[lazide]

You are promising to keep paying them x amount of USD per month over time, in exchange for control of the asset and hence them taking on the risk of you trashing the place or that they could find someone willing to pay more during that time.

A loan has a risk to the principal that you’ll not repay it in full. A lease has a risk to the principal that you’ll drive down the value of the property or even destroy it. Same difference, approximately.

Both have the actual cost they’ll be worth less at the end of the term than they were beforehand, due to inflation and wear/tear.

The biggest difference between a loan and a lease is that instead of them giving you x amount of $ directly (aka exclusive control of that money), they’re giving you exclusive or semi-exclusive control of an asset they value at x amount of $.

And that the asset has an address attached to it, and you can live there.