this post was submitted on 30 Jan 2026
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politics

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Go ahead, vote MAGA in the midterms if you're curious how fucked your life can get.

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[–] KoboldCoterie@pawb.social 277 points 6 days ago (21 children)

Here's the thing that I think a lot of people don't understand about home ownership: Housing prices going up is only beneficial if you plan to sell.

We were (very) lucky and were able to get in on the tail end of the early 2010s housing crisis and leverage the first-time homebuyer incentives that were offered at the time to buy a modest house. It cost $245k. It's currently worth $550k, and people seem to think this means we made $300k in profit! Yay us! And technically, on paper, sure, we did, but in reality, no.

Housing prices across the board are up, and we still need a place to live, so if we sold this place, we'd have to buy something else (at the same grossly inflated prices), or we'd have to rent (at grossly inflated prices). If the $550k this place is worth on paper buys us something that would have cost $245k in 2010, we haven't gained anything.

Either way, we have no intention of selling, so we will never see a cent of that increased value. What we are seeing, however, is increased property taxes since the property has, on paper, doubled in value.

What I'm getting at is, this doesn't benefit homeowners, it benefits housing investors, who are the group Trump really wants to prop up.

[–] Dadifer@lemmy.world 151 points 6 days ago (15 children)

You know who it is good for? Boomers who are selling their big houses to go live in a condo or nursing home. Guess who votes for this shit.

[–] Alcoholicorn@mander.xyz 59 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Also good for people who want to flee the US before the bubble pops.

[–] KoboldCoterie@pawb.social 38 points 6 days ago (10 children)

We absolutely want to, and if having money was the only barrier to doing so, we'd sell in an instant, but unfortunately it's simply not an option for a lot of people

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[–] KoboldCoterie@pawb.social 27 points 6 days ago

And, you know, US Presidents whose families own real estate empires.

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[–] skozzii@lemmy.ca 51 points 6 days ago (5 children)

He is setting USA up for the worst economic crisis in history.

The biggest, the best, the most beautiful financial downfall the world has ever seen.

[–] kryptonianCodeMonkey@lemmy.world 22 points 6 days ago (3 children)

Crashed economies hurt the poor. The rich use their wealth to buy up resources, realestate, stocks, etc. on the cheap and then ride it out in their luxury homes while the rest of us stand in the bread lines.

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[–] D_C@sh.itjust.works 49 points 6 days ago (2 children)

"Who didn't work very hard"
Says the obese orange paedo that has never worked a day in his life.
The only thing this fat tub of corruption ever worked hard at was finding and raping little children. Sweaty cunt.

[–] flop_leash_973@lemmy.world 13 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Shit not even finding the little children. He had Epstein for that part of it.

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[–] Resonosity@lemmy.dbzer0.com 19 points 5 days ago (2 children)

Housing should become regulated infrastructure and stop being speculative assets. Fuck the real estate sector

[–] SippyCup@lemmy.world 8 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (2 children)

Why stop there?

Guarantee housing with a housing stipend and impose massive taxes on additional properties

[–] DylanMc6@lemmy.dbzer0.com 11 points 5 days ago

How about this: rent should be abolished, housing prices should be controlled through a planned market economy, and property should be taxed through a land value tax. It's time that Americans see the cat.

[–] Wizard_Pope@lemmy.world 5 points 5 days ago (1 children)

You mean additional properties?

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[–] lofuw@sh.itjust.works 19 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Donald Trump never had to work for a house.

[–] LMurch@thelemmy.club 9 points 5 days ago

Orange monkey doesn't pay for housing, transportation, medical care, etc..

[–] Gates9@sh.itjust.works 15 points 5 days ago

Soon there will be a critical mass of people who have nothing left to lose. Thats why the Republicans and Democrats need a secret paramilitary police force in the streets. If they don’t quell uprisings and arrest activists (i.e. “domestic terrorists”), the citizens may gain enough momentum to enact another New Deal, and the wealthy benefactors of both parties will do everything they can to stop that from happening.

[–] altphoto@lemmy.today 28 points 5 days ago (3 children)

I worked my ass off. Now I can pay for a place to live and keep paying it off no matter what for 30 years. No matter what? Yeah anything happens to me, that means my family looses their house for life because they are too young to work now but not having a house will make it harder for them to ever get one.

I'm basically a slave.

Now if I were to sale my home, then I could probably afford to buy a smaller house and keep paying even more! Yey! That's how math works right? You get 10 dollars for your house so that you can buy half that house for 11 dollars! Yey!

[–] lofuw@sh.itjust.works 8 points 5 days ago

I’m basically a slave.

That's the goal. Whatever keeps workers working is what the ruling class will force upon us.

It's why we never invested in fusion energy. Expensive fossil fuels keeps people working.

[–] Prior_Industry@lemmy.world 8 points 5 days ago (1 children)

I saw people on the Reddit conservative sub saying "100 year mortgages are actually pretty good, they offer a lot of flexibility". Madness.

[–] WindyRebel@lemmy.world 7 points 5 days ago

Oh, those poor idiots. Flexibility + housing (+ too good to be true) is how we got into a housing crisis in the first place.

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[–] SeeMarkFly@lemmy.ml 48 points 6 days ago (2 children)

Today I could not buy the house I now own.

[–] JasonDJ@lemmy.zip 17 points 6 days ago

Ditto.

Our first house was my late grandparents home. I bought it from my dad for 100k in 2013, which itself was probably ~25k below market.

We sold it in 2018 for 250k, and bought our current home for 375k.

Zestimate now for my house is 613k. I could never afford that. I paid what, a net 225k (plus taxes and interest ofc).

I don't discount how much luck has played into my current station in life....but damn.

