"Super" as a contrived prefix eg super-bright, super-odd.

I haven't been to DC since I was a little kid, but I am surprised to hear there is super-cheap real estate in DC.

There's no such thing as super-cheap real estate in DC. Hell, there's no such thing as reasonably priced real estate here. $525-550/Sq-Ft is the avg market price in D.C to buy.

Ripini is so confident that we are wrong that he posted this twice:

...or maybe he is trying to suggest that without airbnb DC real estate would be so cheap that poor people could afford to buy it.

What he may be suggesting, is that, for those who have the means to afford it, you could buy a $700k condo in DC and Air BnB it out for a slight profit monthly. Thus raising the real estate costs in this town due to high occupancy without poors like me being able to afford to live/rent here. I grew up in this area between age 9-17, and moved back here at age 34. The economic/social climate here is pretty much an East Coast Los Angeles.

My point is that poor people can't afford to buy that $700k (or whatever the price was before airbnb came to town) condo in the first place.

And the bigger point is that there is already a housing problem in bigger cities making it difficult for low income people to live within easy commuting distance from their work. Airbnb makes the problem worse by rewarding landlords for not renting affordable aptms to residents but in keeping them off the market to use as hotel rooms. It's been a while since I've used an Airbnb but I don't remember any mention of local taxes being collected, which is another huge competitive advantage they have over traditional hotels.

Ker Jung Owo, no need to kick ripini while he is down. I think he realizes now that, like every big city in the US, DC is not a good example of airbnb coming in and making RE un-affordable for poor people since it was already un-affordable.

By the way, poor people not being able to afford real estate wherever they want is not a "housing problem"... or even a problem at all. Poor people also can't afford lambos or a NFL franchise should we call those "automobile problem" or a "sports franchise problem"?

In this example why do you (rapini, Ker Jung Owo, or anyone else) value people in DC being able to rent an apartment in DC over a tourist from say San Francisco, but then if I changed my example to San Fran then you would favor the woman living in san fran over a tourist from DC? In your mind, does it matter if the women in DC & san fran had the same income?

bahbahmickey, Airbnb restricts the supply (or increases demand for a subset of customers, whichever way you want to look at it) which raises house prices on average. The guy who now can't afford the 700k apartment buys one in a slightly worse neighborhood for 650k, the person he outbid for the 650k apartment now goes to a worse neighborhood for 600k, etc. Same with rents.

Lamborghinis and NFL teams are different because everyone needs a place to live.

In both examples a community can decide to favor the people that live in it rather than visitors and tourists. There's nothing inconsistent about that and there are lots of good reasons for doing so. (to be fair there are also good reasons not to do it).

gregorio,

There's no excuse for that kind of lack of civility. Your behavior is why normal people think internet liberals are a pack of vicious little ****s.

Hero, my point is that DC is a terrible example of a city where airbnb came in and ate up all the affordable living for poor people. I don't know if you all are insanely rich and don't understand what a poor person is, but a poor person hasn't bought a piece of real estate in DC for a very long time.... way way way before airbnb was a thing.

You just made me think of one...

The fact that professional bowling is more popular and more lucrative in the USA. You could one of the best bowlers in the USA and be lucky to earn a few hundred thousand. If you are one of the best :insert almost any other sport here:, you are talking about millions of dollars.

I'm guessing you could be one of the best players of badminton or croquet in the country and also not make very much money from the avocation.

I was one of the best in a particular martial art for many years. I made zero dollars for it. Even if you count the value of prizes I won, it was unlikely to cover my equipment costs, much less the travel.

Most people, even ones who are very good at them, participate in sports for fun and health benefits, not for riches.

It's almost like you don't live in DC or are lacking knowledge of its affordable housing programs.

How about you guys stfu about housing and take it elsewhere. Yes I know, this post doesnt belong here because everybody should be pissed off about this stupid derail.

Overly friendly neighbors.

I don’t want to have a drink with you. Take it easy.

When I was relocated to the DC area, there were many "afforadable housing" apartments in DC that were pretty nice. In the $1200-1600 range. Sucky part is, the earnings cut off for the affordable housing program in D.C. is $43k/year for a single person. $62k/year for two people (must have a 2 BR). So even if someone squeaks in there at the very top of the threshold, right away, about 40% of their net income goes into rent. Affordable, sorta.... but with many conditions. To stick to the thread topic, it's pissing me off that I'm paying $550+/mo more than my high rise condo downtown in Vegas to live in a mice infested ****hole 10 minutes from DC.

there are very few sports where being one of the best = millions of dollars

Bowling isn't a sport
You can be the best at lots of sports in the us and make next to nothing

The first 4 words in the wikipedia entry for bowling - "Bowling is a sport..."

Lacrosse comes to mind.

Fellow fist-shakers,

https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/...ys/2206508002/

Also:

https://www.vollebak.com/product/100...pants-granite/

Really good ping pong doc on Netflix called Top Spin that looks into this

A guy I know was the best air guitarist in the world. He competed throughout the USA and became the first American to win the Air Guitar World Championship held annually in Finland.

They made a documentary about his
experience that was well received.





Edit...being the best in the world at something does not guarantee a big pay day but it can bring some sick bragging rights.

"very unique"