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Comment by peterangular | Hacker News Reader

This is exactly it. The notion that they easily shift that ownership of the mortgage onto their renters saying "stuck paying someone else's mortgage" feels like mental gymnastics as it 100% is your name on that debt and not your renters.

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A lot of landlords don't seem to really understand that their rental properties are a business and an investment, and thus inherently have risk. Fewer still really comprehend that the little landlords generally are carrying a lot more risk than the bigger property management companies. They just keep being shocked and offended when they seemingly discover this risk for the first time all over again.

I think you're right, a lot of people underestimate just how risky the real estate market is. Back in the 90s it was seen as a low-risk endeavor. Pretty much guaranteed money and tons of cheap leverage to max out returns. After all, everyone needs houses and the population just keeps going up faster than houses could be built. Especially with immigration.

However the cheap leverage and massive influx of foreign investment kinda fell off which made prices drop like a rock in 2008. I wouldn't be surprised to see it happen again in late 2020 and 2021 when a bunch of people see balloon payments from deferred mortgages.

Someone is enjoying the benefit of living in a house they didn't pay for, nor work hard maintaining. They are essentially taking for free what you have spent a lot of time, money, and effort on while literally shitting all over it. Also, you have no recourse to recover the costs they are incurring on you. The mental gymnastics occurs when someone tries to say it's YOUR fault that someone is taking advantage of you.

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