Ok this is going to be an unpopular opinion here, but people who want to build wealth by buying something, then having someone else pay for it, and as a consequence limit the available housing and therefore drive up the price so that renters get stuck in a cycle where they can’t afford to get into a property themselves, and are forced to work 2 jobs, get roommates, etc., to pay rent prices and have no better alternatives, being priced out of one of the most important ways you can start to establish generational stability and wealth IS the textbook capitalist bad guy, really. With housing shortages, income inequality, inaccessible affordable health care, education, etc., yes, people will resent those who use them to enrich someone who already has enough stability and wealth to get into the real estate market. And that’s what every single landlord does. I don’t care how nice and easy you are by comparison, you participate in a corrupt system.
Obviously, not all renters fit this mold. Some people have the means and choose not to own for whatever reason, but most rent because, when you peel back the onion, they simply weren’t born in the right socioeconomic class and have too many factors out of their control to alter their trajectory, or it takes years to do so.
But OP, sorry, but you thinking your renters should be grateful for you providing housing in good working condition (the bare minimum any landlord should be doing) while you’re effectively asking them to go to a job and work to pay you rent so you can buy property and build wealth so you don’t have to work is being realllllly oblivious to your relative privilege.
It’s a business transaction, you discounting the rent isn’t you doing them a favor, it’s you doing a cost/benefit analysis and concluding you would rather forego more income for the hassle of tenant churn and wear and tear. You’re not being nice, you’re doing what you value in your interest. You keeping your property in good condition should be the norm as that is the literal value you provide in this transaction, and just because you’re not as slummy as some chose to be and can get away with because we don’t do a good job enforcing legally tenant rights doesn’t mean that, at the core, the tenant/landlord relationship isn’t anything other than modern indentured servitude.
You can choose to decide, like many do, that this is the best way for you to achieve your personal goals; it’s legal; it’s mostly socially acceptable and in some circles admired; you do you…but OP lacks the self awareness to realize on their own that they represent the problem because they actively participate in creating the problem just makes me SMH.
