this is dumb. who is affording to buy a house in this market which is controlled by corporate landlords like blackrock? you don't live in reality
Replies
You are the one living in an alternate reality. First, BlackRock doesn’t own any housing, you are thinking of Blackstone. Second, institutions own less than 1% of single-family homes in the United States. “Corporate landlords” don’t control the housing market.
aug 25, 2025, 5:31 pm • 3 0 • view
whatever blackstone, blackrock. you are still wrong. landlords and corporate landlords are dictating the housing market which means most americans cant save for a mortgage.
aug 25, 2025, 5:51 pm • 0 0 • view
Nope. Most Americans (2/3) live in a home they/their family own. It’s these same stakeholders that have slowed down production of new homes over the last 20+ years to protect “neighborhood character”, not the corporate landlords that, again, own less than 1% of SFHs
aug 25, 2025, 5:54 pm • 4 0 • view
what is not dictating the housing market - Blackstone what is dictating the housing market - single family zoning - Euclidean zoning - lot size minimums - parking mandates - height limits - sqft minimums - floor area ratio - setback mandates - lot coverage maximums - occupancy limits
aug 25, 2025, 6:08 pm • 7 0 • view
(cont) - high permit fees - manufactured home bans - RV bans - rooming house bans - aesthetic mandates - units-per-acre caps - conditional use permits for normal housinf - adu restrictions - lot width/frontage minimums - demolition/“conservation” overlays
aug 25, 2025, 6:08 pm • 6 0 • view
Yup. Minimum lot sizes are wild. I can go 15 mi north of Boston and find myself in Swampscott, which requires a lot be at least 10,000 square feet in order to build one (1) house on it. Meanwhile, you can easily build a 3 decker (that’s at least 3 homes) on 2500 sq ft. Grossly exclusionary shit.
aug 25, 2025, 6:10 pm • 5 0 • view
So many Americans basically think "I can't believe housing is so unaffordable, I want MY exclusionary zoned single family home with a big yard" and not see a single thing wrong with that mindset
aug 25, 2025, 6:20 pm • 2 0 • view
We were all promised our very own English manor home, complete with ½ acre of empty space around it, for the cost of two wadded up dollar bills & a tap dance routine. Alas, geometry has much to say about suburban sprawl & it turns out each of us getting our own fiefdom fucks up society!
aug 25, 2025, 7:15 pm • 0 0 • view
A lot of people don't live in single family homes, how much of the apartment and condo market is owned by institutions?
aug 26, 2025, 3:50 am • 1 0 • view
Most, but what difference does that make? Do you think an individual with $10s of millions is going to be a better apartment landlord than a corporation? Regardless, apartment buildings have always been owned by large developers, this is the status quo
aug 26, 2025, 11:50 am • 0 0 • view
the status quo is evil are you aware of that
aug 26, 2025, 1:09 pm • 0 0 • view
I don’t think this is right. Even Vienna has been forced to move back to public-private partnerships to build new housing since the social housing from the early to mid 20th century was predicated on free land (taken from the expelled Jews and families who died/fled in WWI)
aug 26, 2025, 1:44 pm • 1 0 • view
Most of the rental apartment market is owned by small landlords. Only 13% is owned by large landlords (>1000 properties) nationwide. The status quo is “mom & pop” own most rentals.
aug 26, 2025, 2:04 pm • 0 0 • view
I think this is true but a bit deceptive to the average person since you are counting LP/LLP/LLC as a “mom & pop” operation
aug 26, 2025, 2:16 pm • 0 0 • view
Sure. Important to point out that the “corp landlords” being referred to are “large institutional” ones, which means >1000 properties. Part of the point of this convo is to educate folks on the reality of things, & that owner-occupants are the single biggest obstacle to solving our housing crises.
aug 26, 2025, 2:27 pm • 0 0 • view
That’s fair. I didn’t see “large” called out but it makes sense that it’s implied. The tricky bit with LLCs is it’s difficult to find the real owner.
aug 26, 2025, 2:43 pm • 1 0 • view
@kindredspirit.bsky.social if it helps, I shared this in another branch of this convo: bsky.app/profile/thej... As for the status quo being evil, I once again have to remind that whatever evilness is being perpetrated in housing, is almost entirely being done by homeowners. Sucks but there it is!
aug 26, 2025, 2:06 pm • 0 0 • view
right well we’re arguing from fundamentally different positions. you think the status quo (white supremacist imperialist capitalism) is good. i think it is the main reason for all the evils in this world. this debate is meaningless and you’re part of the problem
aug 26, 2025, 2:42 pm • 0 0 • view
This is silly. Socialism certainly didn’t deliver a superior standard of living, housing or otherwise, compared to capitalism, neither one century ago with the Soviets nor the contemporary experiment in Venezuela.
aug 26, 2025, 2:46 pm • 0 0 • view
>"sOCiALiSm HaS nEveR wORkEd" Dude, when was it tried? Name a socialist movement in South America that wasn't destabilized by the CIA. Show me a place anytime where workers were allowed to own and control the means of production at scale without tanks rolling in.
aug 26, 2025, 7:25 pm • 2 0 • view
Venezuela is a good example. Did the CIA know there was a domestic coup being planned in 2002 when Chavez’s ratings plummeted after he (as socialist governments always do) turned to authoritarianism? Yes. Did they intervene? No.
aug 26, 2025, 7:45 pm • 0 0 • view
They own a mere ~4% of all single family houses nationwide. They only own ~13% of all rental homes nationwide. They don’t control the market, owner-occupants & small landlords do. Please mind the facts before claiming they control things.
aug 25, 2025, 5:27 pm • 1 0 • view
13% is a huge amount of property you are aware of that right? thats more than other private landlords (who are also the problem)
aug 25, 2025, 5:51 pm • 1 0 • view
Uh, no, it’s not. 87% is a hell of a lot more than 13%. To give you an idea, in Boston alone, there are over 1400 landlords. There’s a few exceptions, like Atlanta, but broadly, they just don’t exert much control. It’s a canard to worry about them much. NIMBYs are far more problematic!
aug 25, 2025, 6:03 pm • 2 0 • view
13% that goes back on the market as rentals. You know what investors hate? risk. You know what would be great to make investors steer away from housing? If it wasn't a guarenteed investment. If you couldn't control what gets built near you and had to risk your home value going down.
aug 25, 2025, 6:25 pm • 1 0 • view