Today I came across a really useful little tool that can help you calculate whether it is better for you you to rent a home or buy a home.
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/business/buy-rent-calculator.html
This is the most thorough tool I have found so far for this purpose. The only difficult part for consumers can be inputting the right data in terms of house prices and probably rents without MLS access. But if you need any help with that just let me know.