This is another one I think should be reworded. I think this should have been stated as, "freedom from need". No one is ever free from want. There's always something bigger or better or more beautiful, and it's only natural to desire those things. But it's the needs Teddy Roosevelt was trying to take care of.
He wanted us to have affordable shelter, which is steadily becoming an impossibility for landlords to provide and renters to find. He knew that healthier workers were more productive, and so he thought health care for those who couldn't afford it was a good idea. The problem is, now most Americans can't afford health care without some help from their employer. He thought we should be fed at least once a day if we weren't working, and should be able to afford three squares if we were. The price of organic food is so high only a small percentage of the population can afford it. Processed and engineered food is so expensive that even soldiers and teachers are on food stamps. The air we breathe and the water we drink is polluted.
We are not and can never be free from want, and even Mr. Roosevelt was aware of that. It would be nice, though, to know that we can take care of the basic necessities of life without morgaging our futures and closing out our bank accounts.
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32 comments:
Very well said, PC!
Good to see you back blogging.
Thanks. I missed you giys and it's taken a little while to get my act together. The move has taken a lot out of me, and we're still looking for a house to buy. On two tacher's salaries, what we can afford doesn't necessarily meet our needs, so I think we're going to have to go a little farther from the city than we expected, but that's okay.
This is a terrible thing to say, but I really think that things are going to get worse before they get any better. Potentially much, much worse. There's a massive imbalance in this country now between those who work and those who reap the benefits of that work. Decades of the fear of Communism has made anyone who questions the right of the wealthy to make huge sums of money without sharing any of it with those who helped make it (through their labor) into the Unreasonable Bad Guy (I make less than even my teacher wife, and the other day while complaining about this subject, a co-worker, who makes no more than I do, asked me if I was a Socialist)(in retrospect, I should have told him he could call me a socialist if I could call him a feudalist).
But I dont think things will get any better until most ordinary people have to give up more than one of the basics of Life. At this point, many people can still move to cheaper neighborhoods, can drive that old car a few more years, can handle the extra ten dollars on the co-pay and maybe the $1000 out-of-pocket issue wont come up.
Meanwhile we complain about not having enough money while secretly knowing that we spend too much money on restaurants, dont really need cable or cell phones, should shop Wal-Mart, not Macy's, that our house really wasnt worth the money we're still paying for it, and/or we should've bought a smaller, more efficient used car.
Most of all, we know that however bad we've got it, there are many parts of the world much worse off.
Which, really, should be totally irrelevant. The unfairness of our situation relative to, say the Burmese, doesnt mitigate the unfairness of our situation compared to the CEOs of this country.
Health Coverage of Young Widens With States' Aid New York Times
It's a start, at least.
Funny, my blog today is very similar to yours, but it takes a different tac.
ARGH. I really don't have time, but let me add a couple things:
Sometimes we're monsters of our own making (see my blog today for an expansion of that).
Polluting is still bad, but due to tariffs and fines, it has improved over the 70s. There is still room for improvement.
Housing is hard, and right now it's through the roof in our area. If you want to buy a house, bring a chestful of gold. Otherwise, you're living in Renter's Hell for the rest of your life. But, supply=demand and there's little that can be done about it. At least it's not San Francisco.
And, to be truthful, we expect more out of our housing than our ancestors did. We're much better off now. Even the poorest of us (with the exception of the homeless) live in better circumstances than most of the middle class did at the turn of the century.
But we keep allowing imports to come in, and jobs to be shipped out. Until businesses are forced to stop indulging in their greed, there can be no changes.
I don't think the housing prices should have anything to do with supply and demand. The landlords are making an enormous profit at the detriment of low-income and middle-income families. Many people will never own their home because the price of construction is so inflated. The morgage rates are astronomical, and it doesn't really have to do with loss-prevention. The people with money are gouging the people without, and the government is doing the same. We need to have a more fair system of rents, fines, and taxes for us to come out of the depths, and it seems no one wants to accomplish this.
Polanco, Although I'm actually inclined to agree with you (having lived in poverty for years) I now own my own home and know that the % was attached to my credit score, which was bad because I lived in poverty (?) Not fair, and yet fair at the same time.
As for landlords, if THEY are paying $1000 a month for the mortgage, it's hard to see why they'd not want to make a little profit on it. How MUCH of a profit should they make? I wonder if there's any way of knowing what percentages they make in profit. And since they're not all in collusion, I suppose it's probably what the market can truly bear(?)
My husband owed a duplex. I am here to tell you...either own a few or none at all. If there are two good tenants then all is fine. We made enough keep everything nice and pay for mortgage, insurance, licenses, and put away enough for when something broke. The only profit we made went toward the upkeep of the house we lived in right beside the duplex. So basically we had no pocket money at all and something was always needing fixed at one place or another. Renters are not known for their keeping things nice. If there was even one bad paying tenant or one was empty, forget it. We paid out of our pocket.
