And closing/financing fees! If you end up taking a job out of area and decide to sell(understandable as now isn't the right time to be purchasing a rental) you're out the fees.

Oh yeah, those. You pay through the nose when you buy and when you sell. Can easily knock several percentage points off the price you thought you're selling for, or add the same to the price you though you're buying for. One has to be very careful to include those in all calculations. Renting is mostly flat-rate experience, and owning has much higher variance of payments. But owning has its own benefits :)

If you live in an area with closing fees on rentals, like I do, rhat's a wash.

Those are all expenses your landlord has to pay if you are renting. If those costs plus mortgage is double rent than either landlords are hemmoraging money or something is seriously fucked up with the housing market.

True, but when you rent, the cost is obvious and stated upfront, however ownership has many hidden costs that are not apparent when you consider only purchasing price.