[engineer_22]

-> This means I have zero control over what dictates my daily actions in life.

OTOH, having a mortgage "locks in" your price of housing for the next ## years. It's perfect for families and startup businesses because it affords some long term stability.

It doesn't sound like you're ready to settle down yet, so buying a SFH probably isn't the best move right now anyway.

[wrath224]

This assumes I want to pay for housing over a period of time. I’d love to just pay for it once and never be beholden to anyone ever again. My car was $5000. When something breaks I fix it myself for nothing. I’ve replaced heater core in 1940s furnaces myself, put on new roofs, can drywall anything myself. Houses are cheap to fix and you can find people that do it right for little money if you know your stuff. I’d love to settle down and I’m ready to do that where it makes sense, but where I want but is not affordable. I can rent but then I’m wasting money. Building more housing fixes this problem very easily.

[ghaff]

Maintenance isn't that cheap even if you put in a lot of sweat equity. And you have property taxes which can be a fair bit depending on the area.

You absolutely buy yourself a degree of stability and reduced future payments with a house but you're still probably looking at thousands of dollars a year for a standalone house.