[mjevans]

Yes Taxes. I keep proposing that idea in threads like this.

Live somewhere 35% or more of a tax year*(or if sold/bought)? Counts as a primary residence and the low tax bracket. OTHERWISE it's a rental and will be taxed _hard_. Even if unoccupied.

[floor2]

Taxes should be used to pay for government services, not as arbitrary attacks on people you don't like.

Also, raising taxes just raises costs for renters. The solution to housing affordability is building more housing. Align the market incentives to build more housing, don't try to fight against market forces.

[hehhehaha]

>Taxes should be used to pay for government services, not as arbitrary attacks on people you don't like.

Land taxes are not arbitrary, it's a way of generating revenue from the single most important shared resource.

> Also, raising taxes just raises costs for renters.

Landlords usually have more pricing elasticity than renters, therefore taxes will have a depreciating effect on housing prices.

> The solution to housing affordability is building more housing.

Don't disagree

> don't try to fight against market forces

Increasing supply and using supply more efficiently are both important

[hehhehaha]

Yes, another piece of the puzzle is that the government, (Fannie/Freddie) should not be loaning money for investment properties.

[ethanbond]

Land Value Tax achieves more with less compliance overhead and no loopholes (hiding land is hard).

[throwaway243243]

The problem is that moving is economically inefficient and a large part of the population will be priced out and have to continually move so you need some hysteresis.

[hehhehaha]

Moving is extremely economically efficient. Older people should not live close to the financial district, people with kids should cluster around schools and playgrounds, people without cars should live closer to transit, etc, etc

[throwaway243243]

Real estate agents take 6% and that's before fees and the cost of movers. This is not an insignificant economic cost.

[ethanbond]

Sorry is "real estate agents need their cut" an argument against moving, or an argument for reducing the power of real estate agents, who are pretty much useless for 99% of residential transactions anyway?