(Full disclosure: Bay Area homeowner here)

I can stomach the idea of renting for the rest of my working life. My renting life was good, had more cash to spare, good landlords, etc.

What terrifies me is the idea that I'd have to keep paying rent when I retire.

True but when you retire, you're not bound to a job and you can live in a cheaper place.

Real estate probably won't be a part of the post-scarcity economy, otherwise I'd bet on just buying a home in 30 years while forgetting what a mortgage was for.

'post-scarcity economy'

Hahahaha. Ha.

There's going to be plenty of scarcity to go around for the rest of our lives. And unless you're already in the top 1%, or unless you believe full-on socialism will ever catch on in a country run by and for the benefit of capitalists and corporatists, you can personally expect to see a lot more of it once everything worth doing has been automated.

Don't forget the roof that needs replacing every 15 or 20 years. Appliances. Furnace. Plumbing. Septic tank. Water lines on your property. Tree removal. Re-decorating and re-modeling. Replacing windows.

I think people generally maintain the homes they own to a higher standard than the ones they rent out. It's not equal in home ownership vs renting. The place I rent has the cheapest appliances possible, paint mostly chipped off on the steps, the flooring is from the 80s, etc.

If you look down a street where I live (Boston area) you can likely guess which units are rentals and which are owned.

I thought that, too... until it was time for me to buy a house. Then I discovered most home owners are just as miserly as landlords. Hacky, quick DIY fixes? Check. Cheapest possible repair/replacement option chosen every time? Check. Obvious concern for only things that "increase resale value" over things substantially more important to the house's long term well-being? Check.

I can't tell you how many houses I looked at with peeling, worn roof shingles, but a bangin' dishwasher and stove.

If your roof needs replacing every 15 years then there is something seriously wrong with the structural integrity of your house.

Shingles roof is replaced every 15 years, if you have more expensive metal roof it's every 50 years

In the Uk you'd be looking at replacing a roof after about 100 years, costs about £6k ($8k), not exactly a major cost.

Composite shingles are more like 30 years.

My brother, only a few months after buying his first house, had a tree in the backyard get struck by lightning, break in two and crush his neighbors garage.

The neighbors insurance paid for that, but then he still had to pay almost $3000 right away to get the rest of the tree removed from his backyard, because it was still in bad shape. Was an unpleasant introduction to the wonderful world of home ownership.

It's not like you avoid these expenses by renting. They're just rolled into your rent. You get to avoid thinking about them, of course.

Although there is an economies-of-scale advantage to maintenance on multi-family dwellings.

Yeah, it's basically like insurance. You're not hit with a sudden $10k+ bill, you just have a rent that has ~$100 a month factored in for maintenance costs.

Also with renting, one should be careful to avoid arguments at equilibrium. E.g. not all landlords seek the same profit margin and rent increases don't track improvements perfectly. Comparison shopping and moving opportunistically, one can stay ahead of the curve. Other people already financed the improvement ts you're enjoying!

The property group takes on risk if something like a roof needs replacing unless they just keep a lot of cash sitting around for just such a thing. They may also have access to better loans but I have no idea for sure.

I don't want to keep a pile of cash around waiting for housing emergencies (personal emergencies are a different thing), and I certainly don't want to sell stocks to fix a roof if my roof fails during a recession.

What is it with US roofs? Are they really all terrible, you're the third person in about 10 posts to be scared about massive costs to replace a roof.

setting aside trees, fires etc it hadn't even occurred to me that a roof may need replacing, aside from maybe the occasional tile.

Many US dwellings use asphalt shingles, which wear out. Slate roofs may last for hundreds of years, but they are pricey and I'm not sure how they stand up to golf ball hail.

A 15 year roof replacement is BS. It's more like 30.

Not that I'm helping, but I think you were definitely ripped off. Those supports cost about 20 dollars each. I had a company do one part for 3k, and did the rest myself. 25k should have been a big red flag.