Rent pays maintenance costs, too it's just forcibly amortized and externalized. Higher-density housing like apartments and condos do have scale efficiencies red

Rent pays maintenance costs, too it's just forcibly amortized and externalized. Higher-density housing like apartments and condos do have scale efficiencies reduce per-unit/occupant maintenance costs. But the difference between renting and buying is somewhat apples to oranges if you're comparing renting an apartment to buying a house.