Post B0Gy4ftfXVXb38oAV6 by MartyFouts@mastodon.online
(DIR) More posts by MartyFouts@mastodon.online
(DIR) Post #B0GgExRfLrYPCCSoAi by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-11-15T11:21:38Z
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One of the reasons home prices in the US are so high is... the 30 year mortgage. For sanity, and the future we ought to be planning to slowly transition to 20 and 15 year mortgages as the default. This would increase middle class wealth, cool down the housing market and frankly, it might make buying a home less daunting. Older American have most of their wealth in their home. Hence the "slow" part. We won't be done till they are all dead. Not to be impolite about it.
(DIR) Post #B0GgRsLJdLPl8SeXyq by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-11-15T11:24:00Z
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Of course fixing the housing market also means addressing the fact that a lot of American want to live in cities but cities have not been planned for long term living. You rent in the city in your 20s then you are supposed to move to a suburb. But not everyone wants to do that so you have a lot of people renting into their 40s and beyond. This is NOT their fault. I'm a little obsessesed with property and real estate so I found a way to buy in NYC, but this took a manic focus.
(DIR) Post #B0Ggdio4ukYH2DksiW by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-11-15T11:26:08Z
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The options that work for middle class people to buy in a city are: coops, condos. Owning a whole building isn't practical. The existing market and legal structure makes condos outrageously expensive and coops are very rare and like secret clubs that you have to be in the know to join. It's a terrible system. Of course those making tons of money by renting hate all of these ideas.
(DIR) Post #B0GghmNBb4m5Fn6xmq by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-11-15T11:26:51Z
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@keefeglise Increasing supply is also important. I just hate the idea of people paying that much interest over their lives.
(DIR) Post #B0Gh9CRYm8NpveESci by llewelly@sauropods.win
2025-11-15T11:31:49Z
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@futurebird I live with 3 other educated adults and none of us has ever had an opportunity to buy a home.The notion that most americans have a chance to buy a home is fundamentally false, and furthermore, the widespread prevalence of rental homes and apartments, is an open admission that everyone knows it is a lie. The real estate industry insists we all pretend there are five lights, but that pretension serves only to further amplify its fundamental dishonesty.
(DIR) Post #B0GhaULMKcmRGOLOro by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-11-15T11:36:46Z
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@llewelly Around 50 percent of people own their home or are paying a mortgage. It's fairly common, but the reality of renting for life needs to stop being treated like an anomaly or a mistake. Everything about the US is set up to advantage home owners. It's kind of disgusting.
(DIR) Post #B0GhnpmvubE3XObbA8 by quinn@social.circl.lu
2025-11-15T11:39:07Z
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@futurebird this can be helped by building housing and expanding public transit, but that's kind of a political non-stater in New York. Heck, most of America right now, but it does work.
(DIR) Post #B0Gi0e5qhk8b1zYusi by llewelly@sauropods.win
2025-11-15T11:41:26Z
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@futurebird I can immediately think of 5 people who were 2 or more years into a mortgage 10 years ago, but are now either renting or living on someone's couch. So "paying a mortgage", has, for many, become nothing more than renting in emperor's clothes.
(DIR) Post #B0Gi2MgiO8btd1cr3o by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-11-15T11:41:48Z
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@quinn Building more housing isn't a "non-starter" in NYC. We are NOT SF. In fact, over the past two decades we have built tons and tons of housing, it's why the city is thriving. Tons of "in-fill" and "80-20" development. It has not been very focused on ordinary people, so much has been built strictly to rent, but that could change as we keep building. (And even building rentals is better than not building.)We love to increase density.Now the transit part.
(DIR) Post #B0Gi9uVv1U3GZ4AqCu by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-11-15T11:43:10Z
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@quinn People who live in NYC are very pro-transit. That's because we all depend on it to ... live. Transit obviously needs massive funding increases, modernization and new lines and that is harder, but I would not call it a "non-starter" just difficult.
(DIR) Post #B0GiEdR5wfHx2xAcro by quinn@social.circl.lu
2025-11-15T11:43:59Z
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@futurebird fair! It's been a long time since I "lived" in New York. (I couldn't afford housing them)
(DIR) Post #B0GiPmyIpfQpo31P3w by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-11-15T11:46:02Z
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@quinn I want to point out one other thing. In a primate city like NYC increasing density and building more housing has an "induced demand" effect just like when you try to widen a highway. Building more housing has made the city a more desirable place to live and increased housing prices even has the supply has increased. Now with a highway I say, don't bother. With housing I think the induced demand just means you need to be more aggressive in increasing the supply.
