25% flipping tax??? Not cool.

[Jeff Schneider]

Let's not get into politics but since we're all like minded-ish investors, read this and let us know what do you think of forcing market changes, area changes, affordability, excessive taxing etc?

https://theweek.com/speedreads/865930/bernie-sanders-proposes-25-percent-house-flipping-tax-new-housing-plan

[Chris Mason]

I really don't get why folks vilify flippers. When a hoarder home or chopshop with illegal squatters is turned over, that does nothing but a) reduce neighborhood crime b) increase values of the 10 houses to the left/right and across the street c) increase the safety of the neighborhood, and d) remove blight. Often this is above/beyond the power of local law enforcement to accomplish the same. 

When I see a house purchased by an anonymous LLC in my neighborhood and then see all the workers show up, and I start hearing those loud construction noises at 9:01 AM from a block or three away, it makes me genuinely happy. This is a good thing for me, not a bad thing. And do I spite that flipper for making a buck? Heck no, and odds are I made a buck too, in terms of what I could sell the house I own for!

In my particular case I'm in the SF Bay Area, so that blighted house being turned over (maybe we should stop using the word "flip"?) is probably also increasing the housing supply, something much needed around here.