Earlier quoted context omitted.
Two years ago I had to replace my roof and the cost was more than the sum of mortgage payments for a year. Not too long before that, the AC needed replacement and that was ~ 6 months of mortgage payments. I’m grateful that I can afford it, but I understand that the mortgage isn’t the entire cost of the house and that renting allows me to leverage someone else’s capital in an efficient manner.
It's worth remembering that mortgage payments rarely include utilities, but some rental leases do. Also, getting out of a rental is often as easy as just leaving. Some unscrupulous types forget to pay the last few months of rent before skipping out giving themselves an unofficial discount. When owners want to sell, they need to pay commissions, inspection costs, transfer taxes, title searches and a few more unexpecte…
You can short sell if the lender is willing. Caveat being they will gift you the difference which can count as income and is taxed. There was an Obama era program during the last housing bubble burst that provided tax relief as well as incentives to the lenders to allow the short sale. Not sure if it’s still active, but it helped a lot of folks avoid foreclosures.