The way I understood his point was more like saying that serial killers are the best and most efficient murderers, and all other murderers just went good at their “job”. It doesn’t mean they’re good for society, infact the better they are the worse it is for everyone else. But being a societal leech is inherently part of being a landlord and some are better at leeching than others.
But being a societal leech is inherently part of being a landlord and some are better at leeching than others.
Being a landlord does not inherently make one a leech (in a discussion with any nuance). And when you have millions of dollars to put towards gaming the system to extract as much money as possible out of tenants every year, lobby regulators, divert properties from live-in to short-term accommodation to increase demand, etc., you can be a leech on a much, much larger scale. You can screw over not just individual renters, but entire populations of people seeking apartments. Not all landlords are the same ffs. Also “better at leeching than others”?! You make it sound like you admire leeching
When your rental is owned by an individual with a second property versus when your rental is owned by a multinational company and is part of investment vehicle that pays (untaxed) dividends to investors and has mandates to extract as much money out of you is very different things.
I don’t admire leeching at all, I don’t understand how me comparing landlords to murderers would give you that impression.
I will say I do know quite a few small time landlords and they are good people, but to try and say they’re not leeching is disingenuous. In fact, I’d argue some of the big corporations are actually less of a drain on society because they generally build housing that wasn’t already there. The worst are the large “mom + pop” landlords who own multiple properties but don’t have the competence or will to take care of them. Slumlord behavior.
