We absolutely did not buy to rent.

If you see the timeline, we lived there 7 years and were landlords for 2.5. We moved across the country for a major income jump (and cost of living increase) and literally couldn't afford to pay into the bank to sell the house for a $50k loss at the time. We were going to walk away again, but some friends convinced us to rent it out.

What a fucking nightmare that turned out to be.

We didn't live in a great part of town, so rent was cheap and literally less than the cost of owning. We effectively subsidized the rent. A smarter person would have realized that taking a loan to sell was the better plan here.

The first property management company we hired found some people quickly and got them in. 4 months later the person managing our house left and the new person asked us why we hadn't evicted because they had never paid rent, ever (we had been getting rent minus the fee, so we were shocked). So we had to evict and fucking hell I spent 3k cleaning and fixing and hauling out all their trash, flying across the country to do it. They stole the washer and dryer on the way out, ruined the dishwasher and destroyed several doors and walls.

We fired that company and got a new one. The next tenants actually paid rent for 2 years, but had constant issues with rodents and bugs and the appliances. When the market finally brought us above water we didn't renew their lease and Jesus fuck me they had destroyed everything. The 160lb Cane Corsa they kept in the basement had literally pissed and shit so much the walls were destroyed and the cement floor had to be painted and sealed after heavy industrial cleaners. There was food everywhere in the house and rodents and bugs were prevalent, so we had to hire exterminators. Also they left several yards of trash in shitty furniture and garbage we had to haul out.

We lost so much money renting we would have been better off taking a loan to sell in the first place. We listed for 40k over what we originally paid, but took just 15k because, let's face it, the house was still a shambles (and the basement still stank). We got a tax bill for 14k when we sold because of some financing fuckery that screwed us more.

I regret ever having been a "landlord".

Don't forget how much Airbnb fucked shit up. Pulling houses off the market that then don't even have anyone living in them just to earn a profit.

This doesn't sound like someone who bought 4x houses and became a slum lord.

Renting out a home you own is a normal part of home ownership. You might move to another city, care for your elderly parents, or move in with a spouse.

Its easy to say "oh well hurry durr you should sell because charging rent is unethical", but in practice no one would actually sell in these circumstances for that reason, if it were contrary to their interests.

This has been happening since the first troglodite laid on some straw and called it a bed. Renting for a few years is not everything thats wrong with the property market.

Yeah, it's the worst financial mistake we ever made. If we had waited just a few months, we would have at least qualified for the bailout money.

We had so many friends that bought in 2009 and 2010 at the bottom and watched them flourish.

It took us 12 years to recover, but we're homeowners again and ultimate leaving for higher pay finally worked out in our favor. We bought again in 2020 and our down payment was the entire cost of the first house (we went from medium cost of living to very high with incomes to match). We emptied just about everything, but had also been saving hard since selling the shit heap. 5 years later, we're finally comfortable.