the tyranny of rent

[tx2sturgis]

Mmm...bar-be-que goats!  

Actually I tend to think of, for instance, military service, constant job changes, lower income levels, or, as you say, no interest in ever being a servant to the home and it's maintenance 'needs'.

But if any of my examples, or the ones above this post are true, then why is paying rent considered so 'evil'...so 'tyranical', so BAD...when it is the better, more attractive, or more suitable choice that one has made?

In other words, why be so bitter about it?

Not getting that part.

 

[kklowell]

Mmm...bar-be-que goats!  

Actually I tend to think of, for instance, military service, constant job changes, lower income levels, or, as you say, no interest in ever being a servant to the home and it's maintenance 'needs'.

But if any of my examples, or the ones above this post are true, then why is paying rent considered so 'evil'...so 'tyranical', so BAD...when it is the better, more attractive, or more suitable choice that one has made?

In other words, why be so bitter about it?

Not getting that part.

It has become fashionable to think that landlords are evil greedy people out only to rob renters of their hard-earned money. It's almost like some people (and I'm not saying this applies to the OP at all) think they should be provided rent-free housing.

 

[tx2sturgis]

Well I guess none of us like paying that rent every month...or the phone bill, or the internet bill, or real estate taxes, or watching our grocery dollars shrink every month.

Or high gas prices, or high propane prices...etc etc...and we can gripe about it...but I would never refer to the grocery store or the cell company or the internet provider as 'tyrannical'...

Now the tax assessor....well...um...maybe!

:dodgy:

 

[mkl654321]

Obviously, it's not the paying of rent itself that irritates people:

1. It's being locked into a lease that forces you to stay where you are for a year, even when life changes, job opportunities, etc. compel you to move.
2. It's the nature of that lease you sign, where every single provision favors and protects the lessor but none does so for the lessee.
3. It's, as I've discussed, the stupid-ass deposits. First AND last AND a (huge) cleaning deposit? Three grand-plus just to move in???
4. And the fact that getting your deposit back is like taking candy from a gorilla.
5. It's being forced to accept rent hike after rent hike after rent hike, bend over, say "please, sir, I want some more," or get the hell out.
6. It's eating those rent increases so that some megacorporation two thousand miles away can score record profits.
7. It's knowing that every dollar you pay in rent is gone forever.
8. It's waiting a month for your landlord to repair your stove or fridge or hot water heater.
9. It's the drastically unequal power relationship--your home, but merely one of your landlord's income-producing units. A disruption of any kind hurts you but only mildly inconveniences him.
10. My rent doubled over the last seven years. The Consumer Price Index moved from 236 to 271 in that time. And they didn't even offer me a cigarette afterward.

 

[tx2sturgis]

I've known a few landlords over the years who can tell some stories of very bad tenants.

Late payments, loud music, heavy drug use, drunk parties, damage to the walls, fixtures, plumbing, etc.

Drunk fights at 3am...cars parking on lawns and bushes. Children's toys (and other unmentionable items) stuck in the waste pipes.

Holes punched in drywall, pet urine in the carpet. Curtains and curtain rods damaged by the rugrats pulling them down. Screen doors torn up. Door locks jimmied. Cooking fires. Overloaded electrical outlets blowing fuses, or worse. 

Man it goes on and on...its a story with two sides...not just one side.  

Not every renter is bad news, and not every landlord is bad news, but, the landlord IS running a business, you are right about that. 

And they have to protect that business interest.

 

[Sofisintown]

I have been on the landlord side, twice. First time not too bad, the second time tenants from hell. They were not well-off so I didn't raise the rent for 3 years, as long as my expenses were covered. (Mortgage, insurance, taxes, assesments and repairs.)
But I had to pay one years worth of rents to fix up the place once they finally left so I could sell it.
It was a zoo, and I don't mean it in a nice way.
I am done with land-lording after these experiences. Bottom lime, I am in the red from being a landlord. Never again.

What I don't get with complainer tenants, is why don't they buy a place to live in. They will end up paying half or 2/3 of the rent they currently pay.
Or is it, that all responsibility for repairs and maintenance falls on somebody else?

 

[GypsyJan]

Bad renters make bad neighbors. Plus I don't like having HOA attitudes re how I keep the lawn, the color I paint the house, my landscape choices, etc. Also, I hate being spied on whenever I am outside... being watched covertly makes my skin crawl and the hair on my neck rise.