I’m someone who believes landlording (and investing in property outside of just the one you live in) is immoral, because it makes it harder for other people to afford a home, and takes what should be a human right, and turns it into an investment.

At the same time, It’s highly unlikely that I’ll ever be able to own a home without investing my money.

And just investing in stocks means I won’t have a diversified portfolio that could resist a financial crash as much as real estate can.

If I were to invest fractionally in real estate, say, through REITs, would it not be as immoral as landlording if I were to later sell all my shares of the REIT in order to buy my own home?

I personally think investing in general is usually immoral to some degree, since it relies on the exploitation of other’s labour, but at the same time, it feels more like I’m buying back my own lost labour value, rather than solely exploiting others.

I’m curious how any of you might see this as it applies to real estate, so feel free to discuss :)

  • Beacon
    6•3 months ago

    There’s nothing about small-time landlords that’s worse than the evil that many people contribute to the world through their jobs like being a banker or manager of a walmart etc. If you have like 2 or 3 properties you rent out then that’s just making your way through the capitalist world we’re all stuck in. The evil of buying up properties to rent out comes when you’re really hogging up like 5 or more properties. IMO, obviously.