You are missing my point. The last time I rented was 1991. My rent was $211. I bought a home that same year. I paid it off in 1996. I could have been living rent/mortgage free since then. My apt was 2br 1ba. In 2016 my daughter was paying $1050 for a 2br 1ba. The point is rent doesn't stop going up. You might not have an increase where you 're now but it's not like the rent you paid 20-30 years ago.

I didnt miss any point. Rent does go up OVER DECADES, of course, so too do wages so the VALUE of what is being paid doesnt change much. And if one is not looking to be tied to a specific residence for a decade or more it becomes irrelevant.

owning has money thrown into interest, repairs, maintenance et cetera. Its not all a bed of roses or the best option for every person or lifestyle.

rent has money thrown into rent. It doesnt have any ADDITIONAL obligations in the long term.

of course there is 'status' and equity in home ownership, but not everyone is interested in or have use for those things.

These apartments (duplexes) do have tennents that are paying income based rent but I am paying full price because I make too much in my disability to qualify for any assistance. Mainly because I worked all my life till I became disabled.

The woman that lives alone in the other apartment in this duplex also pays full rent, it is exactly the same as my rent and she works at NASA.
She tells me she is very happy with her apartment too.

I know I found a good deal because before I found this place, I looked at other places in the area and for a 2 bdrm 1 bath with the same ammenities and new, modern construction rent is normally $750.

I rented a 2 bdrm 1 bath upstairs apartment in PA when my marriage ended.
It was a shidhole compared to this place but the rent was $300 @ month.
That was about 7 years ago.
I lived with my son & daughter in law for a bit till I found this place, here in MS.

If I were to try to move to the city, rent would go up, a lot. Quality would go down, a lot. Rent and quality has a lot to do with this location.
Katrina caused massive rebuilding and many apartments and duplexes were built because of the displaced people. At any given time, I can drive around the town and find at least 10 fairly new, modern homes or apartments for rent and those are just the signs on the property. There are far more in the pennysaver and the different rental booklets in the stores.
A new sub-division just went in a few blocks from here.
A whole gated apartment complex is currently being built a block away.
There are 22 empty lots available behind me with homes being built thru Habitat for Humanity. There are an abundance of open properties in this area. New buisnesses are being built all over town. We are growing.

You get your money back from improvements. Just talk to a flipper. Anybody can benefit from equity. My tenant was living beyond her means and refinancing her house every couple of years to pay off debt. That's how she became a tenant. Lots of people have home equity lines of credit. It's 70% of your homes value if I remember correctly. I've bought a house with a home equity line. You just write a check for anything you want. Now who wouldn't that benefit?

I own everything I own.
I'm not paying anything off.
I don't even try to get credit.
I don't need credit and I don't want credit.

I pay my bills in full when they are due.
I don't buy things I can't afford.
If I need something I can't afford, I make due without it till I can afford to buy it outright.

There are things like rent that I spend my money on but do not own.
Utility services is the best example.
I refuse to rent furniture.
I sat on the floor on a pillow to watch TV till I could afford to buy a sofa. I bought one piece of furniture at a time as I could afford it.
I now have a houseful of stuff that is all mine, bought and paid for.

From what I've seen people rent because they can't get the financing for a home. My long term tenant thought she got financing to buy back her house years ago. She put in her notice. The financing fell through.

maybe people who dont wish to live or buy on 'credit'?

Can't you see how restrictive that view is?
Some people rent because they can't get financing.
A lot of people rent because they don't 'want' to own a home or property.
I don't want to own property. I don't want to own a home.
I could have bought another home but chose to rent.

That's like saying people don't have pets because they can't afford a pet.
People don't own a car because they can't afford to own a car.
People don't have a phone because they can't afford to own a phone.
Very restrictive thinking and inaccurate.

probably many reasons people rent.

I rent because I dont want the headache of bank loans, the long term debt/commitment, I dont want the headache of maintenance, HOAs, lawncare, property tax, and any of the list of obligations involved with owning (borrowing from the bank long term) a home. I rent because of the convenience and ease. I dont even like to 'finance' a car. The one I have is one I took over for my son so he could relocate.

I bought my truck with cash on the barrelhead.
The moment I put that key on my keyring, I owned it.

Would I buy property cash on the barrelhead? Absolutely not.
I don't want it.

In the USA, you never truly own anything.
If the government wants your property, they are going to take it.
Even if you have a defense system you can't over-power government forces.
Plus, there are under-handed steps they can use to take it from you legally.
Planting illegal substances on your property while you're away then "raiding" you and finding them.
You go to jail and your property is seized.
One mistake on your taxes and bingo, IRS comes knocking.
Someone in Homeland Security can target you and suddenly you are a domestic terrorist.
I got taken by Imminent Domain. They were "expanding the National Forest for ecological preservation". Myself and all my neighbors were essentially "ousted". Our houses were torn down and the land was reworked.
A co-worker in MO had the whole frontage taken when a highway was expanded.
With no frontage, his home value plummeted. He sold the home for a loss.
It was bought and turned into a business. The property had no value as a residence because it had a 4 lane highway in its front yard now.

Now people can't relocate with cars? Never heard that before. You've been there for years and it's about moving? I don't have a hoa fee. People don't have to buy single family homes. It could be a townhouse or loft. Still I don't see the difference in calling the landlord vs plumber except saving for a repair instead of paying it in rent.

not that its anyone's business really, but my son didnt WANT to relocate with his car because he would be moving to the DC area where traffic is atrocious and didnt want to drive there.

And yes, I like the option of moving without the further responsibility of coming up with tens of thousands to meet the obligation of a mortgage loan from a bank, or having the headache of working to sell property.

and I dont see the difference in calling landlord or plumber either, except it coming from landlord pockets instead of mine, which is a plus in my book.

It's expensive as hell getting around dc without a car.

You are wrong thinking it doesn't come out of your pocket. Landlord don't rent to lose money. The factor everything into the rent.

Calculate how much you've paid in rent at your current address. I bet it comes up to 10's of thousands. I have a tenant who has paid enough in rent to cover the price of the home back in June. Now she is working on the $40,000 I paid for the remodel. After that she will still keep paying.

and Ive got my thousands worth, when I leave, I wont owe anyone ANYTHING else for it.

As an owner you could be leaving with 10's of thousands or 100 thousands.

or owing it and totally screwing up credit ... with rent, I dont worry either way.

Homes were hard to sell during the housing crash. Builders aren't keeping a supply of new homes. It's a sellers market and lack of inventory is driving up prices.

markets go up and down .... I dont want my moves dependent upon where the trend is at the moment.

Ownership is not for everyone, renting is more preferable for me.

Landlords turn in unpaid rent also. As long as you make the payments it's not a problem. That why I said I think most renters rent because they can't get the loan.

I dont know what most do. I rent because I dont want the headache of a mortgage loan. If I had it to BUY outright, no bank loan, that might be different.

But as Tom said, I dont even like the monthly car note. Rent, utility, connection, and rent are the only MONTHLY obligation Im interested in financially, those services that are pay for what you use only.