I built spreadsheets, ran conservative assumptions, and compared renting vs buying a $300K NYC co-op with 0% down at 5.625%. The result: ownership was about $1,476/month cheaper and created roughly $115K in equity over 10 years. When factoring in rent increases and lost savings capacity, the gap widened to over $200K in net worth—driven less by market timing and more by locking in housing costs and restoring monthly investment power.