For my twenties, the biggest cost would have been opportunity. I was able to switch jobs multiple times in different states before meeting my fiancee. Renting allowed me to be far more adventurous than I would have been.
When you're 20 something and you can pack your 1 bedroom apartment worth of Ikea furniture into the smallest U-Haul, or just sell it on Craig's list and start over at the next place, renting is awesome.
When you have a house full of crap you've collected over 20 years and live somewhere you carefully picked for your kids to have a good school, the whole equation flips and you're willing to accept the downsides the author calls out, to give your family stability.
When you're 20 something and you can pack your 1 bedroom apartment worth of Ikea furniture into the smallest U-Haul, or just sell it on Craig's list and start over at the next place, renting is awesome.
When you have a house full of crap you've collected over 20 years and live somewhere you carefully picked for your kids to have a good school, the whole equation flips and you're willing to accept the downsides the author calls out, to give your family stability.