[kazinator]

Rental buildings also pay taxes and maintenance, and have mortgages with interest. These costs are passed down to the renters. All the blood-sucking leeches are there (the government, banks, and the building itself) plus one more blood-sucking leech: the landlord.

[BrainInAJar]

That's fine, someone's getting the money, but the total cost of living there still ends up much lower than the total cost of living in an owned condo.

[kazinator]

If that is so, it means that whoever owns it is subsidizing you to live there. That owner lives somewhere else (paying a cost of living there), and also pays to make up the difference between your cost of living in the rental unit and the true cost. If so, that's a temporary situation. The rent will creep up to eventually close the gap.