1 - first, so what? second, nobody needs to live "there". They can move to a different rental.
2 - moving isn't "that" expensive. It's a pain in the ass, but you can do it in a weekend with a few hundred dollar moving truck. You might be able to raise rates a few percent, but you can't just move them significantly above market.
> It's a pain in the ass, but you can do it in a weekend with a few hundred dollar moving truck.
Let me guess: no kids, haven't lived in your place very long, don't know your neighbors, don't have family nearby, don't live in a city with substantial pressure on housing, and you make over the median income.
> You might be able to raise rates a few percent, but you can't just move them significantly above market.
That you can't imagine something doesn't always mean it's not possible. It can mean the world is more complex than you expect.
I'm glad that you have such an easy and comfortable life that moving is no big deal, but that's just not true for everyone on the planet.
Let's see. I moved last summer, from a place I lived in for seven years. Check. I'm married, kid on the way, I knew my neighbors, and I have family nearby. You were so close. (I do make over the median income, so you did get that one.)
If your landlord raises their rates to double the market value, move. If you don't, that just means you're doing it wrong.
So you're telling me that in one weekend with one truck, you packed everything for a family, moved it, unpacked it, and had total expenses of a few hundred bucks? Congrats on being a minimalist. When I see most people do it, though, they take a couple of months of spare time to prep and months more to get everything situated and recover.
Yes, sure, if the rent is doubled, one should probably move despite the hassle. But the point is that landlords can take advantage of the asymmetry in cost/difficulty of changing places to hike rents. Nobody would move because the landlord was charging them $1/yr above what they could pay elsewhere. Most would move if it were double. The landlord's advantage is somewhere in between.
Most people don't have $12,500 sitting around in the bank, or often even enough to rent a truck for the weekend. Some people work multiple jobs and can't even carve out a full day to move houses. Some people aren't in the best physical health (due to age or disability) and cannot actually move their own stuff.
You've described the typical SF tech worker and decided that everyone is like that. Might want to broaden your horizons a bit.
Regardless, you don't get the security deposit back until a few weeks after you've moved out. Never seen a truck rental or moving company who is all like "sure, you can pay us in a month". A bit of a chicken-and-egg problem, there.
2 - moving isn't "that" expensive. It's a pain in the ass, but you can do it in a weekend with a few hundred dollar moving truck. You might be able to raise rates a few percent, but you can't just move them significantly above market.