(DIR) Post #B0Gihu3nDS5f0HE920 by quinn@social.circl.lu
2025-11-15T11:49:16Z
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@futurebird but it is one of those situations with transit improvement that everyone wants it in general, but not to be locally inconvenienced by someone actually coming in and doing it. Which is a hard problem no doubt! But you can't build new infrastructure in a city like NY without pissing off the locals 😂 (it's understandable given how disruptive it can be, buuut)
(DIR) Post #B0GineqKhoRlXufw7E by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-11-15T11:50:21Z
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@quinn One of the benefits of NYC is the locals are already pissed off so we can't really be pissed off more.
(DIR) Post #B0Giv1ig38reWVbm88 by quinn@social.circl.lu
2025-11-15T11:51:39Z
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@futurebird yes, urban induced demand is a good, as long as it's done right and preserves open space and the city's fabric. I think the best city I've seen for this is Seoul.
(DIR) Post #B0GiwVCFwLayEb9BMu by quinn@social.circl.lu
2025-11-15T11:51:57Z
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@futurebird irl guffawed
(DIR) Post #B0Gj1LttvilIqpsH32 by gbargoud@masto.nyc
2025-11-15T11:52:48Z
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@futurebird I also think that the country needs more dense and walkable cities.There is NYC and then Chicago but otherwise living without a car takes a lot of effort and inconvenience
(DIR) Post #B0GjG2eTmKj5UofJzM by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-11-15T11:55:28Z
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@gbargoud Living without a car is WHY I'm here. And it's true for so many people that I know. It's this massive benefit and attraction of the city, but US car culture means that we don't talk about it directly. Living car-free is very luxurious but implying this would make car manufactures and many people angry. So, we pretend that the half of NYC residents without cars are sad and poor about it. This is a lie.
(DIR) Post #B0GjN7gnRqQT987s36 by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-11-15T11:56:45Z
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@quinn No one can afford the housing in NYC. It's even worse than ever!
(DIR) Post #B0Gje81pRLWB7a4YAC by notsoloud@expressional.social
2025-11-15T11:59:48Z
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@futurebirdCities should be built for raising kids. Every part of that effort would make the city nicer for everyone.
(DIR) Post #B0GkLqqYgOKcZgeKTg by maswan@mastodon.acc.sunet.se
2025-11-15T12:07:40Z
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@futurebird It's funny how much the legal structures changes things. In Sweden rents are controlled, which means building new coops generates maximal yield for housing development companies (assuming they can get all apartments sold, plus saddle the coop association with loans too), so rentals come second after coops.
(DIR) Post #B0Gkl5V3L81bGBckjY by quinn@social.circl.lu
2025-11-15T12:12:15Z
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@futurebird spent most of my life moving from housing crisis to housing crisis, often homeless to stay near jobs. I burned out completely, and the only firm criteria I had the last time we lost fighting an eviction is no more cities with housing crises. Looked for cheap cities in Europe, landed on Bordeaux. It's been great, I have friends in their 30s who own. Transit is great. Everyone complains wildly, because they're French. Rent is less than a quarter of our after tax income. I can breathe.
(DIR) Post #B0GlDYNHZtXcvCYyAK by gbargoud@masto.nyc
2025-11-15T12:17:24Z
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@futurebird I wonder how many people who move to NYC from all over the country would still do so if they could live car free with everything they need at their fingertips within a short commuter train ride to where their family lives instead
(DIR) Post #B0GlJtm0vjq11i9lmC by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-11-15T12:18:35Z
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@gbargoud Like half I bet.
(DIR) Post #B0GlKl7SajU6TZb93w by quinn@social.circl.lu
2025-11-15T12:18:43Z
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@futurebird @llewelly I don't agree, mortgage deductions mean that renters are effectively subsidizing home owners, which is sucky.
(DIR) Post #B0GlQfZo71d91Tfx3o by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-11-15T12:19:48Z
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@quinn @llewelly I agree with you about this so I'm confused what you don't agree about?
(DIR) Post #B0GlZuTw42OrrCKqxc by quinn@social.circl.lu
2025-11-15T12:21:27Z
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@futurebird @llewelly oh sorry, I read it wrong, I thought you said disadvantage 😅
(DIR) Post #B0GloHg8cEZrr3tgBM by silvermoon82@wandering.shop
2025-11-15T12:24:03Z
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@futurebird We started that transition here in Canada, but I think we might be shifting back? It feels like there's more push toward longer mortgages, and there's more gates to block less wealthy people out of the market.
