This is a super-useful article, and there are many cases where the cost of buying, owning, and selling a home is higher than that of renting. But sometimes ownership costs less than renting, and often—generally when you stay long enough—it can cost a lot less. One place in this article that hints why is when he says that in 2011 his mortgage was $2,329.92, whereas now 15 years later it's $2,440.48. That is a tiny crawl upward, nowhere near the rate of inflation. If he'd been paying $2,329.92 monthly in rent in 2011, he'd now be paying about $4,100. Inflation hits renters much harder than homeowners. Appreciation (a form of inflation) tends to help homeowners more than hurt them. Nerdwallet's rent vs buy calculator is quite sophisticated and can help you reason about your own situation. https://www.nerdwallet.com/mortgages/calculators/rent-vs-buy...