Sounds like you've never dealt with home ownership. It's definitely not 100% upsides.

Renting you don't have to keep $30k on hand in case you need to replace your roof or HVAC. Renting you're not saddled with an asset that you have to unload before you can relocate.

And the wealthy aren't buying as much residential property as they can because they find home ownership preferable to renting.