If you have a landlord, you are paying rent and not condo fees. If you are paying condo fees then it goes to maintenance and utilities. As for maintenance - you

If you have a landlord, you are paying rent and not condo fees. If you are paying condo fees then it goes to maintenance and utilities. As for maintenance - you have many residents but also more property to maintain so how would it turn "trivial"? You also have maintenance costs that you usually don't get in a SFH - elevators, trash chutes, pools, parking structures etc. You only save on roof and siding and not even that much as a condo building usually has more expensive roof and siding (both in materials and labor) than a SFH.