The Silicon Valley New Buzzword: Rent Control? Oh, I Meant the Lack of Rent Control.
Google, Apple, Facebook, Cisco, Netflix, Oracle...Sounds like a land of dreams right?
(Google Mountain View Campus Picture)
Well, while we enjoy the benefits of the new technologies, you might not want to go near Silicon Valley unless you work at one of these giants. Even then, you might still want to think twice before moving there.
According to the Guardian, Trion Properties, one of the many Private Property firms that are eyeing the high salary of software engineers, is trying to flip a property in Redwood City. 180 Buckingham Avenue is a perfect, perfect location for the PE firm to do so because it is within 20 miles of Apple, Google, and Facebook. Wow. I mean, if I were to flip properties, I would pick that building too -- especially when the rent was below market value -- just think of the Internal Rate of Return...it’s like magic, but not really.
Imagine if you lived in the building and one day the landlord showed up and told you that you had exactly 2 months to move away: what should can you do? For this particular property, a lot of residents are low-income Latino families, where are they gonna move to? Note: these evictions are allowed under the California law, so the only things you could do is 1) get out 2) delay the date so you can find some other places to live. Remember, Trion Properties is only one of the many firms that are flipping properties, so the other properties that were previously affordable will no longer be affordable after the remodeling. So, these low-income families are basically kicked out of Silicon Valley.
Here is how it feels to be trapped in this and what is happening behind the scene:
But hey, if you are young and carefree but still want to live in the Silicon Valley, the boxouse might be something you want to look at. Who knows, maybe these boxes will pop the next housing bubble.
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