Where I live, some utilities, but not all, are covered in the rent. However, many renters don’t realize until they become homeowners, that “utilities” also includes sewer and trash, that may need to be paid in addition to the mortgage.

I ran some numbers recently on a potential condo purchase, and while my monthly outlay would be about $350 a month less “owning”, it also meant about 20% less space, and coughing up $560 a month in condo and HOA fees that never go away and never build equity. So for me, that didn’t make sense.

Now, moving out of the DC metro area, the numbers may make better sense to own, but I feel like buying a SFH is a bigger risk because of not knowing if the owner did maintenance you can’t see, and all those “gotchas” can be major costly repairs that as a renter I don’t have to deal with. OTOH, I’d like to be able to paint, choose my own decent appliances, and not have to worry about rent increases.

In short, this isn’t a simple decision, and everyone’s situation is different. And people (including me years ago) don’t realize how costly it is to sell if you haven’t lived in a home long enough to build equity.