I backed the PS version of a game three years ago and they released it for PC but not for PlayStation. They still claim the PS release is coming. I don’t believe them, so I pirated the PC version.
Crowdfunding is scammy. You aren’t actually buying anything and have few rights or consumer protections. Stay away.
Encourage your friends to commit to leaving if they have the means to do so. Within your friends’ lifetimes, the USA will never get better than it is right now (and overall it’s unprecedentedly bad right now).
To OP’s question: I don’t really consider their aunt’s ownership of a few houses to be a practical problem, and she is generally not who I am referring to when I say that landlords are terrible parasites, unless she overcharges (and no, I don’t mean above market rate) or treat the tenants with disrespect. She was told her whole life that investing in real estate is a smart thing to do and provides financial security.
The problem is with lack of regulations, such as how many buildings someone is allowed to own, corporate ownership, rent prices…things like that.