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Comment by code_runner | Hacker News Reader

this is an interesting distinction but I don't know enough to totally wrap my head around it. Can you expand a bit on how a home would have no mortgage but that same homeowner would?

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One person owning multiple homes..

Or a company owning hundreds of homes.

I have a few friends who had major liquidity events happen to them and they each own 3-5 homes as investment homes. I believe these properties were paid full in full and in cash, so no mortgage.

This small proportion of my friends is mortgage free, but they own multiple houses so a fairly large proportion of my friends houses are mortgage free.

Blackrock and other funds buy thousands of homes and rent them out. Those are mortgage free homes.

Why would they pay cash instead of getting big loans for multiple properties at a favorable rate?

You can still finance the properties with debt, without it being a mortgage.

For example, taking out a single large loan, then using that to purchase many properties with "cash".

You're probably thinking of Blackstone which spunoff from Blackrock in the 1980s.

Further reading:

https://www.blackrock.com/us/individual/insights/buying-hous...

https://www.blackstone.com/housing/our-track-record-in-housi...

https://www.helpadvisor.com/retirement/blackrock-vs-the-blac...

https://fintel.io/news/blackrock-now-owns-490-of-blackstone-...

A distinction without a difference - they're both in the same rent-seeking model.

I guess, except Blackrock literally does not buy houses whereas Blackstone owns "0.03% of single-family homes in the US" and rents them out.

A distinction that seems entirely relevant to the claim "Blackrock [...] buy thousands of homes and rent them out."

This article claims otherwise [1]

"BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street have notably been making substantial investments in single-family homes across America. Their housing acquisitions are primarily conducted through real estate investment trusts (REITs), including home-rental companies. BlackRock, for example, is heavily invested in Invitation Homes. A company that owns and operates over 80,000 rental homes in the U.S. "

[1] https://businessandfinances.com/2023/09/investment-giants-bu...

If it’s such an infinitesimally small portion then why defend the position instead of just shedding the assets? I don’t trust their whitewashing at all.

Blackfund should sell but they won’t until they’ve extracted the blood they think they deserve.

A home owner might own multiple homes

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