Totally agree with all of this. When I was younger I'd heard that owning a home was financially a no-brainer so many times I took it as fact. Boy was I in for a surprise when the reality of actually owning a home kicked in. It's not just the less obvious overall costs that add up, it's also the variance. At any point you can be hit with a sudden expenditure of thousands or tens of thousands of dollars for a major repair.

Owning does give you a lot more control over your life in certain ways, which some will find a lot of value in. If you're someone who likes doing home improvements then buying a house makes a lot of sense.

Whether or not you plan to stay in the area for a while is probably the biggest factor. Buying a house makes it a lot harder to move in the future, but it also means you can't be forced to move. I had a horrible rental experience where I suddenly found out I had to move on short notice. It happened right after starting a stressful new job. Combining those two stressors made for some rough months.

I know a lot of other folks with similar stories of having to scramble out of a property on short notice. Maybe the rent gets jacked up to an unaffordable level, or maybe the landlord who said they were renewing the lease suddenly changes their mind.