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> So what are the added costs that landlords are "saving" renters from? Utilities will generally cost a bit more. But the real killers with home ownership ten

• dqv 4y ago
  I already addressed this: all these costs are already factored into the monthly rent. In my case I had to replace the dishwasher. I wanted a quiet one, so it ran about $1200. I bought it on credit and got 0% financing. So my housing price increases by $100 for the next year. Now if I were renting? $2000/month. The landlord gets the absolute cheapest dishwasher they can find. It maybe runs them $300. So the landlord would be saving me ... $-475. Paying $5700 extra a year to avoid a $300 added cost makes no sense. Paying $6000 a year in perpetuity for a one-time expense that lasts the next 20 years also makes no sense. The point is that the tenant is not being protected from any added costs, they are paying way above market value for them.
• jjav 4y ago
  > But the real killers with home ownership tend to be large expenses that come due all at once. All these expenses (plus a profit margin) are built into the rent, of course. Two ways the owner handles them: Either they have enough money saved that they can absorb the spikes in cost, or, they contract some maintenance plan they have to pay every month but smooths out the costs to avoid surprises.