Woah, PC! Show me where you found facts that landlords are making enormous profits to the detriment of low-income and middle income families. WRONG!
I am in the affordable housing industry and MOST landlords are lucky if they break even. Mortgages, property taxes, insurance, maintenance, etc. It is especially difficult serving the low-income sector. Section 8 Vouchers, people who can't pay their rent, damage you could not imagine . . . I could go on and on and on . . . But, I want to know where you get your facts. And, just so you know, the trend now is to move out the renters of single family units, prepare them for sale to end users. It is not an investment for sissys!
Michelle & Kathleen, thanks for the contribution. I had suspected what you said, but not being in the industry, I wouldn't know.
Many landlords in delvelpments own outright and do not have a morgage. I was not talking about individual property owners. There are a lot of costs involved, true, but that is also a corporate issue. If the cost of construction, heating oils, etc.. were not so high, small landlords could afford to charge less rent. Large property owners DO make a lot of money on this investment, especially if they are not paying a morgage.
Yeah, let's paint the landlords as middle class peeps doing this out of thew good of their heart...or you could say that they snaffle up property to feed a rent cycle and lien their pockets before bailing when the profit margin falls.
Don't try and make me have sympathy with landlords for Godsake, they make their money.
Daniel,
You sure are on a roll today. I certainly wasn't trying to get YOU to have sympahty for ME as a landlord. I was answering Polonco's post with MY experience as a landlord.
Daniel said . . . "Don't try and make me have sympathy with landlords for Godsake, they make their money."
Come on, Daniel. Put some real knowledge where your mouth is. You know nothing about the industry, yet because the truth may not fit nicely into your preconceived socialist sermon, you reject it to rail against the "obviously greedy little bastards." Unbelievable!
PC said . . . "Large property owners DO make a lot of money on this investment, especially if they are not paying a morgage."
If property ceases to be a good investment, we will experience a shortage in housing. You say if the mortgage is paid they DO make a lot of money. How do you think the mortgage got paid? Also, many large housing projects are owned by many investors who invest through mutual funds, etc. Are they not entitled a profit? I don't suggest anyone feel sorry for investors in rental property, but I sure don't see them as the devil! THINK!!!!!
They are entitled to a profit, but not such a large one that people can't afford to pay for housing. Also, I would think that a smart landlord would only buy properties they could pay for outright to minimize costs. Those costs should not be passed down to the renters.
I am confused. When I buy a house, I choose to not pay the full amount (even if I had that much money) because I can most likely beat the interest rate charged by the bank with a smart investment of my own. As investments go, this is usually not too difficult.
When I rent, I usually do so because I am saving for a house; have poor credit and cannot get more credit extended to me; move around a lot and don't want to be tied down (we lease cars for the same reason); or some other reason.
Landlords invest a great deal of money in their properties and the rate of return is usually relatively low. It is a very volatile market and even some of the best and trickiest (Donald Trump) fall flat on their asses and file for bankruptcy.
As for minimizing costs, if you waited until you could actually own something, few people would ever own a house. Trust me, landlords charge less than managment companies. If I were to charge somebody rent for my two bedroom condo right now, I could charge them mortage+condo fee+extra profit, and it would still be under $2000. Not too bad. My old apartment was charging me $1720 for a one bedroom.
I think this post simply paints with too broad a brush. Sure there are bad landlords out there who bury their profits in loads of hidden charges. But there is no need for them to make their profit transparent to the consumer. I am sure that Daniel as an actor does not tell the entire audience what each person in a show is making, and how much revenue goes to overhead, lighting, costumes, etc.
Landlords will charge what the market will bear, and those who cannot afford it will be pushed out of the market. Markets in California bleed into Arizona and Washington, and then to Nevada when those prices get too high. Soon, the economy will pick up, stocks will be exciting again, and people will move their money into equity and out of houses and the market will correct.
I like getting health care with the help of my employer. It makes sense that the employer should want me healthy and I should want me healthy. What is wrong with that?
Anyway, good blog.
"Also, I would think that a smart landlord would only buy properties they could pay for outright to minimize costs. Those costs should not be passed down to the renters."
PC most "smart" investors would not tie up their capital when the money would be appreciating in another investment. I can tell by your comments that you are not an investor yet. Buying or building property is not a hobby or charitable contribution. If it were, you would most likely be living in a tent. Every market has it's risks and profits and losses fluctuate with the market. If investors did not seek a profit they would keep their funds in a bank. Worse yet, invest it abroad.
Michelle: damn right I'm on a roll, no need to go all BIG FONT on me just cuz you're peeved.
Kathleen: No need to throw your dummy out your pram, I got all the knowledge I need and guess what, you aren't all landlords; you're just one. When you break it down to the personal and subjective you lose sight of the bigger picture. Your words expose your prejudice, please have a sit down and relax before you lose your only working heart.
