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Is it Greedflation?

Is it Greedflation?




At the risk of offending the owners on here, I read an article on what has been call greedflation and can see the similiarities to the rental increases particularly below the Oregon Inlet. The article was about a famous charcoal purveyor, and I followed that with stories on what is going on with Ford , GM and Ram pickup oversupply.
Simply put, these companies and others are accused of raising prices way out of proportion to the real costs by simply adding extra profit. All of these companies find themselves in a huge mess with large unsold inventories and a disgruntled customer base who is simply looking elsewhere now for their desired product. I have been following and posting on several recent boards here on these costs. specificall to the ridiculous rental increases that arrived post shutdown 2020 simply because the owners could, or were coerced to raise their prices by their PM. Nobody should complain on costs if they simply followed inflation and real costs whether they be insurance, utilities ,ect. But to double , tripple and more the rental costs for a week strikes many as wrong. I know, I know - if you don't like it go somewhere else, but after visiting the obx most every year since 1968 - (yea I am old)
I don't like what I see going on. We have moved from in season , to shoulder, to now what was offseason and have no other timeframe left.


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RE: Is it Greedflation?




I don't think it is greedflation; I think it is just a free market economy working as it should. When demand increases without an increase in supply; prices will rise. Sellers costs are immaterial; they should price based on what the market will bear. Free market economy is what made America great.


RE: Is it Greedflation?




The real estate boom on the OBX dramatically increased home prices and values. When these homes changed hands all the costs to own and run those properties went up as well. Even existing home owners saw their insurance costs go through the roof, add to that surging inflation on everything else and this is what you get. You wanna talk about greed-flation look to those who control the money printing machines at the central banks. The problem is it's just intellectually easier to scream "greed" at homeowners than to examine the real causes. The bankers and elites LOVE that though. They love it most when peasants blame other peasants for what they've done....that's where they get their humor from.


RE: Is it Greedflation?




I think you will find that the majority of home owners on Hatteras rent their homes to offset their expenses, not for greed and profit. I assure you that we were happy to break even before we pulled our home from the rental market. As BF indicated, costs for everything have gone up, so I can't fault homeowners for increasing their fees. There are always exceptions, but I will say that owning a home on HI will give you a better understanding of what it takes cost wise and personal time/effort to rent it out. Give it a shot, maybe you will love it and become wealthier than you could ever imagine...or maybe you won't have the stomach for it.


RE: Is it Greedflation?




Call it anything you wish. All I know is the published government rate of inflation is much lower than the price increases I see in the goods and services I buy.


RE: Is it Greedflation?




Call it anything you wish. All I know is the published government rate of inflation is much lower than the price increases I see in the goods and services I buy.

NCSU Dad


That's because it's a rigged political number just like unemployment.


RE: Is it Greedflation?




The takeaway is that more houses are being built.

Sitting at well over 100 percent occupancy, the issue isn’t greed. The issue is the lack of supply of enough rental properties. Alternatively, the issue is an oversupply of people who want to rent. People just can't afford the market prices.

By well over 100 percent I mean that everything is booked. Should a week open up again it is booked in minutes if not hours.

What is here presented as greed on the part of owners is instead a lack of resources on the part of those who would like to visit. That is a characteristic of every market. I can’t afford a Maserati. I instead buy a Ford. Maserati isn’t greedy. I just can’t afford it.

To allow more to come build more rental properties. The supply will increase and if enough are built the supply will exceed demand. At that point, rental prices will fall.

You can’t mess with the demand side and lower rental prices. Doing something like increasing the price of gas through a tax won’t make the trip more affordable.

I have seen the expansion of the supply side happening over the last year as several houses are being built. Not enough. But some. That might continue ….




RE: Is it Greedflation?




I wouln't believe any numbers coming out from Washington today !


RE: Is it Greedflation?




Can we set some things aside for a minute. Let's set aside the notion that making a profit is greed. If you sell widgets that cost $50 each to make you will not survive selling them for $50. What we see is the result of demand at the same time that there was money floating around. Three years ago you couldn't fly to go on vacation, and suddenly the outer banks seemed like a great destination. We also got lots of stimulus money from Uncle Sam. Who among us didn't take that money and run? We took stimulus money and got a second week out there in the summer of 2020, and so did a lot of people. High demand, and lots of extra money floating around and it doesn't take an MBA from Harvard to figure out the result. The market will sort things out.