(DIR) Post #B0GngPRC5GjnViHPV2 by oseagh@hcommons.social
2025-11-15T12:45:01Z
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@futurebird @gbargoud I've been thinking of this too! Driving is objectively incredibly dangerous and stressful yet it's still held up as a luxury to a staggering number of suburbanites. It's also a huge waste of time compared to pub trans- I don't care how many audiobooks you listen to in a car, most of your brain is focused on not dying, so your ability to actually take in that information, synthesize it, be changed by it, interact with it, enjoy it, etc. is very low, especially compared to someone listening to or reading the same thing on a train.This all from a lifetime unhappy suburbanite who drives for my job a lot now.
(DIR) Post #B0Gnz6HLXYWBanaPYm by oseagh@hcommons.social
2025-11-15T12:48:25Z
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@futurebird yes to this too! So much wealth is trapped in housing stock that boomers are sitting on. I don't wish for anyone to die (my still living parents are boomers!), but it would be nice if they as a generation could see what their housing choices are doing to their kids and even more so their grandkids and decide to take a different stance than "I'm living in my giant house until I die." Not only would this increase stock, it would unlock tons of wealth that could start flowing through the economy.
(DIR) Post #B0Gp6dSkf4A6UZ4tM0 by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-11-15T13:00:59Z
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@Virginicus Ugh. The cheap McMansion construction is going to look so bad as it ages. They are disposable buildings with little to justify maintaining them past 40 years. I guess that's a positive for cities... the construction we've gotten has been generally very well done in terms of durability. With the exception of those pencil towers which may not last except as curiosities. (The pencil towers are not really that numerous. Most construction has been more practical)
(DIR) Post #B0GpQSVP6rXAIglrcG by IngaLovinde@embracing.space
2025-11-15T13:04:29Z
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@futurebird @keefeglise pfft, interests in USA are tiny like Pica, we got a 30 year mortgage with 12% p.a. when we were 23-24 (in Russia)!
(DIR) Post #B0GpTFx2F7QiEU1sCe by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-11-15T13:05:06Z
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@IngaLovinde @keefeglise Interest over 7 percent is evil and wrong.
(DIR) Post #B0GpeKiEsenWBXOG1I by IngaLovinde@embracing.space
2025-11-15T13:07:01Z
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@futurebird @keefeglise we got lucky, most other banks were offering like 16% p.a. at that moment. And people were actually getting these mortgages!
(DIR) Post #B0GqLVDdh3wnDqf7U8 by mayintoronto@beige.party
2025-11-15T13:14:51Z
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@futurebird Meanwhile in Canada, our government is talking about the 50 year mortgage. ðŸ˜
(DIR) Post #B0GqZDSwUpFADSMLLc by carfreesince93@ohai.social
2025-11-15T13:17:20Z
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@futurebird I was a car owner when I lived on the mainland, but after moving to Maui, I decided to go carfree. Before moving, I assumed that a lot of people would be bike riders. Wrong! But I have never regretted my decision. My bike basically paid for my condo, my son's college, and many other things. I'm retired now, and I am so thankful for my choice.
(DIR) Post #B0GqetVxaUoG4kTivA by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-11-15T13:18:24Z
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@Bluegrass_Nomad This is a great point, although I'm suspicious of the "no everyone wants to own" line as it is used by the landlord lobby to justify not doing anything to address these problems. So many of our cultural values and economy have been structured around the idea of owning your residence (even the term "home ownership" has a suburban bias that's how deep it is) it may be more practical to make it a real option for more people.
(DIR) Post #B0Gqs5xYd0vURDgJVI by celeduc@mastodon.social
2025-11-15T13:20:45Z
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@futurebird the mortgage interest deduction is also regressive and structurally racist.
(DIR) Post #B0Gqw7uhJ1BTekGYkq by lucybeahere@mstdn.social
2025-11-15T13:21:29Z
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@futurebird Just read this very interesting piece yesterday. Vancouver has been building, but prices keep going up. Looking at what you’re saying, maybe this article’s POV will ring true to you. https://spacing.ca/vancouver/2024/07/24/why-housing-costs-are-so-high/
(DIR) Post #B0GtQLThdZAEK1B1DU by zephyrleifrenner@mastodon.social
2025-11-15T13:49:21Z
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@futurebird when you move to shorter mortgages, the payment goes way up, much less affordable. This would stop sales, but housing prices do not go down because few people have the equity to sell for less and those who do choose to wait. Eventually the foreclosures start when people have to leave but can’t sell, but prices stay the same, because banks don’t want to lose money either. 2008 illustrated this. There are solutions…
(DIR) Post #B0GuKNdOo56tE6Qods by Lyle@cville.online
2025-11-15T13:59:28Z
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@futurebird Fixable but it would anger the landlords
(DIR) Post #B0GubOecGjwjJO7BVg by babelcarp@social.tchncs.de
2025-11-15T14:02:31Z
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@futurebird If 15-20-year mortgages are imaginable, then why can’t we envision a city where renting isn’t just Plan Z for people too poor to have something better?A city where most middle class wealth isn’t locked up in people’s dwellings?A city where middle class residents don’t worry that adding new dwelling s in their neighborhood will wipe out their wealth?
