You HAVE to pay back your debt if you want to pocket all your profits. If your down payment is 25k and you buy 250k house, you need to borrow 225k for your "leverage". Now you get lucky and years later, AFTER you have paid 25k + 225k + interest + fees which amounts to at least 300k, prices have gone up and you can sell that house for 400k. Nice you think! I will make 375k profit just by investing 25k! NO, that's not how "leverage" works at all. At that point you have paid at least 300k to get 400k which makes not that great considering it's been 20 years or so.
The logic you are using is flawed beyond all reasoning to be honest. People who are in a position to both pay back their mortgages AND invest heavily elsewhere are already rich.
The logic you are using is flawed beyond all reasoning to be honest. People who are in a position to both pay back their mortgages AND invest heavily elsewhere are already rich.