Totally agree there are some sizeable maintenance costs, I’ve had to do a roof, windows, remodeling, plumbing, all kinds of stuff. It’s still lots less than the purchase price. And I had to pay them on top of the mortgage, it’s not like maintenance waits to start until the mortgage is paid off, right? Paying off the mortgage simply eliminated one money drain for me but didn’t change the other, so my average monthly expenditure went down.