Wealthy Investors Playing The Victim In Housing Crisis

Rich investors are demolishing affordable housing to build luxury apartments that remain empty because no one can afford them. Ana Kasparian breaks it down on #NoFilter. www.tyt.com/ana
Follow Ana on Twitter: / anakasparian
Hosts: Ana Kasparian
Cast: Ana Kasparian
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Young Turk (n), 1. Young progressive or insurgent member of an institution, movement, or political party. 2. A young person who rebels against authority or societal expectations. (American Heritage Dictionary)

[@michaelmartin4493]

Let this be a lesson, capitalists. When your greed is unchecked, it becomes self-defeating.

[@dennisw64]

An irony... Right after I watch this epic video from Ana, an AirBNB commercial played. Greed is America's biggest problem...

[@travisrhodus1362]

2 problems actually, the other is that olde time religion(genocide).

[@jackspdr]

Finally someone is pointing out the foreign investor and how they are bypassing the owner affidavit without repercussions is not ever addressed either. But China closed it's channels, which is one of the reasons we are seeing the market drying

[@jewel1608]

This story should be a COMMERICAL on all channels at least 5 times a day!!!!

[@MysLed]

And they (the ultra rich) have the nerve to say that poor people just don't know how to properly spend their money 😒 and that's why we're broke.

[@lexluther3066]

Mys Led Meanwhile they buy 10 yachts and screw hookers.

[@LJRoss-zv8hw]

Not enough millionaires to pay for all the luxury housing.

[@travisrhodus1362]

@lcyw20 Wow. Just wow.

[@FowlPlayPresents]

I live in Los Angeles, its ridiculous finding a place to rent. My current landlord is trying have us evicted to get more rent by claiming a bunch of lies on us. We've been forced to go in debt to hire lawyers to defend us, while looking to find other places to rent that are all at least double the rent we pay now. It's been so stressful.

[@srb2az141]

Thats called supply and demand, if you could make double wouldn't you want too.

[@kmm129]

@@srb2az141 um' NO I have a teensy bit of compassion, One day you will wake up and wish you had some too.

[@srb2az141]

@@kmm129 Um I dont think so. Since I lived with my parents till I was 25 to save enough to be able to buy a fourplex as my first home. So now I dont have to wake up one morning and have an eviction notice and if I dont go to work for 3 months I still have money coming in from 3 rentals. So tell me again hows your compassion working out for you?

[@rockhead1731]

Move it's a rent is too expensive where you live then you're living outside of your means if you can't find a house where you live then move where it's cheaper

[@dawaj3715]

How high must rents go before they are capped? Shit is out of control.

[@ArticBlueFox96]

This is why we need to place additional taxes and fees on vacant housing. If it is vacant than you are not living in it, which means it is a second, or third, or other multiple home for you, and if you can afford multiple homes, than you can afford to pay a tax or fee on those homes, but if you want to avoid that fee or tax your only option is to rent out the home or sell the home, and you have to rent or sell it at a somewhat affordable rate or no one will take up residency there and you will still be paying the fee or tax. I do not think we should completely ban foreign investors that are not taking up residency in the United States from buying homes, after all we want a cosmopolitan society and we want to encourage tourism (and part of that is vacation homes), but we should definitely limit foreign investors from buying up U.S. housing unless they intend to take up residency in the U.S.. We may also want to also do some other things too, like supporting and building new housing co-operatives, and maybe housing assistance, or outright providing housing to the homeless, or reforming banking and mortgages, or more forms of rent-control, etc...

[@williamholich5591]

Same thing is happening where I live in Durham, NC. The city council keeps complaining about the housing shortage and the growth rate, but the only thing they seam to be building is $million dollar condos that no one can afford.

[@ralphbernhard1757]

Awww....poor rich people....

