We rented a couple of apartments for years, our longest tenant lived with us for 12 years. It should be mentioned that this was a rental out in rural nowhere,

We rented a couple of apartments for years, our longest tenant lived with us for 12 years. It should be mentioned that this was a rental out in rural nowhere, so no dramatic price hikes. The house was also paid off years before it became a rental. Our family did janitorial services, which usually came to fixing some smaller things once or twice a year. Nothing extreme. For us, it was smooth sailing. I really think the key was rent stability. From previous personal experience as a renter in a high cost of living area, though, it seemed like landlords were extremely focused on raising rent. If they felt that they couldn't raise rent enough (where I live there are regulations), they'd try every trick in the book to cancel your tenancy contract/agreement, because then they could set a new rent for the next one. Some such units were more or less revolving doors with new tenants every 1-2-3 years. Only as a student did I see slummy apartments rented out by actual slumlords. Those were professional landlords that owned tens to hundreds of rentals, aimed at students, and seemed to follow a strict maximize rent/minimize upkeep philosophy.