I can understand what you are saying. It it nice to be able to have low monthly payments and be able to have the ‘liquidity’ of your residence (being able to pretty much walk away at any time).
If I were to come here today, I would not buy a place. I would do exactly what you are doing. The amount of money reqired to buy a house and keep up with the payments is tough, especially considering what you can get by renting here.
But, what if you would have bought a place from the beginning instead of renting all of those rooms? Sure, you would not have been living in Del Mar or Solana Beach. But, you would have had an appreciating asset along with a vehicle for tax write-offs, etc.
In the long term, real estate makes great sense. For short term, you need to keep an eye on the market. As I said, now I would not buy. Kensington is a great place by the way.
