Affordable Housing Crisis?

[SpyderEdgeForever]

Naperville,
why cannot America solve the homelessness problem by

1 Inspecting the shelters and stop them from being run like jails with corruption and violence and drug abuse happening.

2 Turn all these abandoned places into homes gor homeless and poor people.

3 There are unlived in snd unused houses and buildings that the government and banks own that can house people in need.

4 Stop housing illegal alien migrants in America, round them up with military force and mass deport them.

5 Use 3d printing and Pre Fab housing to mass produce cheap tiny houses for anyone who needs

[Naperville]

How can the USA and world Affordable Housing Crisis be solved?
Too few housing being wanted by too many people?

A Technocrat said the answer is to convince people to make less new people and to build giant vertical City Buildings all over the Earth surface. Each building reaches several miles tall and is made of strong alloys and composites and has food and energy production built in, like huge vertical garden buildings.

He claims these can be maintained to comfortable Middle Class living conditions and can provide housing at low cost or even free to hundreds of millions to billions of people.

You are not, well let me take that back, maybe you do know how hard it is to find a very safe 2br apartment in the USA that does not cost you $2500 PLUS utilities, indoor parking, apartment and auto insurance and food! That is well over $35,000 per year, holy cow, what the heck.

I have looked in several states.

I'll be working until I am 80 at this rate.

[Mage7]

Why don't affluent old people divest themselves of excess real estate?
Exorbitant capital gains taxes.

So they refuse to divest themselves of properties which incur exorbitant taxes because they incur exorbitant taxes?

It's almost like property rental just isn't a viable means of passive income any more and their retirement plans didn't account for that.

[DansGearAddiction]

Why don't affluent old people divest themselves of excess real estate?
Exorbitant capital gains taxes.

So they refuse to divest themselves of properties which incur exorbitant taxes because they incur exorbitant taxes?

It's almost like property rental just isn't a viable means of passive income any more and their retirement plans didn't account for that.

Property rental is still a very viable means of passive income and capital gains taxes are only incurred when selling a property, and only when the property being sold has a gain of $500K or more (as in houses that would be inaccessible to those who can't even afford a basic starter home). See my previous post for more on this.

There is a valid argument about high property taxes, which is typically assessed annually, especially in certain parts of the country (where I live, this is very much the case), but I don't believe this is causal of the current housing situation for two reasons:

The first is that the problem is a national problem, and property taxes vary from location to location. Some places do not have a property tax, or have a very small one.

The second is that the average cost of a house continues to outpace median household income -- when people can't afford the mortgage to begin with, property tax is irrelevant (and if property taxes are high, this should theoretically be even more of an incentive to sell unwanted properties -- but a bad one in my opinion).

This is also ignoring the current economic uncertainty, the looming threat of AI on the job market, and the fact that upcoming generations almost certainly not going to see their social security in the way previous generations have. So there is also very real concern about not just what today looks, but rather tomorrow.

With that being said, the way out of this continues to be increasing supply and letting markets work, which is the only way that a free market can lower prices -- by making it competitive again. We need to build more houses, and they need to be smaller and thus more affordable.

But there is going to be opposition to this by existing home owners and property investors whose property values will go down as a result. Zoning laws will need to change (e.g. to allow for smaller homes and homes with new construction methods), incentives will need to be increased to spur development (e.g. tax write-offs on building materials), denser forms of housing will need to be built for rentals, and most importantly, local lawmakers are going to need to be willing to deal with the pressure from opposing parties -- who WILL organize to protect their artificial monopoly -- and say that enough is enough.

[SpyderEdgeForever]

Dan and Naperville, what are your opinions on the claim that people can invest small amounts of money into pooled property owning companies so you do.not have the responsibilities of a land owner but you get some monetary returns as income?

[DansGearAddiction]

Dan and Naperville, what are your opinions on the claim that people can invest small amounts of money into pooled property owning companies so you do.not have the responsibilities of a land owner but you get some monetary returns as income?

REITs (real estate investment trusts) have been a thing for a while. I don't know much about them beyond that.

[Naperville]

Dan and Naperville, what are your opinions on the claim that people can invest small amounts of money into pooled property owning companies so you do.not have the responsibilities of a land owner but you get some monetary returns as income?

I just had my family sell all rental properties we owned. After having to deal with renters from the age of 18, I want nothing to do with them.

[SpyderEdgeForever]

Dan and Naperville, what are your opinions on the claim that people can invest small amounts of money into pooled property owning companies so you do.not have the responsibilities of a land owner but you get some monetary returns as income?

70s
I just had my family sell all rental properties we owned. After having to deal with renters from the age of 18, I want nothing to do with them.

What likely happened to the knives in the building your brother sold?

[Naperville]

Dan and Naperville, what are your opinions on the claim that people can invest small amounts of money into pooled property owning companies so you do.not have the responsibilities of a land owner but you get some monetary returns as income?

70s
I just had my family sell all rental properties we owned. After having to deal with renters from the age of 18, I want nothing to do with them.

What likely happened to the knives in the building your brother sold?

Not sure. I lost everything.

[SpyderEdgeForever]

Dan and Naperville, what are your opinions on the claim that people can invest small amounts of money into pooled property owning companies so you do.not have the responsibilities of a land owner but you get some monetary returns as income?