[@sulanis8444]

Major Canadian Cities are experiencing the same thing: Foreign investors buying realestate and then doing nothing with them or flipping between other investors to artificially inflate the pricing of housing. In Ottawa, The average cost of housing to what a person can get approved based on the average house hold income is not even close to what a person would need to support the home after the purchase has been made. This leads to the second issue, we have people buying houses that they simply can't afford. Yes the mortgage is only one aspect of the home. there is the utilities, and property tax associated with owning the home not to mention an emergency fund needed just in case something goes wrong. People just don't have it, but are more than willing to dump there money in a house that will basically make them be home bodies because they just simply can't do anything else.

[@cathjj840]

It's a worldwide phenomenon. Same people, same practices, same results.

[@g_skul4970]

AirBNB, house flippers, Hollywood, and those seeking real estate as part of their investment portfolios play a roll in this housing crisis.

[@parimabartender]

They play a role too

[@number1sun]

We should restrict foreign real estate investment. Could you imagine the pushback from the financial and real estate sectors?!

[@newbranday]

A recent report showed that foreign investors laundered over 40 billion dollars in the Canadian real estate market. It contributed to an estimated 20% increase in real estate prices in the city of Vancouver, where Chinese investors invest the most heavily. IT'S NOT A SUPPLY PROBLEM!! The whole housing crisis is artificially engineered by realtors, foreign investors, developers, and domestic investors riding their coattails. And, current homeowners don't give a shit because they are out of the game of looking for a place to live and only stand to benefit from increased housing prices.

[@dalecs47]

I had a conversion with an evangelical friend in 2009 about the economic crash of 2008. He blamed the liberals giving loan interest loans and easy terms to poor people to buy homes to live in. I pointed out that less than 5% of the defaults were from poor people who had participated in the program. I pointed out the 95% of the defaults were done by wealthy land speculators who cheated and took advantage of the system intended to help poor people. With a straight face he said it was still the fault of liberals helping the 5% of poor people because if there was no program to benefit poor people than the rich would not have cheated and taken advantage of it, resulting in a crash. Evangelicals, you can't reach them! Their morality is based in fascim, not on Jesus.

[@vannakinder352]

You were converted to envangelicism? Lol just kidding all economic crisis- greed by these financial dickheads.

[@alphach1mp]

dalecs47 You’re friend is a f’ing idiot.

[@9dayNME]

he still a friend? or more of an acquaintance?

[@kagespider2627]

sad how hard conservatives fell down the rabbit hole of nonsense

[@zeroenna8554]

Love the coverage, f those scam artists who try to get in on the money laundering businesses.

[@Xantrah]

I live in Portland, Oregon. We have a lot of "low income" housing going up. I'm just a little confused how a 2 bedroom apartment at $1200/month is considered low income. Especially when you aren't allowed to make more than 32k a year to qualify to live there. However, if the units weren't considered "low income", you would need to make at least 43k year to qualify to rent. But, identifying them as "low income" units and setting income restrictions gives the developers tax incentives. I don't understand how ensuring that low income people are paying half or more of their Gross income is helping anybody in the long run? Seems more like state-sanctioned economic repression to me.

[@samiamrg7]

It just goes to show how gross and profound the problem is. It’s The repression isn’t so much the state’s fault, it is the developers who charge ridiculously high rents and don’t want poor people around. The “affordable housing” policy thing is just a band-aid put over a festering wound to hide it. There needs to be significant reform in taxes, labor, wages, real estate, and welfare systems.

[@wyvern723]

I'm across the river in Vancouver. There's no vacancies here and no one can afford to move. Landlords are requiring prospective tennants to earn four times rent before they will even be considered.

[@GuyMcDudeman]

Those poor, poor, wealthy people. :'(

[@TCt83067695]

WILL SOMEONE PLEASE THINK OF THE CHANDELIER? lol

[@MrSquareart]

I totally AGree!! Affordable housing should be 500.00 or less rent!!!

[@MysLed]

CA has code enforcement laws against housing construction from sitting dormant for short periods of time. How on earth would we create laws against unsightly construction sites from staying that way for too long but not prevent housing owners from allowing their buildings to stay vacant for long periods of time. By giving them this freedom, they are potentially putting those neighboring these vacant buildings at risk.

[@douglasmccoy5414]

And this is why I smile when rich people suffer.

