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While it’s true that it would be better for them in the long term, it’s also true that some people prefer convenience.

I have a coworker that pays the power company extra each month so that if her water heater does they’ll replace it for her. Why the fuck does the power company offer this service and by the time shee needs one she will have more than paid for one.

Lots of people don’t change their own oil in their cars, it’s easy and cheaper, but people don’t want to do it.

Coffee… that’s all I’m gonna say on that topic.

Renting is a service some people want, just like some people want to live in an HOA.

More people would probably buy a house if they could just pay the mortgage, similar to a rent to own setup, but that’s not an option available to most people.

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Beelzebabe@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
Wouldn’t the convenient (and cheaper) situation here not be to rent, but to own and hire a handyman when needed? I’m just not sure how a landlord offers any kind of convenience to anyone. (Maybe there’s something I’m missing of course.)

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- Knightfox@lemmy.one ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  You are absolutely correct, but it still requires making calls, coordinating with a handyman, being available when they come by, etc. It’s the same logic for why some landlords hire property managers. If being a landlord is so easy you’d think they wouldn’t need to hire someone to specifically manage their properties.
  
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  - Beelzebabe@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    While I agree with you on paper, I’ve never had a landlord make it easy or convenient for any of those things in my experience. Usually they’re MIA and can’t seem to get anything done without a fuss honestly. Could just be my luck/the types of places I rent to be fair on that though.
    
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    Knightfox@lemmy.one ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    Yeah and I saw a recent post saying that roughly 66% of Millennials would like to buy if it were affordable for them.
    
    Rental experiences all come down to the details, how expensive is it, what extra costs (can you have pets) and benefits (do you have laundry in the rental or is it a shared space), is public transportation more accessible, etc.
    
    Back when I rented my washing machine broke and the rental company had a new one installed the same day, the bus route went right up to my building, and the Greenway trail was adjacent to the complex. They decided to increase rent by $100 so I looked at buying a house and found a condo I could afford. The condo was $300 cheaper (including the HOA fee) than the new rent, but the bus didn’t come to where my condo was, the Greenway trail was 10 min road biking away, and when the HOA decided we had to install new lights and doors I had to pay for that (luckily I was able to do the labor myself, but a lot of people couldn’t). Before I sold and moved the HOA was about to replace the roof on my building and we would have all had to pay out of pocket our portion (which equated to approximately 3.75x what I paid for the mortgage and HOA fee, so an extra 3.75 months worth of payments).
    
    Also, a lot of places have more or less protections for renters which can impact things.
    
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