• nepenthes@lemmy.world
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      18 days ago

      Don’t forget how many apartment buildings are owned by corporate landlords though. Western Canada has a huuuge problem with the slumlord billionaires at Mainstreet and others.

      The out-of-date data I can find has 35% of BC apartments as investor-owned.

      • strawberrysocial@lemmy.world
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        18 days ago

        I guess that’s likely the difference. With the big company owned apartments you usually deal with a super intendant or building manager instead of the landlord directly. So the renter is seen as a faceless number rather than an actual person to the owners you are paying money to. There’s a lack of empathy towards the renter.

      • strawberrysocial@lemmy.world
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        18 days ago

        Stole whose money? My money? My stove broke, they replaced it, pest issue, they paid for the exterminator, roof leaking, they paid for it to be fixed, many other examples but you get the idea. I didn’t pay utilities in some places. I’ve had bad landlords and I moved house because of them and didn’t do them any favours when I left. The good ones I made sure I was a good tenant for. I think a lot of renters don’t understand how expensive owning a place is with upkeep. We wouldn’t be able to replace a furnace or roof repair and all that jazz in our income bracket.

        • slartibartfast@lemm.ee
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          18 days ago

          Are you suggesting landlords make zero profit off of the property?

          The money we put in is more than the cost of the exterminator, roof not-leaking, many other examples but you get the idea.

          • strawberrysocial@lemmy.world
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            18 days ago

            No, I’m not suggesting that at all. Don’t know why you are suggesting I am?

            The benefits of renting is that we are too poor, we do not have emergency funds to buy a new stove or what have you, but we are able to afford monthly rent. Repairs and stuff, that falls on the landlords. They charge an amount that will cover the cost of any repairs or appliance or plumbing replacements in the future, along with (if they don’t own the house outright) their mortgage payments on the house.

            • frayedpickles@lemmy.cafe
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              17 days ago

              Right, you’re using them as insurance. You give them money, they pool cash you literally can’t get because the system is out to crush you, and on the off chance something goes wrong they take a small hit to their profiting from your suffering.

              This is especially a funny take from a Canadian considering the reason your rent is high is rich people who can easily get more capital are buying up real estate with the sole purpose of raising prices without providing any additional service. I mean I wouldn’t want to try to live in Vancouver on a California salary and that’s sad.

        • StupidBrotherInLaw@lemmy.world
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          18 days ago

          The beauty of this is you’d be able to afford all of these if wages and housing costs were reasonable. The rich are the cause of both issues.

          • strawberrysocial@lemmy.world
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            17 days ago

            That’s true, the rich truly are the issue largely. My good landlord(s) aren’t though and they were never what I would consider rich. Just doing slightly better than me at the time. And I got to benefit from their slightly above me income bracket. I think it’s easier in smaller towns and cities than the big places like Vancouver Toronto and such though. The housing costs and rental costs are insane there. Go to places like Thunder Bay and it’s a lot more affordable.