The downside is...I feel like I'm stuck here now. We refi'd when rates were near their lowest, and any house that would be a sidestep in quality/neighborhood/size costs the same or more, plus higher interest.

My SIL and her new husband just bought a house and I damn near fainted when I heard what her mortgage is gonna be.

I was already teetering on the edge when my BIL told me how much rent is for his 1BR apartment (which is also much more than my mortgage on my 4br/1.5ba house).

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[–] EndlessNightmare@reddthat.com 24 points 5 days ago (3 children)

Hahahahaha! This is so unbelievably fucking ridiculous.

All while they're crying about the falling birth rates.

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[–] chronicledmonocle@lemmy.world 14 points 5 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (3 children)

Per usual, read the article and not just the headline.

Sounds like he's talking about banning investor purchases of single family homes. Which is a good thing.

I fucking hate Trump and he's wrong about pushing housing prices higher, but banning investor purchases of homes is the right call, so he's kinda right.

Also, crashing housing value would destroy anybody who has invested in their home as equity. What needs to happen is a leveling off and investment in cheaper starter home builds, as well as a push for first time homebuyer loans that are low interest and up front down payment.

I bought my first home on a HomePath mortgage. No PMI, 5% down, and reasonable interest rate that was only a bit higher than a traditional mortgage.

Getting people into their FIRST homes and making sure they aren't beat out by cash offers from investors it's the correct way forward.

[–] chiliedogg@lemmy.world 13 points 5 days ago (2 children)

Why should I care about someone's equity? Houses are for shelter and privacy. Why do we treat them as investment vehicles?

My car doesn't become more valuable as it ages. Neither does my computer, or my clothing, or anything else. If they want their home to become more valuable, they should invest in improvements to it, not just depend on all houses getting more expensive for everyone else forever. It's a ludicrous, unsustainable idea.

[–] boonhet@sopuli.xyz 4 points 5 days ago

To strike a balance, home values should go up at the same rate as general inflation and/or wages (ideally the latter, really), or at least stay the same over time.

You really don't want to find yourself in a situation where you need to sell and you're underwater. At the same time, they obviously shouldn't be the investment vehicles they are now.

Also some people use the equity from home appreciation to take out an extra mortgage for improvements. I don't personally think it's a great idea (as it can put you under water if the market takes a wild swing), but it's something people can use to get a cash injection for potentially expensive home improvement work.

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[–] Pika@rekabu.ru 11 points 5 days ago (2 children)

Appreciate the nuance, though I think that "house as equity" thing should definitely be dismantled, at least over time.

House is a place to live, period. The rest is a fucked predicament we found ourselves in thanks to big investors.

But yes, first house should be made super accessible, and any subsequent ones could be sold for a major markup.

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[–] FauxPseudo@lemmy.world 21 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Ask a Trump supporter why they want higher property taxes.

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[–] Itdidnttrickledown@lemmy.world 7 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

That fat lazy golf playing asshat has never had to work hard a day in his deranged life.

[–] tonytins@pawb.social 40 points 6 days ago

Says the laziest person on the planet.

[–] Prior_Industry@lemmy.world 15 points 5 days ago (4 children)

Honestly curious to see how this pans out. Trump's polling still seems higher than it should be given the shit show he's presiding over.

Here in the UK, we appear desperate to touch the Reform stove. I despair.

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[–] infinitesunrise@slrpnk.net 31 points 6 days ago (2 children)

It's OK guys, I'm planning on buying a home later this year. Knowing my luck, property values should plummet sharply shortly after I do that.

[–] deadbeef79000@lemmy.nz 15 points 6 days ago (4 children)

Alternatively, hyper inflation will reduce your debt to nothing and you'll still have a house.

[–] jacksilver@lemmy.world 12 points 6 days ago (2 children)

Assuming you still have a job/income.

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[–] Furbag@lemmy.world 26 points 6 days ago

I hate him.

My dream is to be a homeowner and it's slipping away faster than I can chase after it.

I fucking hate him so much.

[–] Digit@lemmy.wtf 6 points 4 days ago

'Didn't Work Very Hard'

Can we each be given the kind of head start of millions he did? :3

[–] CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world 27 points 6 days ago (20 children)

LOL, I cannot wait until I have my next IRL conversations with the more-leftist-than-thou dumbasses that sat out or voted third party and the Enlightened Centrists that voted for Taco because they fell for the right wing/Russian agitprop that Biden's economy was so terrible and/or that Kamala was genocidal and/or something something "gerontocracy".

JFC.

[–] infinitesunrise@slrpnk.net 19 points 6 days ago (4 children)

Maybe you should devote that energy toward more constructive organization efforts within your party, or good faith gestures that build trust and solidarity with new allies? As someone who did hold his nose and voted for the uninspiring, inept Democrat pick who went on to eat shit I have to say this preoccupation with rubbing your party's failure in the face of anyone you failed to reach is... Not inspiring, to put it charitably.

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[–] Yerbouti@sh.itjust.works 14 points 6 days ago (2 children)

Christian USA basically had to choose between the Antichist and your average capital-loving politician and they went "fuck it, I'll vote for satan cause he said he I'll make gas cheaper.". And the pedo-guy still has a 40% approval rating at the current moment. This country is a lost cause.

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[–] homesweethomeMrL@lemmy.world 23 points 6 days ago (3 children)

vote MAGA in the midterms if you're curious how fucked your life can get.

Or don’t vote. Again. Either will have the same effect.

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[–] Sam_Bass@lemmy.world 5 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

Fuck that sonofabitch. When he finally dies all his assets should go back into the national treasury to reinstate the departments his little Nazi lapdoge cut out

[–] mp3@lemmy.ca 16 points 6 days ago

If only salary and net worth would be tied to the actual effort made at work.

Almost all CEOs would be homeless.

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