it's a myth that tenants create maintenance costs. anyone living in a space creates maintenance needs. that's called wear and tear. there are also some kinds of maintenance that happen even if no one is living there, like roof repair or replacing a furnace.

owning property means needing to cover the costs of the property, whether you personally live there or not.

so landlords are really only giving up one thing, which is their own ability to stay in the property. many of them don't even want to stay in their properties anyway. so why do they have the property at all?