Very Interesting Question...
It all boils down to Zoning Laws in your area. Typically every section of land in a county is divided into "zones."
Each Zone has allowable uses. There are Industrial Zones, Retail Zones, Manufacturing Zones, and different types of Residential Zones.
If you were to rent a Industrial Property for Residential Use you could get into hot water with city zoning. You could be liable for fines and city zoning would put a quick stop to it. To change zoning is expensive and not always possible to do.
Dorene Slavitz
Residential & Commerical Real Estate