Shaming Renters, NAR, and Home Ownership
It’s pretty easy to figure out why NAR put out the ad above. Follow the money. Realtors don’t get paid when people rent. They only earn a commission when buyers buy homes.
It’s not optimal, but I’m a renter. Always have been.
Am I annoyed I’m not building “equity” on a monthly basis? For sure.
Do I want to be shamed for it? Certainly not.
That said — let’s stop complaining. What about causes and solutions?
Barriers to home ownership (aka causes):
- Housing prices
- Access to capital for down payment
- Credit scores
- Income
- Lack of affordable housing inventory
- High rents (which make it harder to save for a down payment)
Solutions:
- Increase co-buying accessibility – CoBuy
- Crowd fund down payments (aka “Kiva for real estate“)
- Partial ownership (Point, Hip)
- Down payment alternatives such as trading future AirBnB rental income (Loftium)
- Rent to own (Divvy)
- Additional inventory of micro housing & tiny homes.
- Modular homes (Module)
- Coliving
- Gain additional skills to earn more money as a professional
What is missing from these lists? How can we make home ownership more accessible to a broader percentage of the population?
Eileen Romito
Posted at 08:46h, 07 NovemberI was shocked to see that ad come out of NAR. How did that pass the sniff test in the marketing department? That’s going to offend a LOT of people – especially renters who often eventually turn into homeowners.
APet1
Posted at 10:15h, 07 NovemberIt’s actually about protecting NAR management. They are also trying to increase our membership (compulsory) fees to provide a better service and levying a $100 assessment in California. All these fees increase the cost of doing business. Maybe it’s time to vote whether we need them at all?
Patrick Healy
Posted at 18:59h, 07 NovemberI can see fractional home ownership taking off quickly for second homes/vacation properties. With Millennials, I could see it taking off for the smart ones that want to travel and move around a lot and not have to worry about all the stuff that goes with that. This would be a bit complicated but once the relationship is established I could see them bouncing around the country month by month or quarter by quarter. I don’t think they will be as tied down to a “permanent residence” as we are.
Drew Meyers
Posted at 19:58h, 07 NovemberYea, monthly short term mobility is great (for awhile). Definitely recommend it, and do think more and more millennials will live that way for periods of time. Flip.lease is also doing cool stuff in that area.
I want super high trust home exchange groups… I hear there’s an app that can facilitate that 🙂 We just need to find the people with the homes they want to swap/exchange.
Patrick Healy
Posted at 20:09h, 07 NovemberIt’s a lifestyle that lends itself to no kids but there’s nothing to say it has to stay that way. I could see groups of people embracing this as a long term lifestyle while building fractional equity and getting in and out as they need it. It is something that could combat the renter nation trend that we are seeing over the last decade.