Grenartia wrote:The entire "profession" of landlordery (I don't care if that's not a word, it is now) is an undeniable and unjustifiable drain on the working class. Landlords should not exist, and any society that does not consider housing a basic human right is doomed to failure.
Well, the mortgage and maintenance isn't going to pay itself. If a landlord can't pay their mortgage or other costs, they have to sell back to the bank or take a loss and lose the property in the process if they can't get more tenants or some means of income. It isn't the structure that has most of the value, but rather the plot of land the dwelling sits on top of. Land is inherently finite in quantity and so, people are always going to bid up the price for it if they want to live in that location.
If someone can't afford it, chances are someone else can. So the bias is towards it appreciating in value over the long term. But its also possible for land to lose value such as if the local economy there dies and more people move away than move in or if the sea level rise makes remaining there untenable.