Rent is meant to kick you down and make sure you stay down. Just go to apartments.com and type in some random city in America and look at rent. If you never have disposable income, then you are a more obedient slave to the system. Rent is the biggest scam that takes away your ability to do anything free. It wouldn't surprise me if your rent is more than 50% of what you make in a month.
Real estate is also bullshit because it just creates more bullshit jobs like real estate agents who charge 50% broker fee. This is just rent-seeking, pun intended. I guess you could say that having a profit incentive would mean the professional business managing the property would ensure the property is in good condition, yet there are many shitty landlords who do the minimum to fix things in the apartment.