If you believe owning rental units is "(mis?)appropriating" wealth, I dearly hope you are divested from the stock market and avoid keeping your money in banks. The former is exactly the same thing, and the latter is contributory to it.

This would be more persuasive if you explained how charging market rate for rent is worse than some alternative you had in mind.

Of course, moving into an area drives up demand making prices go up, but that comes from taking up space someone else could use, not from buying versus renting. The only way to avoid that is to use less space or move away.

Then demand for rental property goes up, rental unit supply goes up, and people like me get cheaper rent