“If you want to become a homeowner but don’t qualify for a mortgage, Divvy Homes has a solution: Rent a house from them until you’re able to buy it. What could possibly go wrong?”
housing
Posted inEditor's Pick
I Was Given a House – But It Already Belonged to a Detroit Family
“Miraculously, Tomeka Langford is willing to talk to me.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
To All the Brooklyn Brownstones I’ve Loved Before
In this essay, Beth Boyle Machlan writes about possibility, desire, real estate, finding one’s home, and coveting the Brooklyn brownstone. The piece is part of Machlan’s Catapult column, Unreal Estates, which explores issues of housing in America through a very personal lens. To me, back then, that brownstone stood for everything I wanted: solidity and […]
Posted inEditor's Pick
Is There a Way Out of Hawaii’s Housing Crisis?
There’s an increasing number of people native to Hawaii who can no longer afford to live there, nor do they have the means to leave. Those who can’t do either end up houseless. Eric Stinton reports on the current state of real estate on the islands: how they got there, proposed solutions, and what will […]
Posted inEditor's Pick
Among the Landlords
Matthew Gault attends the 21st Annual Mr. Landlord.com National Landlord Convention, a conference in St. Louis where landlords gather, commiserate, and pitch and sell tips and tricks to each other. If you’ve ever wondered what 200 landlords come together to talk about, Gault’s insider’s look paints an interesting picture. There was something deeply American about […]
Posted inEditor's Pick
A Cage by Another Name
In a piece at Failed Architecture, Sasha Plotnikova reports on the tiny shed villages in Los Angeles that are meant to get unhoused people off the streets but instead are dehumanizing camps that criminalize homelessness. But when these hotel rooms, sheds, and dorms are seen for what they are—the architectural expressions of policies that invisibilize […]
Posted inHighlight, Nonfiction
Downsizing in the Shadow of Disaster
When housing markets price people out of safety, they cram into disasters waiting to happen.
Posted inHighlight, Nonfiction
The Living Nightmare of Homeownership
The manmade dream of owning a home wasn’t built on a solid foundation.
Posted inCrime, Current Events, Highlight, Quotes
Redlining in the Lap Lane
An incident of police brutality in Texas highlights the ties between private pools, homeowners’ associations, and racist housing policies.
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
The Urban Crisis of Affluence
An investment property is not a home. Neither are cities where most people can’t afford to live.