Hi Reg,
Echoing what Arion said, you're still making a monthly payment whether you rent or "own". I don't agree with people who say "Don't rent--you're throwing your money away." I have heard intelligent people say this, yet it is demonstrably false. You're not "throwing the money away"---you're getting one month of comfortable living space for it! If paying for heated and air conditioned living space with a roof over your head is "throwing money away", then you're throwing money away every time you spend money. If you have $100,000 cash to buy a house and the taxes are only $150/month, yes,
then it is better to buy. But most people do not have $100,000 cash, and they have to get a mortgage. So they either rent for $750 a month or pay $750 a month for mortgage/taxes.
There are some nice things about getting a mortgage---you can build up equity, you can do what you want to the house/yard, and in the case of my family, have horses and chickens. But there are also some nice things about renting an apartment--having an on-site maintenance man, not having yard work/mowing, and so on. There are advantages to both, but either way you make a monthly payment.
I think the thing that scares some people about mortgages is the number 30. It can be tempting to get wrapped up in that number, and get the feeling that you're signing away 30 years of your life, or committing to stay 30 years in one place. But of course you don't have to stay the whole 30 years. Before getting married I was a wanderer and traveled a lot. When it was time to finally get a car, it seemed like a really big deal to get a three-year car loan! I didn't even have it the whole three years---I traded it in for another car (with a longer, higher priced loan). But after awhile I got used to it. It just came out of the account once a month and I didn't think much of it. I certainly got my money's worth. Don't be worried about which way you'll go---you say you're in the position of being debt free, so it's not going to ruin things if you get a mortgage. My wife and I had plenty of debt when we got our mortgage (and have since added even more debt), but life is still good. God provides for us.