(DIR) Post #B0Gx5r9D5yJIHK4pg8 by michael_w_busch@mastodon.online
2025-11-15T14:30:27Z
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@futurebird @gbargoud I lived in Pasadena & LA for seven years without a car and only bought one a week before I move out of Los Angeles.Simply because I did not want to have to bother with finding a place to park it.But I also would not have been able to afford to buy housing in either place.
(DIR) Post #B0GxhufiRMzKDGQbM8 by LJ@zirk.us
2025-11-15T14:37:20Z
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@futurebird @gbargoud I lived in cities in my 20s & 30s. I calculated that I could rent a car every single weekend & it would still be cheaper & easier than owning one. I loved my public transit & walking life. Then I moved to the suburbs. Being carless wasn't an option. I bitched about it all the time. Now I live in a small rural town where there's no public transportation at all. Ironically, I drive a lot less b/c I'm retired, kids are grown, & I have my writing & clay studio all at the farm.
(DIR) Post #B0Gy4ftfXVXb38oAV6 by MartyFouts@mastodon.online
2025-11-15T14:41:27Z
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@futurebird Hi. I am one of those older Americans you want dead. Do fuck off with your NYC centric ageist misunderstanding of the problem with housing in the US. Thanks.
(DIR) Post #B0GyzehmduHRrNQ3yi by jhaas@a2mi.social
2025-11-15T14:51:45Z
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@futurebird @gbargoud Having grown up in Northern Michigan, I've mostly lived in a personal car world for most of my life. But I've also traveled enough to be places where personal cars are not only redundant, but inconvenient.The thing that felt alien my first time in cities with public transit wasn't transit like train or subway. It was incidental reliance on taxis. These days ride apps change the experience.
(DIR) Post #B0H05K7iB6cFiaoVIu by epicdemiologist@wandering.shop
2025-11-15T15:03:56Z
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@futurebird Completely agree. Tangentially: It is terrifying to be an older person in the US whose wealth is tied up in their home.
(DIR) Post #B0H6WcpzJ5cBIpvQJM by JamesWidman@mastodon.social
2025-11-15T16:16:09Z
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@futurebird simultaneously, i want more people demanding constitutional amendments including: - the abolition of the ownership of real estate,- the establishment of a right to occupy housing that clearly applies to all people (citizen or not, documented or not), and- the establishment of an arm of government that would oversee allocation, planning, & development of land & housing.
(DIR) Post #B0HGXQFIbiLs56mbsO by kastope@mastodon.social
2025-11-15T18:08:20Z
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@futurebird we also need to heavily restrict corporate ownership of housing. Short term rentals destroy everything.
(DIR) Post #B0HWbc7jz9OTLUGh5U by PSegal@sfba.social
2025-11-15T21:08:22Z
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@futurebird @quinn San Francisco had 61K empty rental units in 2017, according to city reports. This was because the cost of living here was so high that people just left for less expensive places. During the pandemic, about 100K more people moved away. Of the artists who lived here in 2010, nearly 75% said in a 2017 Arts Commission survey that they were planning to move or already had. During the pandemic, the remaining artists had no work at all, and for the most part, were gone.We have no city stats for how many empty units we have now, but it's more than 61,000. But the mayor and his developer friends want to tear down buildings in lovely historic neighborhoods to get rid of rent controlled units, drive out tenants and businesses, and build hideous, unaffordable big box high rises. People are furious that the beloved old city should be destroyed for unaffordable and soulless architecture. That is why we ARE SAN FRANCISCO.
(DIR) Post #B0HgwSu4Se72N6SJbU by lienrag@mastodon.tedomum.net
2025-11-15T23:04:10Z
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@futurebird "You rent in the city in your 20s then you are supposed to move to a suburb"You're aware that it's not how things work in civilized countries, right ?