Doesn't cut it, Daniel. You are spewing rubbish. You can try to pidgeon hole everyone who disagrees with you, but it is as transparent as thin air!
Did you really say, "I got all the knowledge I need and guess what, you aren't all landlords; you're just one." HA! I own my own home . . . that is it!
Prejudice. That would be laughable if it wasn't so queer. Your argument is so flimzy we are all now prejudice? Yea, that's right. Those dirty capitalist bastards. PULEEEEEEZ.
Anonymous and Kathleen,
Thank you for educating me in an area in which I was obviously mistaken. I try to back up my opinions with facts as much as possible, and didn't do as much research as I should have on this subject.
While I still believe SOME landlords overcharge, especially in the complexes, I understand your point. It is definitely more expensive than I thought to rent properties. Hopefully a majority of small landlords aren't overcharging, but unless you are one yourself, you can't really know the costs that go into a rental property.
I appreciate your thoughtfullness about this issue.
I am not an owner, however I handle the investments of owners and am an expert in the area of property management of affordable housing. Small investors are the backbone of the Federal Section 8 Voucher program that provides housing assistance to low income families. When those investors face negative returns on their investments, they must get out.
Like I've said before, when I learn things, sometime my opinions change. Even though I have strong opinons, I know there's a lot I don't know about. If someone tells me I'm wrong, I try to find out why they think so. If they're right, I ammend my position. Thanks for pointing out the errors in my thoughts. That's why I appriciate it when people who disagree with me stick around, even when I'm a little difficult to deal with.
The price of organic food is so high only a small percentage of the population can afford it.
This wouldn't be true if we didn't have corporate farms employing illegal aliens putting family farmers out of business. For the record, family farmers are much more likely to be organic farmers or at the very least, take care of the land better.
Also, I'm a landlord. If you're interested, PC, I will detail the costs.
Let's take one of the houses:
$1200 monthly rent
- $616 mortgage payment
- $300 a month in taxes
- $75 month insurance
- one month's rent a year that goes to the property manager to find us a tenant
If you do the math, it's not like it's a huge profit. We've had renters not pay the rent for one reason or another, renters who were late, renters who did physical damage to the house, and even renters who skipped out without telling us.
Plus things go wrong. Every 5 years or so, you have to change the carpet. Every 15-20 years, you have to change the roof. You also have to paint the house about every ten years. None of that is cheap.
Believe me, between the three houses we're renting out, it's a lot of work. Buying a fourth next year and hopefully a hotel or an apartment complex the year after that.
Between work, the company I'm starting, the rental houses, other investments, and spending time with the wife and kid, I never sleep. So if anyone thinks landlords have it easy, they're idiots. Try walking in another person's shoes before making a judgement about them.
PC - I'm sorry, I sounded a little harsh with that second to last second. I didn't mean that as an insult to anyone, just not in a good mood.
We're kicking out one of our tenants. In only six months, he's trashed the carpet so badly we'll have to replace it and is two months late in the rent. So that's why I'm in a rotten mood.
Once again, I apologize. I didn't delete the post because the math is correct.
A little tip, undercharge. If you undercharge, you get a whole lot more people look at your property. Then you can have more people to decide from.
We made a lot of mistakes being landlords and we're now learning what we're doing. Now we're more strict with who we rent out to.
There's a reason why people have bad credit scores. Also, we do police background checks now.
If you're interested in becoming a landlord, let me know. I've made all the mistakes and would love to share them with future landlords so they could learn from my mistakes without repeating them.
The payoffs are huge when it comes to taxes. I hardly pay any tax because everything is a deduction, and it's legal.
Zombie,
You know I'm with you on the corporate farms AND the illegal alien issue. Thanks for the clarification on housing. As for the attitude, I'm the one who was worng on this one, so I don't mind. We all have bad days, and I understand if my mistaken opinion about this annoyed some people.
People who are complaining about being landlords perhaps need to think that they're not very good at it.
Horses for courses and all that...
People offering advice to landlords should have more expertise than paying rent each month.
Danie, Don't take this wrong, but...You do love to argue for the sake of arguement, don't you?
PC - It's all good.
The reason why landlords continue to charge a fat profit after they've already paid off the mortgage is that's why they bought the places in the first place.
I know I'm not going to get a dime in Social Security. So these brick houses, which will last a hundred years after I'm gone, will be my Social Security.
You might want to look into it, being in PA and all. I could give you some pointers, especially considering I've made every mistake in the book. ;)
I really think PA prices will skyrocket. Buy a house there, then buy another and rent out the first. You'll have equity sooner than you realize. The tax benefits are huge.
Mum's thinking of buying a rental outside around the Pittsburg area. She was there a month ago and fell in love with it.
That's actually what we're planning on doing, and I'll definitely contact y0ou for help. Thanks for the offer! Housing in Pittsburg is still pretty reasonable. It's the Philly area that's getting a little out of hand.
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