> and having extremely predictable payments for years

I’d argue rental is more predictable. Housing has a huge amount of upkeep — $10k ac, $5k water heater, $20k roof…

American homes are weird that roof costs are something that occurs.

Last house I owned in the U.K. was 60 years old, original roof. Was advised it might need $10k of work if I wanted to out 10kWp of solar on it to the weight of the tiles.

$180 a year into a “roof fund” doesn’t seem extreme to me.

If you don't have cash savings as a homeowner, you can leverage a home equity loan or line of credit to cover those emergency bills. In times of extreme low interest rates, it may even be beneficial to do that vs. paying with cash.

If your household is a typical HN high earner, and you are early in your mortgage's amortization schedule, the tax money you save by deducting interest can fund a $10k emergency repair fund too. Maybe even in less than a year.

Predictable for a year or two, yes. I know how much I'll be paying a decade from now, exempting property tax and insurance fluctuations.