RE: Is it Greedflation?




It's very easy to call it "greedflation" when you aren't the one taking the risk of purchasing, maintaining and renting out a beach vacation house. Until you are an owner you have no idea of the amount of money it takes. Why don't you try it out sometime and see if your opinion changes? Wink smiley


RE: Is it Greedflation?




I don't think it's greedflation. More like opporunflation. Are people and businesses maximizing profits? Absolutely. This is happening at all levels of the supply chain and it all gets rolled up and the consumer pays the higher price. Or they don't and then you start to see prices slowly decline (they never go down as fast as they go up though).

The last company I worked for (went to another job 2 months ago) was a wholesaler. I was involved in many executive and sales meetings. Yes, companies know exactly what they are doing right now and will continue until they can't anymore. Then they will blame the down turn on the economy and say they need to downsize, causing the workers that are left to have to work even harder.

The good news is prices at the manufacturing level were starting to drop last Winter. The bad news is that the wholesalers are holding on to their pricing or slowly bringing them down. I actually had to write a custom pricing program for this because a lot of our pricing was margin based, but they didn't want our price to drop in relation to the cost. It does make sense because of inventory, but when your turns are high, it makes less sense.

TLDR: Yes, it's happening, but it's perfectly legal and some will say the American way. I both support it and also don't like it because it really hurts the middle and lower classes. How's that for riding both sides of the fence? Big grin


RE: Is it Greedflation?




A lot of factors leading to the increases....plug in any prime week on the OBX and there are houses available for rent, it will correct. Days of pandemic driven 100% occupancy and strong shoulder seasons are over.


RE: Is it Greedflation?




Wow. Surprised by the number of likes the first posts is getting. I guess it's pushed a little too far. Unfortunately, there are still people willing to pay the increases. Some of them are from the north where the Outer Banks prices are actually lower than they are used to. I really hate to stereotype, but I can't help it here. I don't want the jersey shore crowd down here. Sad smiley





RE: Is it Greedflation?




It is an eye opener, for sure. Not sure where the OP is staying, but I will bet, if they've been coming sown since the late 60s, its more than the rent that's changed. I'll bet those places had no TV, ac or telephone. Now, most renters expect pools or hot tubs, game rooms, beach gear and the works. Cottages are replaced by homes that can house 40 people. What is all of that supposed to cost? All of that, in addition to what has been said already about supply and demand.
Wonder where you will find a vacation at the beach for what you feel isn't greedy?


RE: Is it Greedflation?




Wow. Surprised by the number of likes the first posts is getting. I guess it's pushed a little too far. Unfortunately, there are still people willing to pay the increases. Some of them are from the north where the Outer Banks prices are actually lower than they are used to. I really hate to stereotype, but I can't help it here. I don't want the jersey shore crowd down here. Sad smiley

J4yDubs


This could be some kind of record!


RE: Is it Greedflation?





This could be some kind of record!

Squid Pro Quo

The mail-in dislikes haven't been counted yet. That will take weeks.


RE: Is it Greedflation?




Where's that thread about demanding pain in the neck renters? It only makes sense (to me anyway) that a $2500/week cottage that's now $4000/week or $5000/week is going to draw guests who expect everything to work and be nice and new and shiny.

Me? I don't mind mismatched silverware, glasses, coffee cups and pots & pans. I even sort of like the mismatched furniture that came from the owner's family room or Goodwill. It's quaint, the way people used to furnish their getaway cottage or fishing shack.

People who wouldn't dream of staying at a Holiday Inn Express or Motel 6 aren't going to be happy paying up for gently used furnishings and Pier One artwork from the discount bin.


RE: Is it Greedflation?




Where's that thread about demanding pain in the neck renters? It only makes sense (to me anyway) that a $2500/week cottage that's now $4000/week or $5000/week is going to draw guests who expect everything to work and be nice and new and shiny.

Me? I don't mind mismatched silverware, glasses, coffee cups and pots & pans. I even sort of like the mismatched furniture that came from the owner's family room or Goodwill. It's quaint, the way people used to furnish their getaway cottage or fishing shack.

