Business or home, I have the same answer. Unless you PLAN to be in a location for a short period of time (not written in stone, but maybe 5 years or less), owning will make far more sense financially.
I suppose there is an exception to every rule, such as buying the "wrong" property (that would be mostly a matter of not checking it out well enough in advance), or getting an incredible rent (extremely unlikely in a good location for a commercial property).
OTOH, when my daughter was ready to move out I tried to talk her into buying a house. For the first time, I realized that home ownership is not for everyone. To her, her time is worth more than the financial benefit of owning versus renting, even to the point of not wanting to have to deal with finding, hiring and maintaining the various contractors necessary to keep up a property.
I suppose there might be a case for certain individuals in business as well. I can't see it, but can see that it might be. The main thing with a business is that all maintenance is done "on the clock". So whether you do it yourself (or have an employee do it) or hire it out, it still is costing you time money. In a rental situation you are paying it on an amortized basis, if you own you pay when it's needed.
In the end, while I understand why my daughter made the choice she did (especially considering she expects to be married at some point), I could never "throw away" the accumulated value by paying rent instead of getting a nice little nest egg. Even with a 30 year mortgage, you will likely have it paid off by the time you're ready to retire. Owning a property free and clear that's worth several hundred thousand beats out a stack of rent receipts every day in my book.
