Why a NYC Real Estate Investor Chose to Shift to Safer Investments from Landlord “Golden Age”

Real estate investing has traditionally been seen as one of the most reliable methods to build wealth. However, according to Ben Carlos Thypin, a well-known New York City real estate investor, the “golden age” of being a landlord is over and he is now turning to safer investments. Thypin believes that the cost of owning and renting out properties has risen dramatically, and he is also disturbed by the growing political movement of tenants’ rights groups fighting for just cause evictions, against rent hikes, and for other tenant-protection measures.

This trend is becoming increasingly visible, as RentCafé recently reported that in 41% of the zip codes in the 50 largest US cities, renters have outnumbered homeowners. Despite the push for reform of tenant-protection laws, much of this advocacy has been unsuccessful and real estate policies favor new property creation instead of protecting existing tenants.

While Thypin did point to research on how policies in the 1950s helped create a property ownership boom, today he believes there is a growing class of renters who are more mobilized than ever before and that the homeowner demographic that was so powerful in the past has now dropped significantly. Thypin is thus pursuing an “orderly liquidation” of his properties and confidently investing in Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities, which provide more security and less pressure since no additional funds are required for upkeep.

Roisin Isner from the San Francisco Tenants Union believes that despite Thypin’s assessment of the situation, the power balance of landlords amuses preferential tax policies and other sweetheart deals. However, Shanti Singh from California Tenants Together largely agreed with Thypin, pointing to politicians’ growing attention to renters as a voting bloc, but without much impacting landlords’ profits.

Overall, it appears that despite being traditionally praised, the glory days of being a landlord could be quickly winding down as tenants become more organized around their rights and costs for ownership and renting out properties continue to rise.