[abalashov]

I've had worse, and experienced the full range from literal slumlord--I say that advisedly and not frivolously--to excellent landlord. One does have to choose one's landlords somewhat carefully. However, on the higher end of housing, I've had very good experiences with this, in the median.

It has been my experience with nearly all of them that you need to limit their exposure to big, capital items, and might need to fix smaller items yourself, at own expense. To run the latter through the landlord is just more trouble than it's worth.

That's okay with me. Very small price to pay for the convenience of not having to own the thing, and moving out essentially whenever I please (no, a 12 mo lease isn't "whenever you please", but compared to a mortgage, it is).

Living in a college town, there's a lot of this "prelease for $((YEAR + 1)) in August of $YEAR" crap going on, which really, really grinds my gears, since it undermines the most cherished aspect of why I rent -- the freedom to move, move often, move quickly.