When a House is No Longer a Home

Today we've finally reached the crisis where the homeless populations have expanded reminding us of the Great Depression era. But the genesis of this problem began occurring as far back as the 1980s and I began noticing the seeds being planted in the 1990s while I was a renter in Seattle. (Every three months the rent increased).

For a lot of people (not me), houses have been viewed as an investment instead of as a place to call home. A house and a home are not the same thing. A home suggests a safe haven, a hearth, and place to hide away from the world or a place to invite loved ones to share.

On the other hand a house is just a structure that can be bought and sold on the market to either gain or lose profit. A house can be flipped, transformed into a vacation rental, or bought and left empty until it can be sold for a higher price. However, this might seem innocent on the surface, especially when a retiree is telling you that this is the money they are currently living from, but this type of thinking has depleted the market of affordable housing.

So, this leaves people to rent, but the rental markets are also saturated by real estate investors, vacation rentals, and houses or apartment buildings standing mostly empty until they can be sold for a higher price.

In some cities, three percent of the rental housing has been converted into vacation rentals. (And often the needed housing is below three percent). I don't know the percent that is owned by real estate investors, but the current practice is that real estate investors buy houses (even blighted ones), renovate them, and then either resell them or hire property management companies to act as gatekeepers to keep prospective renters out unless they are able to jump through the hoops of strict rental requirements.

Elderly landlords end up selling to real estate investors instead of a family or passing down the houses or apartment buildings to relatives. Or maybe the relatives sell the buildings to investors. Private landlords blame the pandemic for bad tenant practices (such as skipping out on the rent or damaging the property) and they also have sold their houses to investors.

Again, this is not a new practice. It's just that the pandemic made the problem worse. And I've witnessed first hand (having been homeless now several times) in Bellingham, Washington, Brattleboro and Montpelier Vermont and now, Erie, Pennsylvania.

This is a problem because the charities are for the people with the most traumatic problems such as addiction, severe mental and physical disabilities, victims of domestic violence, people with learning disabilities, and the elderly. It's also there for single parents who don't earn enough money to raise their children.

The remaining renters and prospective homebuyers who find themselves on the edge of homelessness or are already homeless (which includes couch surfing, living in motels, vacation rentals or shelters or the streets) have an education. Many of us are highly qualified professionals but our professions have been downsized. Or we are suffering from a chronic illness or lost our secure rental and have been tossed into a rental market where the rents are increasing daily.

This does affect the workforce. This does prevent artists, musicians, and entrepreneurs from making a living because they don't have a solid home base. The bold ones live out of a sprinter van (those who can afford one). Some have lived in campers and some have built tiny homes (which is what I would like to do). I know of one business owner who is going to be selling her shop because she can't find stable housing.

There's another solution. And that is intentional or purposeful house sharing. And here is how it works. Obviously, we want to handpick people (friends, family, and those we have commonalities with). These houses can revolve around the arts, spirituality, or could be a household of people starting a business together. It could be a household of animal advocates and so on.

There needs to be a written agreement of what is expected of each other. And it's best that the people share their degree of cleanliness with others. So, you don't want to match hoarders and disorganized folks with ones who like order and structure. Trust me, it doesn't work out. There needs to be a shared philosophy and ethics as opposed to dogma which also turns into cult-like behavior. So, if you want to live with vegans, then choose vegans instead of trying to convert a meat eater. This causes bad feelings and strife.

I also see more intentional communities built on land trusts or housing trusts. I see groups coming together and building tiny homes and strawbale houses. Yes, we've seen these ideas floating around in the past and now is the time to act.

The alternative (and I'm sharing this with you as a psychic who has visions) is mass death of people freezing to death or dying from bacterial infections that could have been prevented--yes, including large outbreaks of TB caused by overcrowding of people on the streets of cities and the overcrowding of shelters.

Don't wait for governments to solve the housing crisis. They're more focused on war and activities that bring in profit. It's my hope we get new leadership but I'm not holding my breath. We need to start the house sharing and land trust movements.

And it's up to us to get over this idea that we can't share a home with others because we need to have our own space. A shared house does not suggest that people are sharing bedrooms. Each person does get their own space in the shared space. This is why choosing mature and conscientious people is crucial for success.

Perhaps, you're reading these words and cringing with discomfort. Perhaps you hate me for even mentioning shared housing and alternatives. However, no one is going to curb the investors and the greedy ones will burn in their own graves eventually because of the law of cause and effect. The future is not comfortable and wasn't meant to be. We're in a new age now and sharing resources is part of that age, like it or not. The solution is less painful than what will happen if we don't take this route.