this post was submitted on 27 Jul 2025
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By being landlords or personally knowing landlords.
I swear my uncle is a good landlord. Keeps prices low, I swear he doesn't rip off his renters. He would never do that.
If there were as many good landlords as I have heard this story we wouldn't have any problems Kyle, sit the fuck back down.
Assuming this comment isn't ironic: there is no such thing as a good landlord. Landlords are parasitic middlemen who live by leeching off the value created by workers. They contribute no value whatsoever.
This is admitted even in mainstream economics, its termed rent-seeking.
Okay, I'll bite. I just bought a 4-bed/3-bath (actually 4 bathrooms, but bathroom math made it "3-bath") because we are a family of four in an expensive tourist spot and wanted a guest bedroom for family and visitors. It just so happened one bed and a 3/4 bathroom is in an attached 1-bedroom apartment with its own kitchen and living room.
So when I retire, and my oldest is out of the house to college, we are thinking we could rent that particular part (at a very reasonable rate to people we know). It is part of the house, so I can't sell it separately. So the choice is be a landlord, or don't offer housing (I suppose I could make it an AirBnB and make even more money, but this area is already fucked for housing for that reason).
So if there is no such thing as a good landlord, what would you recommend in a situation like this? Let someone live there for free? Then they'd be costing me money. Don't rent it out? AirBnB?
If you don't need that space, then you might as well sell it and let another family make use of it instead.
Yours is not a unique situation; a lot of older people downsize when their kids move out, and they have a lot of extra rooms and space they no longer need. Its the right decision anyway, as you're now free to be more mobile, and get rid of all the years of accumulated junk.
Sure you can argue they dont need that space, but a lot of kids return after college. If I had kids I'd only downsize once they are well established. It's about ensuring the security of your family and ensuring they have a place to come back to.
Is it better to let that sit space vacant for 4+ years though?
There are two options? Rent it for profit or leave it empty?
Is there a third option? It's an unused room in a house that's being used.
They can rent it out, leave it out, or sell their house and downsize but then what if their oldest is out of work and can't find a new job and has to come home, but now because they downsized there's no room for them. How does that help? It seems like there are only two valid options unless I'm missing something.
In this case I understand not downsizing until your kids are established with a job/place to live.
Depending on equity and their mortgage payment it may not even be possible to downsize without paying more per month. That's the insanity of the current market.
Remember this is an occupied family home with an unoccupied room. Not a whole property.
What would you suggest?
So you're saying that person should sell their house because one of the rooms is unoccupied? What if their oldest loses their job and can't find a new one, but has to move back, and then can't because they downsized to a smaller house?
I'm not so sure that is a great solution.
What if their oldest loses their job and now for no fault of their own the renter is suddenly forced to find a new place to live to accommodate the landlords son? But they've been spending their money on rent so they don't have enough savings to find a decent place?
I will admit that's a good point, although hopefully there would be laws preventing an eviction without notice, but you're right it would be a bad situation, it would definitely be disruptive.
However, there are people who prefer to rent because they prefer the freedom from place to place, I think that's worth acknowledging too.
Although I think you're right.
If they can't afford it, yes? That's what the rest of us do. We make do with what we have and budget accordingly. If something is too expensive, well tough. The problem is that a lot of people are facing problems like housing, food, and healthcare being too expensive, and all three of those things are required to live. At some point budgeting won't save you.
I have no sympathy for people whose biggest problem is "I can't afford this extra room in the house we own."
But what if they can afford it, but just don't like seeing reasonable housing go to waste? Not enough to try to exactly right-size their housing and move everything they own, but enough to offer it up for rent.
It's certainly a niche that isn't the typical story, but renting out portions of your house is a scenario that could make sense.
And we plan to, when both kids move out. But just one kid, with one five years behind the other? But anyway, isn't moving the guest space to the main house section and renting out the apartment essentially "downsizing" to a three-bedroom anyway? Either way, the house remains a two-unit house. If somebody wants a temporary living situation by themselves or with one partner, what is wrong with them renting an apartment from me?
Look, I get it, the system is set up to screw people over to get big corpos big money. If somebody is living in apartment for a decade, that is a fucked up situation. But where I live there are military single young'uns wanting to get out of barracks for a year or two before their tour is done and they transfer, or regularly traveling nurses or others who come seasonally for work who aren't in a position to buy a house and wouldn't want to.
