Nothing is going to change until “landlord culture” is suppressed, and we re-adopt a “homeowner” mentality.
We need to massively raise taxes on residential property, but institute an “owner occupant” credit so actual homeowners don’t pay the increase. Only landlords - people who own the property but don’t live in it - will pay the increase. Residential property taxes should be the highest of all property taxes without the credit, but effective tax rate should be the lowest due to that credit. Landlords should be fighting for any way they can to convert “tenants” into “buyers”, even if that means issuing private mortgages to their (former) tenants to make it happen.
A major advantage of the owner occupant tax credit is if a lender forecloses on a property, they pay the higher tax rate until they resell it. That gives them some strong incentives to work with a borrower on refinance, forgiveness, short sale, or other concessions and terms.
What about people with short-term housing needs? People who prefer to rent rather than owning? Not a problem: “Land Contracts” work very much like rentals, but without the annual increase that always outpaces inflation. The monthly payment is fixed for the life of the agreement. The land contract is registered with the county just like a deed, and the buyer is considered the owner, so is eligible for the credit.
The main difference is that after three years, a land contract automatically converts to a purchase agreement, and the previous 3 years of “rent” are retroactively converted to payments on a private mortgage. You’re 3 years into a 30-year mortgage.
Don’t want to worry about maintenance and upkeep? Most apartment complexes will be converted into condominiums, where the condo association is responsible for such things, and you can purchase a condo under a land contract arrangement. You can always terminate it early, or renegotiate your land contract every 3 years.
Still want to rent? Duplexes, triplexes, and quadplexes would all qualify for the owner occupancy credit provided the owner lives on site. The remaining units can then be rented out. Some apartment buildings will likely be split into multiplex units, with one of the occupants becoming the “landlord” of the others.
With corporate investors properly motivated to create homeowners, fewer and fewer people will be driven to homelessness.
Nothing is going to change until “landlord culture” is suppressed, and we re-adopt a “homeowner” mentality.
We need to massively raise taxes on residential property, but institute an “owner occupant” credit so actual homeowners don’t pay the increase. Only landlords - people who own the property but don’t live in it - will pay the increase. Residential property taxes should be the highest of all property taxes without the credit, but effective tax rate should be the lowest due to that credit. Landlords should be fighting for any way they can to convert “tenants” into “buyers”, even if that means issuing private mortgages to their (former) tenants to make it happen.
A major advantage of the owner occupant tax credit is if a lender forecloses on a property, they pay the higher tax rate until they resell it. That gives them some strong incentives to work with a borrower on refinance, forgiveness, short sale, or other concessions and terms.
What about people with short-term housing needs? People who prefer to rent rather than owning? Not a problem: “Land Contracts” work very much like rentals, but without the annual increase that always outpaces inflation. The monthly payment is fixed for the life of the agreement. The land contract is registered with the county just like a deed, and the buyer is considered the owner, so is eligible for the credit.
The main difference is that after three years, a land contract automatically converts to a purchase agreement, and the previous 3 years of “rent” are retroactively converted to payments on a private mortgage. You’re 3 years into a 30-year mortgage.
Don’t want to worry about maintenance and upkeep? Most apartment complexes will be converted into condominiums, where the condo association is responsible for such things, and you can purchase a condo under a land contract arrangement. You can always terminate it early, or renegotiate your land contract every 3 years.
Still want to rent? Duplexes, triplexes, and quadplexes would all qualify for the owner occupancy credit provided the owner lives on site. The remaining units can then be rented out. Some apartment buildings will likely be split into multiplex units, with one of the occupants becoming the “landlord” of the others.
With corporate investors properly motivated to create homeowners, fewer and fewer people will be driven to homelessness.