A million-dollar brownstone that no one owned

Re:A million-dollar brownstone that no one owned by arthurofbabylon on Monday August 20, 2018 @11:26PM (#17806702)

I live in a town that's a haven for hiding illicit funds in luxury homes (cryptocurrency fraud). There is a vacancy rate of about 5% - housing costs are up greater than 5% as the vacant homes' impact has a compounding effect.

I bring this up because it highlights an underlying trend shared between the article and my anecdote: fraud conducted in supply/demand markets hurts buyers and generally legal participants.

Even if your deal is 100% legal and proper, the supply/demand dynamics have been altered by those committing the fraud and you're getting screwed.

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Re:A million-dollar brownstone that no one owned by jimrandomh on Tuesday August 21, 2018 @06:26AM (#17808437)

A vacancy rate of 5% is not abnormally high. https://www.census.gov/housing/hvs/files/currenthvspress.pdf

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Re:A million-dollar brownstone that no one owned by ebikelaw on Tuesday August 21, 2018 @10:32AM (#17809932)

Understatement! 5% vacancy is a signal of “housing crisis” as currently experienced in many American cities. People carping about tiny vacancy rates has become some kind of NIMBY meme: we don’t need to build new homes because look at the minute fraction of existing homes that are vacant!

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Re:A million-dollar brownstone that no one owned by acranox on Tuesday August 21, 2018 @11:21AM (#17810374)

I live in a city that is in crazy high demand. Prices climb 10% a year. Demand is huge. There are two vacant homes on my block. (And another one two blocks away) But not because no one wants to live there. But because of stupid practices by the banks that have left these homes in a limbo state where someone left, and it’s not on the market at all. It’s just vacant. This is so stupid. People need housing. I wish the city would just take over the homes and let people live in them. And that’s just the three homes I’m aware of. There’s probably tons more.

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Re:A million-dollar brownstone that no one owned by solotronics on Tuesday August 21, 2018 @02:53AM (#17807598)

Interesting, what exactly constitutes cryptocurrency fraud?

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Re:A million-dollar brownstone that no one owned by walrus01 on Tuesday August 21, 2018 @03:01AM (#17807630)

a lot of things: ICO exit scams, pump and dump, etc.

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Re:A million-dollar brownstone that no one owned by monochromatic on Tuesday August 21, 2018 @10:44AM (#17810032)

How do you buy a house with cryptocurrency?

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Re:A million-dollar brownstone that no one owned by codingdave on Tuesday August 21, 2018 @10:58AM (#17810152)

You can buy a house with whatever you like, as long as the seller agrees.

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Re:A million-dollar brownstone that no one owned by gt2 on Tuesday August 21, 2018 @04:12AM (#17807931)

Which town?

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Re:A million-dollar brownstone that no one owned by dsl on Tuesday August 21, 2018 @04:21AM (#17807968)

San Francisco

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