When I bought my home in 2020, my mortgage was a flat $2,600 to the penny. Now it’s $2850.

Okay, but $250 over six years is a pittance compared to the equivalent hikes in rent.

Like, I agree, property taxes keep creeping up on us. But so do fuel and food costs, utilities, etc. That's inflation for you. I'm also getting COA in my annual wage, so you could argue that I'm "part of the problem".

Compare that to some landlord who can spike your rent because the market gets a bit tight, because the interest on their debt ticked up, because they want an excuse to renovate and are looking to scare people out of their leases, because they think they can squeeze us a bit harder, or for no reason at all. I watched my $800/mo rent balloon to $2000/mo over the five years before I bought a home.

Getting a fixed rate mortgage is pretty much always better than renting, unless you need to change addressed every couple of years anyway.