I can't fathom why anyone would overpay for these properties when climate catastrophes loom- especially for hot coastal regions. They'd better hope they can flip it to a bigger sucker before that beach is underwater.

  • comi [he/him]
    ·
    3 years ago

    But government will eminent domain land, they don’t give shit about homes?

    • mr_world [they/them]
      ·
      edit-2
      3 years ago

      Yeah the government angle isn't really thought out. They could eminent domain it but then there's court battles. Remember that even Trump couldn't do it for his wall without a lengthy court battle. And that's with the fash-lite in charge. But even if they paid out for the land, they're not going to pay 2021 prices. They'll pay 2040 prices, which will be lower.

      I think the waiting out the storm angle works better. Once all the ice is gone there's nothing other than thermal expansion to cause rise. If you buy big enough tracts you will now own a lot of nice beach land, even if you lose some structures. Then you can sell it for development. If there's one lesson we should have learned, is that people aren't going to learn. They're not going to see the coastline change before their eyes and decide having beach resorts isn't a good idea. They're not going to stop building houses on the coast just because something bad happened. But an investment that long, this could take 20 years or more, is super risky. Normally long term investments are attractive because they're less risky. But this has too many ways it could go wrong. Including the government forcing them to give it up. The problem is also a matter of price. Buying a $20mil property in 2021 and selling it for $5 min 2040 isn't good. The only way it would work is if you or just a few cohorts own it all and can fix prices. Then you just have to hold on selling until development is begging you to buy it. But then again they could just choose to develop new areas that take off in popularity and make your property even more worthless.

      IDK. There's a reason they're doing it. I can't really think like a capitalist even when I try. Maybe it is a more short term thing where they hope they can take advantage of a bubble and get out before there's even any flooding.