[spdrun]

Good. Should correct the recent insanity with R.E. prices, though unfortunately foreclosing on military people is hard even if they richly deserve it.

[spdrun]

If my apt was one of the 200-250 sf units in my building, I’d still be able to cook — my bedroom would just be tiny. It’s all a matter of layout. My kitchen is exactly 40 sf, and cooking is very possible in there.

[spdrun]

Here’s hoping! Nice that 50% of the cuts are to our parasite of a military.

[spdrun]

It’s been done for a couple (no kids). Layout of their apt was better (IMHO) than any of the boxes they plan to build in NYC or SF, since it’s just a box with a door on the long side.

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/cozy_crazy_couple_makes_tight_studio_R15ToNFTaJE3c17zkw4efP

[spdrun]

Here’s the fine living in San Fran. http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/S-F-supervisors-back-micro-apartments-4055493.php

I’d actually love something like that in SD, if it’s within a mile or two of the beach, in a good area, and costs under say $80k to buy or $700 to rent. This being said, the layout is crappy-yappy. Same goes for the proposed units in NYC. My building has a few units of similar size (built in 1910-1911!) and the layouts are much better. The entrance is in the middle on the long wall, so you don’t waste 10%+ of the floor space with the “grand entry corridor.”

[spdrun]

All too often, the landlords expect the renters to pay for maintenance. Not only do they often withhold deposits for regular wear and tear, you can even read threads here where the LLs are trying to get the renters to pay for pest control, new flooring, etc., even when the renters are not liable for it. If LLs are making a profit after all costs, then it’s the renters who are paying for all the maintenance, insurance, taxes, etc., even if they are paying it indirectly.

And the landlord is putting in labor/time, either to do the work themselves or to manage the jobs — Allah forbid they should make a profit for their effort.

Look on the flip side. What if the tenant WAS excessively rough on the floor, or a complete pig like one tenant of mine. Dishes in the sink for days, food crumbs and stickiness on the kitchen floor, dust bunnies that could eat a cat. Yep, she attracted roaches that were damned hard to get rid of — I didn’t take her deposit to pay for pest control, but perhaps I should have. This should really be a matter for the contract and for landlord/tenant court.

Lastly, your food example fails epically. Food supply is tied to land supply — that of good farmland, so it IS limited. Secondly, there may be small and large players in the SD housing market, but no one company like Monsanto is trying to corner it.

[spdrun]

Why? The landlords are providing a service, in the form of maintenance and flexibility (you’re not tied down by a property that you own if you don’t want to stay in a given place for years on end). For providing that service, we should be entitled to a profit.

Or do you also subscribe to the horseshit that supermarkets are “monopolizing a basic necessity” by selling food at a profit? Or how about car leasing agencies, that “monopolize transportation?” Yep. Clearly.

As far as tax revenues — if most properties are forced back into owner occupancy, then revenue increase will not be as predicted since the mix of properties will have changed.

[spdrun]

CA Renter:
Frankly, the average American “owner-tenant” has proven him/herself completely unworthy of homeownership in the last 10 or so years. (Yeah, as a landlord looking to buy more, I’m biased, so sue me.)

Besides, why are landlords any less worthy of making a profit than any other industry? They’re already being taxed on income — why should they endure a regressive additional tax as well?

And if the units revert to owner-occupancy, then the excess tax revenue would be lost anyway.

[spdrun]

.

[spdrun]

It’s still relatively un-crowded if you think about it, especially if you go north of Santa Barbara.

[spdrun]

Is NYC dying? Its population has increased maybe 5% and that of the surrounding area by 15% since 1980. Seems fairly prosperous, with a growing tech scene as well.

[spdrun]

I’d rather have the software that runs on MY computer — I’m not f–king exposing personal financial data to the “cloud” more than I have to. The more personal data online, the more opportunities for privacy-rape. Yeah, yeah, bank accounts are already accessible online; but they’re not all in one place with the same login/password combo.

This being said, I use Excel and the fill-in PDF tax forms, then send them via snail-mail. If it costs the gov’t more to process them, good. Maybe there will be a few less bucks in the pockets of the bloated defense and over-militarized law enforcement industries.

[spdrun]

I’d rather have the software that runs on MY computer — I’m not f–king exposing personal financial data to the “cloud” more than I have to. Personal data online = privacy-rape. Yeah, yeah, bank accounts are already accessible online; but they’re not all in one place with the same login/password combo.

This being said, I use Excel and the fill-in PDF tax forms, then send them via snail-mail. If it costs the gov’t more to process them, good. Maybe there will be a few less bucks in the pockets of the bloated defense and over-militarized law enforcement industries.

[spdrun]

Higher property taxes on landlords would just be passed on to tenants, pricing more out of decent property. At the very least, any repeal of Prop 13 would have to be phased in gradually and/or only for newly sold properties.

[spdrun]

There’s a huge area between micro-apartments and 3000+ sf houses on detached lots in the middle of desertfuck. As far as “any place that’s not building is dying,” SF’s market has been going gangbusters for a long time with gentle ups and downs, yet SF seems to be thriving economically. Despite a lack of new construction in the city itself.

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