In a reasonable market where house values just track inflation, you don’t build much equity though. e.g. If you buy a $200k house with 20% down at 2% on a 25-y

In a reasonable market where house values just track inflation, you don’t build much equity though. e.g. If you buy a $200k house with 20% down at 2% on a 25-year amort, over five years you accumulate about $26k in equity not counting your down-payment. In my jurisdiction, standard realtor fees on that would be about $10k, going with the 1% rule of thumb for maintenance would run you another $10k, and property taxes would be another $6k. You’re already at zero net profit before you even have to pay insurance or utilities. (All that isn’t to say that you wouldn’t have lost more money renting.)