So the answer to the original question from the concensus is that your home can be an "investment" leaving out "the why you buy aspect" and only considering the appreciation value over a length of time to build equity and choice of area makes a big difference between a "good investment" and a "bad one".

I prefer the landlording aspect of real estate the most, though.

Do you have experience in other aspects of the REI world?

I figured since we're talking about psychology here, talking about role models would be an important aspect of psych.

What goes hand in hand with the mixed use approach (commercial and residential or low and moderate income) is that ther is alot of hand holding and education involved in many social aspects that flow through to housing issues.

Aside from the regret factor, one of the biggest mistakes I see made by many new investors (it is also the same mistake that many primary homeowners make) is not planning the financing aspect of their deal.

This particular meeting invovled some Q&A on various aspects of real estate investing.

There seem to be quite a few mortgage pros here who can probably help you with the financial aspects.

Then there is the financial aspect and liability issues.

Shame on the bad guys for not allowing this to be in as many places as possible as it is an important aspect of investing.