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Comment by ones_and_zeros | Hacker News Reader

This is great. So Point can identify up and coming areas of the country, make a few investments and then have a lobbying arm to do everything they can to ensure the property values increase. So instead of NIMBY we'll also have NIMIBY, Not In My Investments Back Yard.

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We already have too much of it. People buy houses close to municipal airports because the noise floor makes them cheap, then they lobby to have the airport closed because it's too noisy (you bloody well knew about that!), and enjoy a massive ROI when the houses are suddenly worth much more once the airport is gone.

You wouldn't happen to live in Santa Monica, would you? That's exactly what we're seeing around here. I drive by the airport on my way home and see all the signs complaining about the noise and all I can think is, "then why did you buy there? It's not like it's a secret!"

I've dealt with that in Düsseldorf and Graz, mainly.

It's an international problem.

I actually have a lot of trouble finding cheap houses near annoyances. Sellers just don't seem to care.

I looked at a house 20 feet from a busy train track and no discount from identical houses a block away.

Another one by some kind of firehouse air raid siren and again no discount.

Agreed. Like everybody else obsessed with making housing even more expensive, they're going to be doing pretty much the exact opposite of helping.

Not to mention that you have another avenue on being strong-armed out of making a successful purchase as an owner-occupied. Trying to beat developers in an up-and-coming neighborhood is already a nightmare.

Aren't people already doing this with REITs?

Sort of. REITs typically buy tranches of real estate. They might own entire blocks or office developments or they might own parts of those properties. These deals are typically at least seven figures.

More recently REITs have begun buying up multi families in cities that have historically been owner occupied (typically by immigrant and other marginalized people).

You can see the direction they are moving. Point has done the math and concluded buying single family houses and condos is too risky as a landlord but buying a share of one with generous terms isn't.

Ultimately these shares themselves will be tranched and packaged as CDOs that the big REITs can buy, Point being the facilitator.

I've yet to find a reit that simply holds property (or holds and rents)

They all seem to have leveraged loans that make them sensitive to interest rates.

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