This repo tackles one of the most consequential financial decisions most people ever make — rent vs. buy — and does it with a level of intellectual honesty that mainstream calculators consistently dodge. The pitch: a Hyper-Local Rent Vs. Buy Opportunity Cost Calculator that doesn't just compare mortgage payments to rent checks, but instead invests your would-be down payment into the stock market and projects a true 30-year net worth comparison.

Why does that matter? Because the standard framing ("your rent is throwing money away") ignores the single biggest hidden variable in the equation: the opportunity cost of capital tied up in home equity. A $60,000 down payment isn't free — parked in an index fund for three decades, it's potentially six figures of foregone growth. Most calculators quietly assume that money would have evaporated otherwise, which stacks the deck toward buying.

What makes this project interesting even at zero stars:

• Hyper-local — implying the model accounts for regional variables like property tax rates, HOA fees, insurance, and rent trajectories, rather than national averages that mislead in high-cost metros.
• 30-year horizon — long enough to capture the compounding effects that make or break the comparison.
• Net worth framing — not just monthly cash flow, but total wealth outcome, which is the metric that actually matters.

Who benefits? First-time homebuyers agonizing over the leap, renters in expensive coastal markets who suspect the math doesn't favor buying, financial advisors looking for a transparent tool to walk clients through, and personal finance enthusiasts who enjoy poking at the assumptions inside these models. It's also a useful reference for anyone building their own financial calculator — the opportunity-cost methodology here is worth studying.