Far too simplistic a sentiment. Try buying real estate, even something simple like residential. The last home I bought was 1) part of an HOA with a full set o

Far too simplistic a sentiment. Try buying real estate, even something simple like residential. The last home I bought was 1) part of an HOA with a full set of restrictions and responsibilities; 2) the sales contract explicitly excluded mineral rights.... existing in a neighborhood which was known to have commercially viable oil reserves under the ground this wasn't surprising; and 3) had any number of easements for things like utility access and the like. And I assure you, other than the mineral rights exclusion which I did not own, we were in all ways treated by the law as owners. Absolutely others had certain rights which I agreed to at the time of sale: but ultimately I was the owner and if push came to shove I'd be treated as such by the law. My currently place isn't so dissimilar... save for any mention of mineral rights... though there are even more complex arrangements of common property co-operative ownership and management as I now live in a townhouse, in a complex of townhouses, built partially above a retail property.