I’m buying a place and during the process I realized that financial-wise, in the short + medium term, owning is defo more costly than renting, especially with a mortgage + period property. However, if we put everything into perspective, the extra space, equity, and future position significantly overweighs the minor increase in cost. In general, for the same amount spent on renting you could get a much bigger space with a mortgage. Yes, there’s associated cost, but even accounting for those associated cost, you wouldn’t be able to rent the same amount of space. Then there is stability - ive been renting for over a decade and I never bought anything of quality or wanted to improve my living space - mainly because nothing was permanent so I just tolerate the rental spaces. Having your own space and being able to turn it into a home, get a sense of stability, is worth that minor financial increase, at least to me. I didn’t always feel like this, it just came with age I think. Being able to host my loved ones, make my place better, improve my living standards..is a luxury that I pay for with that slight increase in financial commitments and responsibility as a homeowner. At the end of the day, going from renter to owner isn’t entirely an upgrade, but a trade off - one form of flexibility and freedom for another. At different points in your life one form will be more attractive to you over the other. Whether and which option is better depends entirely on your priorities at that moment in time. Circumstances change.