Counter thought:

Rent is going up A LOT every year. My parent's house in a similar area is not, even with extra taxes, it is far lower than what I pay.

They fix up something, its fixed. We have a problem -- it will be fixed in the cheapest possible terribly looking way.

And rent keeps going up. All the time. By so much.

There's flexibility in it when you're in your 20s. But in 30s and 40s its terrible.