[@wyvern723]

Maybe they should build more affordable housing. 🤔

[@petep]

California has a chance to fix this with SB-50, but the NIMBYs don't want to change the "character of the neighborhood." Single family housing and sprawl are unsustainable.

[@thomastillette3640]

Bus the homeless to these houses and squat. Give the investors more conflict.

[@barthvos845]

What about public health issues, isn't there a risk for all kinds of diseases when such high numbers of people are homeless. Also a risk for people who have a home. And when there are so many vacant homes and so many homeless isn't it an option to start squatting. And when indicted for that start arguing the public health argument in defense.

[@ralphbernhard1757]

Greed....just like Jesus would have wanted.

[@MaJoRMJR]

Do these developers not understand the concept of supply and demand, if there's no demand there becomes too much supply, so you stop building more as you won't be able to sell them. There is plenty of demand for affordable housing yet very little supply (of affordable housing). Developers are trying to get rich quick (by building luxury houses thinking they will make millions per unit) rather than by developing what the market needs.

[@dustigenes]

Exactly, however the reason it works is because many foreign investors are trying to wash their money. So there is a demand for high end units which make the developers way more money than affordable housing. So the developers build homes knowing many of them will never be lived in, but hey they get rich and have enough to live on and don't care about the amount of people ending up homeless. It is also a given that the investors don't care about the homeless, they wash their money, sell the property to the next investor for a tidy profit and the world turns.

[@maximnoginov2974]

i've seen literally burnt down house for $850k and a house advertised as a tear-down go for $1.1M. Even if a house didn't have "luxury features" (which honestly don't cost that much to add), it'll still go for a ridiculous amount because of the shortage of housing in general. You can find Teslas parked outside of mobile homes in the Bay because when the supply gets low, even low-end houses attract competition.

[@Reaper1947]

Gee! people are starting to figure this shit out? AMAZING !

[@Gonz0131]

This is an international problem. Same thing is happening in cities around the world that are attractive to chinese "investors" - Auckland, Sydney, Melbourne, London, Toronto, etc. etc. are all subject to real estate bubbles, locals getting priced out, money laundering - all while the respective governments pretend nothing is happening and claim that the solution is more development.

[@etischofer]

There were 100 of these houses. That would have no effect on a housing shortage.

[@JW-zs6tn]

thanks ana!... spot on!... we need more passionate, smart, people who want fairness for all and will fight against the greedy, corrupt people and systems of the world!... it's wake up and revolution time!! :)

[@Tim4196]

When regular people fail at a business they don't get to play the victim. This stuff is why I like TYT.

[@lesliestenta3084]

Ditto Honolulu

[@davidschlessinger9945]

yep. Catastrophic homelessness, unaffordable housing to the extreme

[@NickRedstar]

It’s not just in LA. I live in central California. There is an housing development down the street from my house. 1/3 of the lots are unbuilt and there are 5 houses for sale or vacant on my street.

[@JoaoPedro-gc8mw]

Wow, there are more homeless in LA than in the entire nation of Japan!

[@tashibalampkin8555]

How about.......... you build affordable homes?

[@Furiends]

It's not hard. Except they'll keep making houses like this and then get the gov subsidized to make tiny shit economy apartments.

[@raquelrodriguez2352]

I use to live in a city in LA county and they cut down a bunch of trees in the foot of the mountain saying it's for affordable housing the house started at like 550,000- 1mil and now it's more like a private community. 😏 so much for the affordable housing.

[@mysummertouch]

Poor rich people with tax breaks! But it's not clear why their mantions are not selling if you said that there is a huge demand from China buyers?

[@donkeyphukkkker]

Omg Ana is a boss! This video made me feel better.

[@user-ed1mj5zk6f]

Come on and invest in “laundromat” real state to wash your dirty money in Los Angeles.

[@chrisrod01]

Foreigners or not American citizen or resident should not buy property in the states. Look at Chinese foreigner buying vancomour

[@Alamaric]

You can make 1,000 homes for 50 million a piece but when there is only 5 people who can buy them you are more likely going to lose your money compared to those who spend 50 million building apartment complexes.

