For me personally, the two main factors that made me buy a home (and avoid renting anything when not required) are stability and control. Renting leaves those up to a third party, ownership means you're the master of your own domain.

That's important for both political and social reasons, and for peace of mind ones. For example, I know way too many people who rented a place, treated it well, paid exactly what they needed to and who were model tenants... that then got kicked out in short order because the landlord decided they'd make more money selling the property or by trying to find new (and better paying) inhabitants.

Owning means not worrying about that situation. About being told you've got a few months to get lost, and the resulting pressure to find a new place before homelessness sets in.

There's also the political side. I know rental agreements are stronger than many similar ones in other industries, and that it seems unlikely now, but renting feels like you're leaving your life and usage of a service up to the whims of a third party, and one that could easily decide to terminate said service if you get into a controversy or legal trouble. We've all seen cases where large companies kicked out customers that made them look bad, even when what they were doing was entirely legal.

Owning things means you don't lose them if someone else hates you and everything you stand for, and gives you stability when you get caught in drama of any kind.

Meanwhile, the control side can't be overstated here. Landlords can decide you can't alter the property in any way, including hanging up paintings or shelves or changing the lighting. They can decide that pets aren't allowed, or how many people can live at a property. They can refuse to upgrade or install services that might be necessary for many of us, like high-speed internet.

Owning means you're the one that chooses how you want to decorate the property, what changes can be made, and who/what can live there. I can choose to have everything remodelled or reinstalled or replaced depending on my tastes, to have pets or roommates, to upgrade or install whatever services I need and how I want everything room laid out and decorated.

For me, that's how I treat basically everything. Why give up stability and control for convenience in any situation? I don't lease vehicles, use streaming services or rent any physical object, and I avoid digital games and cloud services unless absolutely necessary.