When leftists say "landlord are parasites" or similar dislike of landlords, do they also mean the people that own like a couple of houses as an investment, or only the big landlords? - eviltoast

Reason I’m asking is because I have an aunt that owns like maybe 3 - 5 (not sure the exact amount) small townhouses around the city (well, when I say “city” think of like the areas around a city where theres no tall buildings, but only small 2-3 stories single family homes in the neighborhood) and have these houses up for rent, and honestly, my aunt and her husband doesn’t seem like a terrible people. They still work a normal job, and have to pay taxes like everyone else have to. They still have their own debts to pay. I’m not sure exactly how, but my parents say they did a combination of saving up money and taking loans from banks to be able to buy these properties, fix them, then put them up for rent. They don’t overcharge, and usually charge slightly below the market to retain tenants, and fix things (or hire people to fix things) when their tenants request them.

I mean, they are just trying to survive in this capitalistic world. They wanna save up for retirement, and fund their kids to college, and leave something for their kids, so they have less of stress in life. I don’t see them as bad people. I mean, its not like they own multiple apartment buildings, or doing excessive wealth hoarding.

Do leftists mean people like my aunt too? Or are they an exception to the “landlords are bad” sentinment?

  • Blackmist@feddit.uk
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    2 days ago

    Yes, but I don’t blame the small ones for it.

    If you can make a profit by hoarding properties and renting them out, then the system is broken.

    The large ones are the ones lobbying for the systems to remain broken.

    • ERROR: Earth.exe has crashed@lemmy.dbzer0.comOP
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      2 days ago

      If you can make a profit by hoarding properties and renting them out, then the system is broken.

      Yea, to me, it seems like the root cause of this issue is capitalism, landlords existing is merely the symptom of the larger issue.

      • Blackmist@feddit.uk
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        2 days ago

        It was always a mix of government and private businesses providing. But at some point the UK decided to leave it to Maggie Thatcher’s vaunted free markets to pick up the slack.

        Arrested Development Narrator: They did not pick up the slack.