Re:Why has regional income convergence in the U.S. declined?...
by landryraccoon on Wednesday July 26, 2017 @03:09PM
(#14859186)
In the long run this hurts even the homeowners. They can never move and they're slaves to the needs of their home. At that point the home is equally a liability as well as an asset; if so much of your worth is tied up in it that you are destroyed if anything happens to it, isn't that slavery not freedom? Sure they may feel some selfish benefit if housing prices go up but it's a terrible prisoner's dilemma - everyone else's home values are going up as well; so you can never sell or move. For people that have a home because they need a place to live and not as an investment, that's not wealth, it's just a number on paper.
Re:Why has regional income convergence in the U.S. declined?...
by nerfhammer on Wednesday July 26, 2017 @03:25PM
(#14859334)
Just move to a cheaper part of the country and then illegally rent it out. This lets you profiteer off of more than one side of the shortage. You don't have to give up that property you don't particularly need anymore but could never acquire again. I know plenty of examples of people doing this.
The problem is that, based on how things work, a significant amount of our assets are tied up in real estate. If you're a homeowner and your home's value tanks compared to the rest of the market, you're screwed! You can't move to another place because you've lost all of the money that you put into your home.
It gets even worse if you need the money: Think of elderly who sell their homes and use the profits to pay for assisted living.
Or, look at how we pay for education: We use our homes as collateral for education loans!