"While a house is a terrible investment, I own a house and recommend other people do so as well. Why? Not because the house is a great investment, but because the mortgage is a great way to borrow money due to all the government subsidies. Having a mortgage is a great way to short the US dollar because of the long maturity and low rates you can borrow at. I make sure to constantly take all of the equity out. If there was some way to borrow $400,000 at 3% for 30 years and buy stocks with the money I would much rather do that, but because our society has decided that homes are the “chosen” asset class and distorts the market by redirecting resources into mortgages it makes sense to buy a home. I would never even consider buy a home with my own money, but hey, if the US taxpayer and a bank is dumb enough to loan me several hundred grand a 3% for 30 years and give me a tax deduction sure why the hell not."