Sorry, I meant in the sense some places you see and some places not and this should inform your choice.
Efficient markets is like every hypothesis, it has various probabilities of working in various conditions. Usually we need a fluid market, something that is not like De Beers diamonds, but more like a market with a million homes on a city and hundreds of thousands of speculating homeowners. A market where it is easy to be a vendor and thus collusion and rigging is unlikely. Where the barrier to enter is low. Houses are really close to an ideal market, you won't start a mutual fund tomorrow, nor open a Michelin-star restaurant, but you could be landlord really easily. Suppose you don't want to profit in such a market just prevent others from profiting off you i.e. save that kind of money, which is the renters dilemma. Then the algorithm is really simple 1. is anyone profiting off me? 2. are there a lot of people profiting off people like me?
Renter who rent from private landlords can make an efficient decision just by inviting the guy over to a beer or five. You have no job? Rent out ten apartments and basically do this for a living? You have a nice car and holidays in good places? Well, fuck you I am off to buy a house :)
I think the question is whether someone may be leeching you off needs not be a theoretical question. This is what I mean under efficient markets: if you don't see a leech, and see an improvement opportunity nevertheless, be aware of hidden costs.
You have a nice car and holidays in good places? Well, fuck you I am off to buy a house :)
Well, as Marx could have told you, you need the initial capital to start :-D
But yes, it's a common way of earning money. Typically you buy a house in dire need of TLC (because it's cheap), fix it yourself, and then rent it. There are a lot of people who are landlords and rent is their primary source of income.
It's not all roses, of course -- it's just a business and like any business it has its own failure modes.
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