[@DinoCism]

If anyone is wondering what you can actually do about this tenant unions are the biggest part of the answer that an ordinary person can actually contribute to. The LA tenant union is one of the largest and most effective in the country. If you are a socialist or a progressive or whatever and you live there and actually care about this shit you should look into supporting them.

[@GoldenHairAngel]

This is becoming normal in Prague and already is normal in Bratislava. But wealthy people always buy the new homes in a heartbeat.

[@heatseeker9573]

I don't know why, but this reminds me of Jeremy Corbin's plan to "appropriate" people's houses after that tower burned.

[@weareorigin]

It's bad in state of Ohio. The mortgages + water bill + maintenance + property taxes costs more than what the unit can be rented for. Wouldn't be able to make money on most current real estate deals.

[@TheModelWorkShop.]

Sorry as a New Zealander we have been dealing with Rich American"s Chinese"s and others buying up houses in New Zealand for years driving up houses prices down here. So the younger generation can no longer buy houses let alone rent one. Welcome to the real world.

[@claricehenderson1937]

*EAT THE RICH!!!*

[@fuchusen666]

We must break the oligopoly of international banking and real estate that has ahold of all of our rental markets. Under the current situation rents and home prices must always go up because there is no competition to bring them down. We need to create the public option for housing and banking if we want to break the stranglehold that is creating this situation. The largest landlord in town should be the city and they would have bought the units with loans from a city bank and any housing that needs to be built by a city construction crew instead of contractors. Consumers could get better rents and everyone could save on transaction costs and loan interest .Those city run businesses can replace private industries that fail us in quality and affordability as international banking and real estate clearly have.

[@patrickneary8446]

Only winners in this are the Bluths and Sitwells.

[@katieadams5860]

Homeless people should just take over these megamansions

[@gabrielebeimler133]

why aren't people there squatting?

[@doug2bitemore]

Ana at her best, get'em!

[@Thevoidlezz]

instead of like china the mansion being empty for money laundring purposes in america those houses cant get buyers

[@apteropith]

When fascism was described as involving "the worst tendencies of finance capital", they were describing shit like WSJ.

[@MHiggins]

This is a third world country. Our income inequality and work force participation rates mirror those of Ecuador and Bolivia. The unaffordable rent and ultra high property prices is common in many third world countries. Look at Hong Kong and Singapore the rental markets are insane in both locations.

[@MHiggins]

advocatus diaboli I know the definition of those words. When you have the level of actual income inequality we have today and the concentration of wealth and the loss of jobs and the loss of manufacturing. Look at the actual definition and the way a third world country is described. If the US doesn’t fit I don’t what other type of country does. On top of that every actual first world country provides universal health insurance. Does the US? Is our for profit health care system like that of say the UK or France? Or is it similar to say Uganda or Zimbabwe? The labor force participation rate in the US is in the 60% range. The infrastructure and roads are subpar meanwhile the level of taxation is exorbitant.

[@heatseeker9573]

@@MHiggins To be fair, the NHS in the UK will collapse soon. The only reason it's still standing is because it received a massive budget allocation from the torries.

[@MHiggins]

Heat Seeker The republicans have been predicting the collapse of the UK NHS and every other universal health system since the 1980s as a way to defend literally the worst health insurance system in the advanced world. No one can defend this horrible system. We spend twice and in some cases three times more and we can the worst results in the advanced developed countries. Poor British men actually have a longer lifespan than wealthy American men.

[@So.avant.garde1]

Thank you for this episode.

[@alphach1mp]

I’ll buy that home for a dollar!

[@bretdaley6869]

Love You as I am native Angeleno

[@Thevoidlezz]

why dont you have companies that build and manage affordable real estaste like my country has those companies also manage social housing projects and build them to

[@deannasmith4443]

welcome to the new gilded age.

[@danielhofig8429]

LA has to advertise in Germany. We love watching poverty while the Sun is shining.

[@GermanLeftist]

True. But if it starts to rain we'll ask for our money back.

[@MWhaleK]

Tear that shit down and build places that most people can afford and actually live in.

[@CyberusSuper]

Ana's "Aww" is as sexy as it is sassy and condescending.

