Whatever, but if you have a certain dollar amount of regular maintenance on your house, you'd add $500/mo to the rent if you rented it out. You can buy a house that needs lots of maintenance, and it's going to be cheaper than an equivalent house that doesn't, it'll all wash out in the end.
And: it's all way beyond the point.
Doug and Joanna each live in rent-controlled apartments and love it. Great for them! I would encourage everyone to find ways to live in one of the few places in the US that have rent-control (hey, no one has piped up from Santa Monica; here's your chance, lucky renter!) and simply opt out of the market system and get a great deal for yourselves. Then when you've got your sweet setup, please tell everyone else who doesn't have access to a similar deal that we're all crazy and stupid. Be sure to make it sound like you've generalized your success to the non-rent-controlled unresponsive asshole landlord that is the norm.
That's a sure way to make a point here on the intarwebz. Mission accomplished!
/jordan