A lot of people feel rent is throwing away money. However, interest on a loan will cost a lot too so it’s not super straight forward

It honestly is pretty straightforward, from my perspective. With a fixed-rate mortgage, yes, there's front loading of interest but the down payment and the portion of payments that goes into the principal is yours. If the you sell, that portion never goes away, as long as the value at least maintains. And, the payments do not change. You can even take further loans out of it, once you pay in enough (ex - replace a garage door).

When renting, none of the payment is yours once it leaves your hands. You're also at the mercy of the landlord's rules and whims when it comes to rent increases. End up disabled or retired on a fixed income? You're boned the moment that the landlord decides that they can make more than you can afford to pay. Basically means that you'll never be able to enjoy your later years to their fullest.

And that's purely financial. Not even getting into the messed up limitations on one's agency. It's really messed up that the ability to buy a home has been stolen from so many of us.

Pay my own mortgage or someone else's? Seems pretty straightforward to me.