The Ethics of Home Ownership

Altruism can raise its ugly head in myriad, and often surprising, ways. An example comes from, Desiree Lim,  an assistant professor of philosophy at Penn State. In an article titled “The ethics of home ownership in an age of growing inequality,” she asserts that “[h]omebuyers also have ethical obligations to others.”

Lim goes on to argue that buying property in gentrifying neighborhoods could contribute to the “forced displacement” of long-term residents. This, she writes, should be reason for potential homebuyers to “perhaps avoid” purchasing a home in such neighborhoods. In other words, aspiring homebuyers should place the needs of others before their own needs and desires.

Lim claims that

Purchasing property as a primary home is considered more ethical than acquiring property for investment, as housing is considered a basic necessity.

She does not explicitly explain why, but we can safely infer her reason: investing in property is purely for personal profit. That, she implies is bad. According to altruism, and Lim, we have a moral obligation to place the interests of others before our own self-interest. We must place the needs of others before our own personal profit.

Lim conveniently ignores the fact that purchasing a property as a primary residence is in one’s self-interest (assuming that one can afford it). Such a purchase can provide many benefits to the homeowner, including the accumulation of equity—i.e., personal profit. Lim provides no reason why pursuing personal profit is ethical in one context and unethical in another.

In truth, purchasing a property for investment purposes is highly ethical. In doing so, the owner is creating a value. My own experiences serve as an example.

I have owned a dozen rental properties and “fixed and flipped” another nine. All of these properties were distressed in one form or another, and the owners were desperate to sell. All required extensive repairs, which the owners could not afford and was a reason why they were desperate to sell. The cost of those repairs ranged from $20,000 to more than $60,000.

With the exception of one property, all of the houses purchased for rental were vacant and barely habitable. I invested a significant amount of money and time to transform these properties into an attractive and habitable home. And I did so in order to make a profit. This, Lin would have us believe, is unethical because I placed my interests before the needs of others.

However, if we consider the full context, I pursued my interests by serving the needs of others. I provided a safe home for individuals who could not afford to purchase and rehab a property. They needed a home, and I desired a profit for providing it. It was (and remains) a mutually beneficial trade. However, Lim and her ilk would have us believe  that my actions are unethical because they do not involve the self-sacrifice that altruism demands.

Altruism’s call for sacrifice isn’t limited to material values. It also requires us to sacrifice our own independent judgment.

If we are to place the interests and needs of others before our own, then we cannot act as our own judgment indicates. For example, if I judge a rent of $1,300 to be necessary to earn a reasonable profit, altruism demands that I ignore that evaluation. Instead, I should charge a rent that satisfies the needs of renters.

Lim herself unwittingly provides an example of this. While questioning whether home ownership is ethical, she fails to provide a definitive answer. Doing so would require her to exercise her own independent judgment. Instead, she remains noncommittal.

For example, she writes that homebuyers “should perhaps avoid” buying a home in a gentrifying neighborhood. “Should perhaps” is ambiguous and meaningless. As another example, she writes that the “ethics of renting our property, then, seems to turn partly on whether renters need it for long-term basic shelter.” Again, “seems to turn partly” is about as noncommittal as one can be. Lim raises an ethical question, and then hems and haws when attempting to provide an answer.

Altruism paralyzes the mind. Not only does it require us to sacrifice our material values to others, it requires us to sacrifice our own judgment to others.