But the rent where we were staying went from $1300 to $1800 within 3 years for a 3 bedroom, 1650 square foot apartment. We were able to buy a house, a brand new build 3000 square feet 5 bed/3.5 bath for $2000/month with only 3.5% down in a neighborhood zoned to top rated schools.
As far as convenience, we pay a lawn service $140/month to cut our grass and now that the home warranty is up (paid for by the builder), we pay about $700/year for a "home warranty" when anything breaks you just call them and pay a deductible. Is The warranty a good deal financially? Probably not, but it is convenient.
That is a neat 'home warranty' thing you have though. I've never seen that before. Whenever I own a home, that sounds enticing to have.
I'm not endorsing this particular provider. It's just the first one that comes up when you Google "Home Warranty"
https://www.ahs.com/home-warranty/
Average price is around $850.
https://www.homeadvisor.com/cost/inspectors-and-appraisers/p...
When I was a landlord and owned three rental properties they were worth every penny.
Let me emphasize that buying one is statistically not a good deal and it usually makes more sense just to "self insure" and save for repairs. But it is more of a convenience thing.
Instead of paying the $1,800/month, you are now paying $2,200/month.
We also have 1300 more square feet, a separate house with a yard instead of an apartment, 2 more bedrooms, 1-1/2 more baths, a separate office and we don't pay the mandatory $100 a month for crappy cable and capped internet from Comcast -- as part of the lease, you had to pay for cable. We pay $70 a month for gigabit internet from AT&T.
Heck I save $80/month by getting rid of my gym membership and converting one of the spare bedrooms to a gym.
There are varying definitions of "freedom" to consider.
Sure, there is the freedom of being able to walk away after 12 months to someplace else.
But there is also the freedom of being able to plant a garden, or paint your room, or install shelving, or excavate a root cellar, or install a new doorknob, etc, without having to get express written permission from your landlord (which will almost always be no).