People who wouldn't dream of staying at a Holiday Inn Express or Motel 6 aren't going to be happy paying up for gently used furnishings and Pier One artwork from the discount bin.

johnbt


True..there certainly are a lot of fancy-pantsisms involved in this argument. Not that people shouldn't get what they pay for, I'm a free market guy but I find a certain solace in being the riff-raff. (;


RE: Is it Greedflation?




"riff-raff"

I can identify with that.

Twenty-some years ago I used to travel with people I knew through work. It was a loose group of 9 or 10 men and women of different ages. No couples. I was the oldest. We'd go to Grand Bahama Island for a week or to New Orleans for JazzFest. Whatever looked good. We'd go cheap, but stayed on the ocean or in the French Quarter.

They were the sort of folks who would rent beach chairs and tan politely while I would just flop on the sand - sometimes face down without a beach towel.
I'd sit in the dirt at the Fairgrounds for JazzFest and slouch against the dirty walls on Bourbon Street to listen to the bar bands and watch the world go by.

It was a running joke that the drug dealers and hair braiders and hookers only approached me. It was true. I was the most blatantly relaxed person in the bunch, year after year.

Riff-raff indeed. My people.


RE: Is it Greedflation?





This could be some kind of record!

Squid Pro Quo

It's at 76 right now. I wonder what the record is. Didn't think there were that many still visiting OBC, much less liking the OPs post. The user list below is...incomplete I'd say.

Just need to figure out how to get these users to post. Bring the OBC back to life. I know politics and attacks drive people away. Wish others would see that and stop. Actual moderation would probably go a long way...


RE: Is it Greedflation?




Wow. Surprised by the number of likes the first posts is getting. I guess it's pushed a little too far. Unfortunately, there are still people willing to pay the increases. Some of them are from the north where the Outer Banks prices are actually lower than they are used to. I really hate to stereotype, but I can't help it here. I don't want the jersey shore crowd down here. Sad smiley

J4yDubs


Some people might not want the interior Pennsylvania crowd "down here". Sad smiley


RE: Is it Greedflation?





Some people might not want the interior Pennsylvania crowd "down here". Sad smiley

kinakeeter

Laughing smiley Interior Pennsylvania. Ok...


RE: Is it Greedflation?




I think you will find that the majority of home owners on Hatteras rent their homes to offset their expenses, not for greed and profit. I assure you that we were happy to break even before we pulled our home from the rental market. As BF indicated, costs for everything have gone up, so I can't fault homeowners for increasing their fees. There are always exceptions, but I will say that owning a home on HI will give you a better understanding of what it takes cost wise and personal time/effort to rent it out. Give it a shot, maybe you will love it and become wealthier than you could ever imagine...or maybe you won't have the stomach for it.

Fossilridge


This! Yes this!

Greedflation exists right now, and we see it in corporate America where our costs for goods is increasing to levels that we were not prepared for.

The homeowners who rent their homes are not looking to get rich, most of them as Fossilridge said want to break even. To break even now a days costs a lot more than it once did.

The bigger concern I would have about the rental market would be saturation! Have we reached the point where so many homes are available and the area is getting so crowded that the charm is being lost? Right now no because the homes are renting, but that pendulum is swinging towards this place is crowded and not as special as it once was.




RE: Is it Greedflation?





Some people might not want the interior Pennsylvania crowd "down here". Sad smiley

kinakeeter

Laughing smiley Interior Pennsylvania. Ok...

J4yDubs


They are infesting the Delaware beaches! We can send them down your way.


RE: Is it Greedflation?




The homeowners who rent their homes are not looking to get rich, most of them as Fossilridge said want to break even. To break even now a days costs a lot more than it once did.

Bill


In addition, cost of goods and services aside, any home that was sold recently is going carry a hefty mortgage compared to a house that has been owned by the same owner(s) for years. A relative sold a house in Duck in 2020. Her peak rate at that time, $5,800. The new peak season rate, a little over $10,000. I don't know if it's greed or just that my relative owned the house for nearly 20 years and refi'd with a stellar rate, even for a second home, and the new owners just purchased a house at near peak pricing and took on a mortgage starting in 2020. Looking at the pics on the new PM's site they have done very little to the house. The obvious change is that they closed in a cubby designed for old, square TVs and added a mantle. The TV is now mounted above the mantle. That would be a fairly inexpensive change. The house was otherwise in perfect order when sold.


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