Nobody is against modest fees for upkeep. Landlords don’t need to exist for people to pay some fees to maintain a property.

You're completely missing the point here. Yes, being a landlord in some areas can be practically unprofitable... but those landlords aren't the problem, the greedy/corporate landlords that buy large amounts of housing for the express purpose of turning a profit are.

That said, I know what upkeep on a house is like, and I understand that it's not for everybody. But, we should have more people owning homes so that they can cultivate the skills necessary to be less reliant on landlords, or we could have the upkeep and maintenance be part of some social program(s), enabling more people to be homeowners.