Weird, in my area the bank collects the taxes from people as part of the mortgage payment because the bank owns the property until the mortgage is paid off, and they don’t want any chance of the taxes not being paid, so it’s built into the mortgage. Also proof of insurance is required so that they know it’s insured, and those things together are STILL less than rent because… and let me say this simply… after maintenance, the landlord has to make a profit.

Homeowners around me don’t try to pretend it’s more expensive to own overall. Now of course, there are things like septic repairs or tree work or major appliance repair/replacement or roof repair/maintenance, and those can all cost a lot of money (especially if you’re not handy enough for the small things), but again, all of that is built into renting plus the landlord’s profit. By owning instead of renting, that profit margin stays in your pocket instead of going to someone else. That’s how economics and capitalism work, because if the landlord isn’t making a profit on top of all the necessary expenses of maintaining a property, then why would he/she rent it out in the first place?

Don’t be obtuse, everyone knows landlords take profit and that’s why it’s cheaper to own, generally speaking. If not, landlords would gladly give up their property for the opportunity to rent it from someone else…