You're looking at it the exact right way. Risk is a two sided-coin. If the local housing market does well, you can make out like a bandit. If it doesn't, you can lose a lot of money.
No different than owning $500K worth of share in a public company.
Nothing wrong with buying a house, but people should be careful not to have their net worth all tied up in a single asset (house or not). The one rule I've heard is 90 minus your age. When you're young is OK to have a high percentage of your net worth in a house, but not when you're getting close to retirement. Too risky.
No different than owning $500K worth of share in a public company.
Nothing wrong with buying a house, but people should be careful not to have their net worth all tied up in a single asset (house or not). The one rule I've heard is 90 minus your age. When you're young is OK to have a high percentage of your net worth in a house, but not when you're getting close to retirement. Too risky.