Does this price seem affordable to you?  According to rentcafe.com the Average Rent in CLT is $1,667 for a 944 sq. ft. apartment.  That's  $1.77 per square foot.  Where as the average sq. ft. house in Charlotte is 2,064 that's $1.45 per square foot based on 1/31 data.  There's MANY other factors that I won't get into that widen the gap on why home ownership is more affordable even when considering maintenance that I'd be happy to discuss anytime.