bad. I'll try for better.
     
  13. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    Well, this is true. In the last month, Bitcoin has gone from around 19,000 to 23,800 approx. I have NO idea what that means, in terms of what the future holds. Anyone?
     
  14. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    I see the new DC League of Superhero Pets movie is out. Superman's pet dog is named Krypto. You know why? Because he isn't real, either!
     
  15. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    Or, after Superman's home planet, Krypton. In turn derived from the Greek word 'Kryptos', meaning the hidden thing or secret one. And yes, the same exact etymology as "crypto," e.g. Bitcoin, Monero, etc. I'm an Atheist, but even I believe Superman is real. :) And since he's real, he'd want a real dog!

    Latro, ergo sum. (I bark, therefore I am). :)
     
    Last edited: Jul 30, 2022
  16. nosborne48

    nosborne48 Well-Known Member

    Yeah, Bitcoin. Price rising again. Just like it has many times before. Solomon needs to add one to the list of things that pass his understanding, why Bitcoin has any market value at all. :confused:
     
  17. nosborne48

    nosborne48 Well-Known Member

    Proverbs 30:18 in case I was too obscure.
     
  18. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    “Explaining a joke is like dissecting a frog. You understand it better but the frog dies in the process.”
    ― E.B. White
     
  19. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    ,,,but...but we were explaining Bitcoin. Oh yeah - same thing. A joke. Right...
     
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  20. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    Bumpity.
    @SteveFoerster Recent findings you might like.

    (1) Fixed Rate Mortgages up to 25 years are now available through Royal Bank - one of our Big Five. There may be others by now.

    (2) You CAN get a 30-year mortgage in Canada - as long as it's low-ratio (i.e. less than 80% or less of the value of the home). Such mortgages can be granted because they don't require CMHC Mortgage Insurance. (Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. - Canada's State-owned Mortgage Insurer) https://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/en/

    (3) You COULD get an Islamic-compliant mortgage. Your monthly payment will not vary throughout the life of the mortgage. No, you don't have to be a Muslim. Quite a few banks and credit unions offer these now, to anyone who prefers them. The technical term for them is "Diminishing Musharrakah." The lender buys the house and you have a rent-to-own deal. Your ownership proportion increases as you make payments. A flat payment every month - diminishing rental, increasing equity - level payment. Say you put 20% down. Your first payment would go 80% to rental and 20% to equity. Next month - a little less to rental, a little more to equity - and so on.

    So--- at some point, you decide to sell? Yeah, you can do that. And walk away with your equity and a profit (hopefully) as in a conventional deal. Lenders can construct a Musharrakah deal that will simulate any interest rate. But - as the religious authorities agree - it "isn't" interest. And the payment stays the same throughout the life of the mortgage.
     
    Last edited: Oct 13, 2022
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