Buying is cheaper than renting in most of the country, it's only in coastal markets with exceptionally high home prices that this isn't true. There's a basic formula you can use called "price-to-rent" that helps you calculate this for your area. Where I currently live I was able to buy a house for $285k that would cost $2500/mo to rent in the current market, which is an extremely favorable price-to-rent ratio. If the ratio is not over 20, it's better to buy in your market.

While it may not be well known to many, there are mid-sized cities all across the middle of the country where you can buy houses as cheaply as $150k in this year of our lord 2026, but rent generally will be no less than $1000/mo. Private equity and software like RealPage have had a nationwide impact of driving up rental costs, but this hasn't necessarily caused housing prices to skyrocket in places in middle America where there aren't a lot of natural reasons to want to move there.

So sure, owning a home might cost more than renting on paper in California, but that's not true in a lot of parts of the country. Even then, the financial aspects aren't the only parts that matter.

> My 1983 home had been used as a rental for years, so much of the maintenance had been neglected.

The author is acknowledging a reality without acknowledging it, also. Rentals are not well cared for. Most landlords do not keep up with repairs, maintenance, and improvements, and you are going to get to deal with the poor quality of living situation as a renter as a consequence. You get to control this when you own your home, and while it is an expense, it's a fair expense you can manage yourself.