[@davew.9353]

Only in California is building more housing not considered a solution to high house prices. It is also possible to build denser if land is scarce.

[@StevieDamnit]

Tear all the mega mansions down and build normal sized houses.

[@LogicalArtist]

The market corrects itself. Make your goods and services meet demand, or sell something else.

[@thescopedogable]

Praise be the almighty market 🙏

[@ukariadams5515]

🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@eshqa]

👌 Anna

[@magister343]

Anyone interested in the housing crisis needs to familiarize herself with the works of Henry George.

[@GermanLeftist]

If you buy something, you have to live in it for at least some time of the year, every year. Otherwise you'll be have to force to rent it out on a regular or permanent basis, and if you demand too much, the state should be allowed to come in and force you to lower the rent. If you don't do that, the state will take away the house, meaning it is going to be naitonalised. And to top it off, the state is then required to turn luxury apartments or apartment complexes into public housing units, or at least in case of apartment complexes to turn roughly half of the apartments into council flats.

[@THEKAESTAR]

I live in L.A. and have been a witness to this shitstorm. The problem is not when you rejuvenate formerly unused real estate (e.g. Hollywood/Argyle area) but displace residences occupied by individuals whose low-income status is temporary (e.g. students) who need rent control ‘til they can autonomously move up economically. I’m not referring to Illegals or SSI moochers who represent a burdensome net liability.

[@stt5v2002]

Odd situation for the smug superior tone. Laughing at the stupidity of rich people may be fun but 1) they aren’t bothered and 2) they kind of get the last laugh, you know?

[@adobo_harl2278]

Sadly yes, they get the last laugh.But is your point? Just trolling the net? At least, Tyt has a position in this issue and is informing people, unlike the corporate media.

[@kmm129]

Last laugh? One who dies with the most compassion wins.

[@khashy87]

Stf

[@yuegonghuamei6685]

Rich Chinese buyers pay lot tax feeding America poors n homeless.

[@lsowner10]

Rui Qiang zeng whut

[@donkeyphukkkker]

Except they don't.

[@Yanmaman89]

I wish, but most of them are using tax havens. Just like the rest of them.

[@shaquandradestinyfreeman87]

@@Yanmaman89 Tax havens don't really do much for local property taxes. They get paid or the county takes your property. Buzzwords only get you so far, Einstein.

[@Yanmaman89]

@@shaquandradestinyfreeman87 considering the point of this video was people aren't buying said property, what's your point?

[@georgemendez6760]

what does air-bnb have to do with this.... if i want to rent out my house in the short term then it's my business not yours

[@stratvids]

it has nothing to do with you renting out your house... it has to do with developers that are converting home/apartments into air-bnb rentals even though no one lives there

[@adobo_harl2278]

She's talking about filthy rich people in California, who doesnt have a soul, and only cares about big bucks. Why are you one of them?

[@georgemendez6760]

@@stratvids that's what I do.... I inherited 2 houses from my grandmother 1 building with 20 apartments of which I own 6 and 1 with 4 of which I own 2.... my cousin is set to inherit 3 from his aunt and I know that I want to take the most profitable option

[@georgemendez6760]

@@adobo_harl2278 I'm no billionaire but we all have the right to own property and do as we please with them

[@owlnationlegal4228]

Your passion and key objective of helping the homeless is wonderful, but your plan is flawed by focusing on wealthy foreignors buying L.A. real estate. The reality is in a short time the city will be uninhabitable, and tens of thousands of impoverished souls, if not hundreds of thousands or even millions all across the southland will mibrate or perish. Ask Darwin. Therefore, if you want to help them, including providing holistic, effective, affordable mental health therapy and long-term care assistance your plan must first migrate them to communities able to provide the housing and care, and then go through the interviews to determine who is capable and desires a job, education, a life, a permanent home (many do), and who is so fried (many are) a bunk in a tranquil forested setting on inexpensive land with 3 hots and an ER nurse on staff with a drop in counselor is about as holistic as that's going to get. I've worked in clinics and many loons can come around, even retaining some of their psychosis/neurosis and functioning in a properly structured/monitored occupational rehab program, but trying to do that and sending them back to a curbside pup-tent at night is absolutely a waste of time and money, just as pouring concrete in a city soon to be whacked by 110F-140F all day/night long is also pure folly. Let the Chinese buy all the Los Angeles/L.B./O.C./S.D/S.B. they want; there won't be even 100 people living down there in 2025, save a few Bedouin camels and their owners.

