[sokoloff]

I agree with your premise that the cash flows from the tenant to pay for these things, just like employers don’t pay salaries but rather customers pay salaries and the employer just handles the money. (I disagree that property taxes are the only charge to exclusively occupy a structure. Purchase price and property taxes [and insurance] are.)

My parents were (very) small-time landlords having 0, 1, or 2 houses (or half-houses) at the time while I was growing up.

The reason that I’ve stayed away from doing it is that I saw firsthand just how much work it actually is, notwithstanding the claims from people (almost invariably never-landlords) about how easy it is.