This whole "no good landlords" reeks of the same mentality as "no good lawyers." Yes, there are a lot of greedy, unscrupulous (or overly adversarial) lawyers, but there are situations where having a lawyer is really important and there are plenty of good ones for those situations. The problem is a system that allows and encourages the profession to be abused.
Not the same at all, as lawyers do work to get paid.
Landlords rent-seek by charging access to important and scarce property that they themselves don't use. They extract value through ownership alone, and add no labor value of their own to the process, that the tenants as owners couldn't do for themselves.
What gives you the right to these people's paychecks? If you're not using it, then sell it, and don't rent-seek.
There is nothing defensible about being a landlord. Its not exactly the same as owning slaves or owning capital, but all three are based on absentee ownership and extracting value from working people.
What the hell kinda house has a bathroom per bedroom??? That's insane.
My in-laws have a house with one of the bedrooms with it's own bath and it's own external entrance, you have to walk outside to get to that bedroom.
Yeah I mean, I could understand it being actually just three bathrooms, two for the main three bedrooms and one for the seperate unit. It's not a self-contained unit without it. But if there are four toilets in that house that is massively overkill.
I don't think I could rip off anyone if I decided to rent my place when I move. Hoping to keep it for my kid, but I'd basically charge the bare minimum, would even show the tenant what I pay as the owner so they'd understand. I wouldn't use it as a profit source, but because land is scarce and I just happen to have spent years owning this.
But even then it may not be worth, sell it to a new owner and move on. I'm not greedy by any means, just want to be comfortable.
It would still be someone else paying you to keep your properties value up while receiving nothing of value for their money. You wouldn't be on the same level as an intentionally evil landlord. Just be aware that you would still be siphoning money from a worker into your pocket.
I posted elsewhere in this thread, some people want to rent. There is a market for legit renters without ripping them off. If it costs $2800 for my mortgage/hoa/utilities and I only charge $2800, I don't see an issue. Any issues are coming out of my pocket at that price.
I don't even know if I want to rent to someone, that's a whole other set of headaches. I'd probably offer it to my kid, then move on. It's not an income to me, but property is hard to come by, I would have to think about it. I've already paid into it, banks got their share, I went through a lot of trouble to get it, so it's not like giving away tickets to a concert I couldn't make.
Also I wouldn't be "siphoning" anything, I'm renting what I own, just like toro car rentals. No one is making them do it. But my location is very great, neat public transit, near a very recently built town center, trails, lakes, etc. it's not like they're paying for a tent. Can move here for a year or so and find out it's exactly what they want or what they hate.
I live with my elderly parents, taking care of them until they move into a nursing home or worse (although I'm not sure death is actually worse than a nursing home). In the meantime, I bought myself a small house nearby that I'm renovating and I plan to move there after I close out my parents' house. I'm genuinely terrified of renting it out after having put so much time and effort into it. A lot of people rent in this neighborhood and I've seen firsthand what some tenants do to places.
But if I do rent it out, I'm a shitty scumlord? I'm a better person if I don't rent it?
this is my issue too. clearly the collective "landlord" that people are talking about are people that hoard homes and rent them out as an income. thats a bit much. but someone who just rents a single property, maybe in the city nearby where they used to live before they moved to a quieter area, i don't see as an issue. a condo in a city could be a great place for a person to rent while they decide if that city is for them, or until their career takes them elsewhere. i don't see renting as a problem
the problem in my opinion is these properties being bought up by corporations who follow no real set of laws and gouge renters in shitty apartments, coorborate with other apt buildings and price fix the area. that is a problem to me. renting from an older person or family who very possibly lived in the home you're going to rent, so fucking what. do it or don't, but don't lump them in with corporation owned apt complexes and actual slumlords.
There is someone in this thread wanting to rent out a single room of a house since it's now unused as their oldest has moved out, and they are being told they would be better off selling the house and downsizing. But what if their oldest is out of a job one day and can't find a new one and is forced to move back? Too bad for them?
I do find it weird that all landlords are treated the same, like you said, large corporations renting out multiple buildings and doing the bare minimum are treated the same as an older person renting out a room just trying their best to provide a space for someone to stay.
Exactly. Just because someone rents a second home, doesn't mean they're shitty landlords. Turning it into a business and main income is where I draw the line.
Is not living on the street not really something of value? I feel that is something of value, isn't it?
I dunno, I don't have any interest in becoming a landlord but I commonly see people considering them as the most evil people in the world no matter what and it does confuse me a little bit. People always say landlords are always evil, but there are tenants who are weeks or months late on their rent, they destroy the place, etc, it doesn't seem like such a dream job to me.
Cool story bro