Most rent-vs-buy tools are rigged to say "buy." Ours starts both paths with the same cash, makes the renter invest the difference, counts every hidden ownership cost, and names the exact month owning pulls ahead — and tells you to keep renting when that's the honest answer.
Your new payment is lower, so why might you be losing $40,000? A lower rate that resets a near-paid-off loan to year one can "break even" on paper while bleeding lifetime interest. Here's the honest math that shows the real number.
Rate shopping by the number on the rate sheet is how borrowers overpay. The right way to compare two or three offers is by true cost over the exact years you'll keep the loan, including the break-even month where a pricier-up-front loan finally pulls ahead.