Landlords factor that in to the rent. Here in Ontario, we have rent control legislation, so rents do not move with the market. However, the landlord is permitted to raise the rents when the cost of maintenance rises.

If you don't want the hassle of actually dealing with maintenance, you can purchase something like a condominium, where a management firm handles the maintenance and you write a cheque each month.

So... I'm suggesting the maintenance issue is orthogonal to the ownership issue.

True, but landlords usually either do their own maintenance or know who's good and cheap. The average person might tend to get ripped off by incompetent or unscrupulous repairmen.

I LIKE home maintenace.