“The payment on $300k at 4% is only $1,432.20 a month. That’s less than renting in a lot of markets.”
Perhaps, but rent includes property taxes, and at least some utilities, as well as other services, like landscaping, common area maintenance, etc, that the homeowner would have to pay for. So you can’t compare rent to a mortgage alone, you have to total up all the relevant expenses.
Exactly. Renting assumes all the risk. If you buy a house at $300k and the value drops to $180k, you can forget selling and moving for a better job.