Not Always Opposites

Tony Hicks (SJ Mercury photo)

During the Bay Area's affordable-housing crisis I have become acquainted with small landlords who have voluntarily frozen the rents on their condos, townhouses, and homes. They will keep the rent the same as it was five, even ten, years ago, though the agreement is month-to-month; the rent won't change as long as the current tenant wants to live there.

Why do these landlords do it? Typically they're retired, have enough money and property to support a comfortable but not overly lavish lifestyle, and have real estate without debt or noisome equity partners. They have compassion for their tenants' finances and are often religious.

One such landlord (he would fit right in with the people I know) is Tony Hicks, who has decided to sell out. That isn't news, but this is: [bold added]

Hicks told his 11 tenants he would soon place the three homes he owns on the market. He expected disappointment. Instead, most wanted to move with him to Colorado....

Rising prices, high taxes and his suspicion that the next big earthquake is just a few tremors away convinced the retired engineer to put his South San Jose properties up for sale.

It helps that the landlord and tenants are culturally simpatico:

The landlord and tenants came together through Hick’s rental ads on Craigslist and in the newspaper over the last two decades. They grew close with common bonds of conservative politics, religious faith and motorcycles....

Most of the men are divorced, widowed or never married, and many suffer from health ailments and a crankiness exacerbated by Bay Area traffic, crowding and the state’s liberal policies on crime and immigration.

I still like it here and am not making plans to leave. However, I am getting crankier....