Re:Home ownership is the West’s biggest economic-policy mistake
by effie on Tuesday April 20, 2021 @09:14AM
(#26874151)
It depends on who you are profiting from.
You never felt like an economic parasite. Maybe your tenants were okay financally and you didn't squeeze or kick them out. But some renters do squeeze or kick out poor people. That's where the parasite part comes in.
It is a service that comes with plenty of duties and risks, at least if you want to have a reasonable reputation.
It probably depends on local market. I can imagine that in Silicon Valley, bad landlords can get away with almost anything, because the demand is so strong. Outside such economic hubs, the market situation is much more balanced and getting a good tenant who won't smoke in the house and destroy furniture is not trivial.
A friend of mine rented out a small apartment inherited from his grandma (nothing expensive, a rust-belt city in Eastern Europe that just keeps itself alive) and found out that the tenants turned it into a meth factory, when police came knocking on his door to ask unpleasant questions.