Im in this space and in no why would I ever gamble my mothers resources she will need on one of the most volatile, high risk aspects with a very high failure rate.

Gambling is short-term speculative play; that's flipping,  that's Vegas slots, sports betting.

I used to own three rentals in Seattle but after 2012 when the prices got too high I realized that sophisticated buy-and-hold investors invest where the numbers make sense with cash flow, not appreciation (gambling).

But knowing what you are doing should be a part of investing anywhere -otherwise it is gambling and not investing. 

The longer you hold onto it, the more your costs add up, the more costs you have to recover, and the fewer funds you have available to use to recover them with.Think of it like playing Poker (not because it's gambling...REI shouldn't be gambling). 

But yes, sadly most retail investors don't know what they're doing and end up gambling.4.

Be it stocks or real estate.If I want to gamble, I'll go to Vegas and loose quickly on the slots so I can have a cigar and enjoy a cocktail.Much success

Not, hey lets gamble since I love risk with 100k or more, and lets put my personal house, and car etc on line.

Over the last decade, that gamble paid off and significantly helped grow my net worth and investable cash.  

That's gambling people.