70s
I just had my family sell all rental properties we owned. After having to deal with renters from the age of 18, I want nothing to do with them.

What likely happened to the knives in the building your brother sold?

Not sure. I lost everything.

That is terrible. You have my sincere compassion.

[Naperville]

President to ban large corporations from buying up homes and driving prices up.

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/01/07/trump-h ... ility.html

[Naperville]

70s
I just had my family sell all rental properties we owned. After having to deal with renters from the age of 18, I want nothing to do with them.

What likely happened to the knives in the building your brother sold?

Not sure. I lost everything.

That is terrible. You have my sincere compassion.

Thank you.

The few things that I have had in life don't define me. I got over it.

The only things that I worry about as I age are not being homeless - having good housing in a safe neighborhood, having food when I am hungry, having medical care. Having transportation and something to do as I get older would be nice too.

[SpyderEdgeForever]

What likely happened to the knives in the building your brother sold?

Not sure. I lost everything.

That is terrible. You have my sincere compassion.

Thank you.

The few things that I have had in life don't define me. I got over it.

The only things that I worry about as I age are not being homeless - having good housing in a safe neighborhood, having food when I am hungry, having medical care. Having transportation and something to do as I get older would be nice too.

Yes. What is the answer to make sure we have these things?

[Naperville]

Not sure. I lost everything.

That is terrible. You have my sincere compassion.

Thank you.

The few things that I have had in life don't define me. I got over it.

The only things that I worry about as I age are not being homeless - having good housing in a safe neighborhood, having food when I am hungry, having medical care. Having transportation and something to do as I get older would be nice too.

Yes. What is the answer to make sure we have these things?

Take care of yourself physically and mentally throughout your entire life so that you have good health.

Don't date and waste time with the wrong persons. Think about current and future responsibilities. Life is not a game and it isn't always party time.

"not being homeless" is a tricky one and it can happen suddenly to anyone. I have been homeless and still am the wrong person to ask how to prevent it. YES of course work and save money, set aside 10% or more of each check into an account for emergencies, but it may not be enough. Might have to do research with a group of social workers to see what they might come up with. Having a bit of a prepper mindset is a great idea so that you have a goto or bugout bag ready to go, buy blankets for your car in case you find yourself temporarily homeless.

You can use Zillow and Apartments.com to see what rents are going for where you plan to move
https://www.zillow.com/fishers-in/apartments/
https://www.apartments.com/river-run-at ... l/2p9gnm9/


"having good housing in a safe neighborhood" is a bit easier. Use the Internet to conduct research on where to live and try to spend time in the area where you plan to move into. Ask the police department where you plan to move to about crime in the area. I use several websites to find out about crime in my planned area where I am moving to:

Next Door
https://nextdoor.com

Neighborhood Scout
https://www.neighborhoodscout.com/

You might look at US Census data
https://www.cleveland.com/datacentral/2 ... e%20places.

"The LexisNexis Community Crime Map is a public service. It lets law enforcement share selected crime data with the public. This application includes basic mapping, dashboards and analytics. The Community Crime Map compiles crime data from law enforcement agencies. It helps the public stay informed about crime."

Here is an example
https://www.lexingtonky.gov/government/ ... -crime-map


"having food when hungry" is one that I can answer. Get a strong prepper mindset with this one. Buy 2+ shelves and stock it with food that you eat currently. All that you do is buy 2 to 4 extra items (canned or bottled) every time that you shop, and put it on your emergency food shelving. Within 6 to 12 months you will have several months worth of food supplies.


"having medical care" is one that many people globally have a hard time figuring out. I am 65 so I use Medicare, but soon I will have supplemental health insurance.

[SpyderEdgeForever]

What are your opinions on this?
This guy claims modular housing is a big cure for homelessness. I would add, for responsible people.


Ontario teen says he'll live in 'modular home' invention for a year to prove it can end homelessness - https://share.google/ujLakMf5BVoKLsUlW

[olywa]

Time for us all to quit carrying water for billionaires and corporations. Greed is at the heart of every problem society faces. An equitable tax structure and a strong middle class are basic tenets for a healthy and sustainable America. Hard to make any moves in the right direction when the government and the courts are owned by the worthless wealthy. Sorry, rant over.

[Naperville]

What are your opinions on this?
This guy claims modular housing is a big cure for homelessness. I would add, for responsible people.


Ontario teen says he'll live in 'modular home' invention for a year to prove it can end homelessness - https://share.google/ujLakMf5BVoKLsUlW

You mentioned refurbishing older properties. I put in quite a few years working on my parent's and grandmother's properties, as well as working as an electrician for new and existing(older) properties. Refurbishing is very time consuming, a TON OF WORK, and you need specialized skills to do everything properly. New construction work is so fast, so easy and so cheap!

I know that refurbishing is cheaper, but I do not envy the people involved in the work. It is a pain in the butt.

I'd buy a tiny modular home from Boxabl if the price was under $100,000 for the slab, the utility hookups, and the home. I looked around and the current manufacturers that I would like to buy from will not make just one home, for one person.

[SpyderEdgeForever]

What if the home owner on the cheap wants to put it an out house to save money? Will town boards say no?