I have watched people forego beautiful, perfect apartments because of the word “fee.” It’s like the word “tax” — neither is inherently bad, but we view them as bad. Also, as you may not realize, rent is basically just a fee, since you do not build equity and it’s not going towards anything you own. You are paying for a service, just like if you’re paying an agent to help you secure an apartment (because it’s not just clicking a button and voila, all done).