[@newcentrist8730]

These investors lost a lot of money though. Poor people didn't have much to begin with though, so they didn't lose as much.

[@jaywyse7150]

Poor people lost everything. Rich people are still rich after.

[@oscarjones9500]

I'm betting Ana quits tyt Nov 2020

[@claricehenderson1937]

Troll.

[@fascistnationalistmovement8055]

Ana needs to go work for Fox with the rest hotties.

[@oscarjones9500]

@@claricehenderson1937 mark your calendar and remember this..I'll accept your apology then

[@bobbrawley2612]

Affordable housing. Means poor people. . Black people. Undesirable people. We the Patriots of America cant afford affordable housing

[@juanacuna3520]

No talk about the Federal Reserve? Really? Why are homes so expensive? Because interest rates are artificially low. TYT doesn't talk about the Fed because they want the fed to pay for government programs... Also, isn't LA extremely democratic? and left-leaning? Seems like more government isn't the answer...

[@janoos24]

Even though i am a liberal there is def some truth in this statement. Cheap money is dangerous. But to blame just liberals is also in accurate. GEorge Bush is also respondble by easing lending standards

[@juanacuna3520]

janoos24 Thanks for the reply mate. Bush, Obama or anyone in the executive branch has no power in this, it’s the Fed. Ben Bernanke decided to print money, same thing with Janet. Only thing is that liberals in particular are ignoring this because they’ll be able to fund their programs through this... but we’ll kill the dollar and widen wealth in equality...

[@wiseguymotionpictures1416]

@@juanacuna3520 What do you think the solution is?

[@antenna_prolly]

@@juanacuna3520 taxing corporations and billionaires isn't _literally_ printing money....

[@juanacuna3520]

t v Read the Green New Deal... it’s not only taxing the rich, they’re literally printing money... it’s called Modern Monetary Theory.

[@coryluke12]

I’m in the market for a luxury apartment in LA. I love all of my high-end choices.

[@alphach1mp]

Stop your bs, you can’t afford them.

[@askeletonsdaisy2440]

Trump 2020 🇺🇸

[@coryluke12]

No one is forcing you to live in LA.

[@kmm129]

This is MY home foo- been here since the early 60's. My family is here and a thriving business on Skid-row. 3rd world for sure down there.

[@alphach1mp]

No one is forcing you to breathe.

[@gregorybrew427]

The new construction is not affordable housing because unless you can make a lot of units you can’t make lots of units with lots of regulations with limits this housing. Just actually incentive them and stop criticizing them when’s it your environmental regulations next greed. Criticizing foreign capital from coming into your state is one of the dumbest things I have ever heard. Please let’s have a debate Anna you said you would.

[@MWhaleK]

PLEASE! The developers are their own victims because they got local government to write the laws that allowed them to over build. As for "foreign capital" that should be read as money laundering. When it comes to environmental regulations, would you rather building materials and the buildings them selves make people sick or further destroy the environment? The real problem is that the developers want to make big money fast and don't want to pay for their mistakes.

[@coryluke12]

It’s not your place to determine whether or not housing prices are “artificially inflated”. You don’t understand capitalism.

[@callingyouout3954]

Reply number two - "It's not your place to determine whether or not housing prices are "artificially inflated"" I've got one question. Where the hell were you doing the last housing crash? With you head in the sand? Do you even know what the term "housing bubble" means? News flash.....we're in the midst of another, slowly growing one. To be fair, as in any economic debate, there are economist lining up on both sides. But look things like this up before you comment. It's not as satisfactory as looking down your nose, I know, but it makes you a lot smarter.

[@dragonkings01]

coryluke12 actually you don’t you12yo moron.