I'll sum it up in 2 sentences (owning 2 myself and parents are landlord of many):
Pro: You are borrowing other people's money against housing cost inflation, and you are trading uncertain cost (rent rising) vs certain (assuming fixed mortgage), and you can do whatever you want to it (remodeling, gardening, etc).
Con: It is pain in the butt, now everything that happens is on YOU to fix or pay money to fix. You cannot easily walk away if you want to move. If the neighborhood goes down the drain your share of the asset (market value - the remaining mortgage) goes down with it.
I think buying a home when you are ready to settle and has the ability to is a good choice, but not when you are stretching for every penny and borrowing with high cost loans that cannot afford value to go down for an extended time.