Expand the basement? Sure! Get a bunch of dogs? Why not! Commit to getting to know the neighbors? Sounds great. All while not having to worry about a landlord doing whatever they want at the end of a lease.
It's a very rewarding thing. Is it for everyone? Absolutely not, much in the same way having kids or getting married isn't for everyone either. But for me, there is a lot of value in the actual ownership.
It's funny that two out of the three things you said are additional expenses that the house enables.
Of course, we aren't disputing the emotional value of owning a home. We're just saying that it's a poor financial decision most of the time.
Those same two things may also be valuable to the owner, regardless of expense. Expand my basement so I have room to continue working on the hobby I love? Sounds good.
If you do the math, a typical 30-year mortgage will cost you twice the actual cost of paying cash for a home, so roughly 50% of your payment actually gets converted into equity, assuming your home value was static over the term. This is why people often advise new homeowners to make an extra principal-only payment as often as possible at the beginning of the loan: to cut down the eventual amount of interest you'll end up paying.
That's what I've done with my mortgage. I've been lucky to be in a position to make frequent principal-only payments and should be able to cut a 30-year mortgage to 15-ish or so, saving a metric grundle of cash in the process. Given the nature of the conversation happening around this thread, I suppose I should state my reasons for trading away job-seeking flexibility: I LOVE that eventually, I'll have a roof and four walls independent of my employment situation.