60 Minutes defeatist piece about buying a home

60 Minutes Lesley Stahl just did a common story of our time. Corporations are buying houses and renting them out for high rents. Tenants are powerless to stop them and the American Dream of owning a home is gone.

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She let the corporate guy point out that only 2% of US homes are owned by corporations

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She moved on. Bull! If it’s only 2% they hardly have a monopoly that lets them overcharge rents.

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I just wrote a book on this American dream. https://johntreed.com/.../an-american-principal-residence...

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Regarding current prices, it says to go where you can afford to buy. I was born in South Jersey and grew up there and bought my first duplex there. But that was 1969. Now, a person in that same area might have to move to a cheaper home area like OH, WV, MS to buy their first home. Due to the magic of leverage (low down payment percentage), you would likely be able to move up to higher prices states rapidly. I ended up in the highest priced home area in the U.S., San Francisco, when I was 31.

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Within an area, you may need to buy far out in the exurbs initially.

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What if you don’t want to?

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Get lost. This is an entrepreneurial activity. That means you do what you need to do to get it done. If you, instead want to whine and demand “what you are entitled to” from the government, get lost.

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As far as the big picture, it is more houses need to be built. Like a typical airhead liberal, Stahl left the impression the federal government needs to build more houses.

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More houses need to be built, but you would not want to live in a house built by the government. THE problem is when you try to build homes—especially low-priced homes, you run into dozens of roadblocks that either prevent you from building any homes at all or at least prevent you from building low-cost ones.

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What are the roadblocks? Zoning. Wetlands restrictions. Environmental impact reports. Endangered species. and dozens of others. The NIMBY create and enforce all this. Basically, they do not want any homes built for selfish reasons.

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If you want affordable houses, sweep all the impediments away. Trying to blame corporations or landlords is a lie. The great friend and savior of would be home buyers is home builders. Duh. But would-be home buyers typically hate builders like the rest of the public. Okay. You wanna be stupid? Enjoy.

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You wanna buy a home in this market, read my books How to Buy Real Estate for At Least 20% Below Market Value and the book shown below.