The amount required as a down payment to achieve the equal can be too great to make it worth it. Especially so if you are a single hacker living in a 1 or 2 bedroom rental.
For example, to get my mortgage down to the cost of a 1 bedroom rental I can only take out about a $90,000 loan. So, if I want a modestly nice $150,000 to $200,000 home I have to save up to put down $60,000 to $110,000 down payment. That's alot of money and to see it all disappear in a near instant is intimidating and scary. I'd rather stick that kind of money in some sort of investments and watch it grow.
Owning also can come with some undesirables to me such as the location is not as good as my apartment (unless I can up my purchase price of a home to $300,000+ or want a higher mortgage), the house is not that nice (not nice enough to want to live in forever and needs upfront fixing), if it needs maintenance (roof, A/C, lawn, etc) I have to pay for it.
However, what I have noticed is if you need at least a 2 bedroom and preferably 3 (family of 3 to 4 perhaps), at least where I live, a small down payment and mortgage is so worth it. Renting would be stupid. The rent for a 3 bedroom is usually more, even for a 5%-10% down payment.
For example, to get my mortgage down to the cost of a 1 bedroom rental I can only take out about a $90,000 loan. So, if I want a modestly nice $150,000 to $200,000 home I have to save up to put down $60,000 to $110,000 down payment. That's alot of money and to see it all disappear in a near instant is intimidating and scary. I'd rather stick that kind of money in some sort of investments and watch it grow.
Owning also can come with some undesirables to me such as the location is not as good as my apartment (unless I can up my purchase price of a home to $300,000+ or want a higher mortgage), the house is not that nice (not nice enough to want to live in forever and needs upfront fixing), if it needs maintenance (roof, A/C, lawn, etc) I have to pay for it.
However, what I have noticed is if you need at least a 2 bedroom and preferably 3 (family of 3 to 4 perhaps), at least where I live, a small down payment and mortgage is so worth it. Renting would be stupid. The rent for a 3 bedroom is usually more, even for a 5%-10% down payment.