It wouldn't surprise me if they are personally a frustrated renter who can't see or manage the expectations that are making them frustrated. Been there, it sucks. Turns out I had a deeply manipulative set of folks around me at the time, and I was also wildly desensitized/in denial to my own needs.

I cannot express how much pain occurred to figure that out! Still occurring.

The good news for them is, in 5-10 years the dynamics will likely look very different. It's already been changing against landlords, for instance with the covid rent holds, rent control expanding in some areas, cost of money rising and changing market dynamics, etc. I expect a lot of landlords will be trying to exit shortly, and the ones who think they can't are going to be trying to squeeze as much return as they can - as their expected future return due to speculative property prices disappears.

So poster - it might be more worthwhile taking an inventory of who is around you (and if the influence they have is helping you), what YOU actually want your life to look like long term and your own values, and figure out how to get there and if you're willing to pay that price or not.