>In a free market, rent will always be higher than cost of a property. ...In the long run, and on average. Economic "laws" aren't ironclad; people are free to

>In a free market, rent will always be higher than cost of a property. ...In the long run, and on average. Economic "laws" aren't ironclad; people are free to make all kinds of poor decisions, and they do. This is the foundation of the parable of the economist walking down the street and refusing to pick up the $20 bill, because if it were real, someone already would have. We know how things should work, but they often don't. That's what is interesting.