• whyrat@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    Why would PE buy them if not to rent & be subject to the same renter’s bill of rights? Holding a vacant house isn’t a good 😊 investment, they have upkeep costs, are subject to property taxes, and depreciate faster when unoccupied.

    • protist@retrofed.com
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      2 days ago

      Holding a vacant house isn’t a good investment

      This is in many cases demonstrably false. PE is holding on to vacant properties all over the US, and sometimes don’t mind holding them for years unoccupied, waiting for a redevelopment opportunity

      • tea@lemmy.today
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        2 days ago

        As well as holding onto housing stock to maintain a local monopoly.

        It isn’t as big a deal when you know any potential renter will be renting from you regardless of it is this unit or that unit. They are still forced to be your customer and you don’t have to compete with lower prices from another landlord.

      • whyrat@lemmy.world
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        2 days ago

        Fair enough, it does happen. Relevant background: https://nationalmortgageprofessional.com/news/investors-hold-most-empty-houses

        The states with the highest vacancy rates in investor-owned properties were:

        Indiana (7.2%); 
        Illinois (6.1%); 
        Oklahoma (5.9%); 
        Alabama (5.9%); and 
        Ohio (5.8%). 
        

        States with the lowest vacancy rates were:

        New Hampshire (0.9%); 
        Vermont (1%); 
        Idaho (1.2%); 
        Utah (1.5%); and 
        North Dakota (1.5%).
        

        I’d argue my sentiment remains, investors for the most part rent out property, they don’t typically hold it vacant. When they do it’s more likely vacancies are transitory (trying to find a renter) than long term and intentionally kept vacant.