Silll, buying a home that you do not enjoy and that does not make sense as an investment will likely be a painful waste of money unless you hope to hit the appreciation jackpot, in which case you're gambling and not investing.

Are you willing to gamble 72 large without an inspection, title insurance and spouse's signoff all under a countdown?  

;)  I do have part of my current 401K invested in an ETF that is tied to the NASDAQ so that is my form of "gambling".   

Of course in any market appreciation is a gamble.- Be aware of management costs.

Not sure where your located but its a gamble to rent and wait.. its only 6k negative a year that's not bad.But if having that debt precludes you from other investments then sometimes its best to cut and run..

Any investment is a gamble - not as risky as the craps table, but never guaranteed - and you shouldn't be gambling with your future.

Feels like a gamble with the appraisal.

It's a gamble to sign up for those tasks for sure unless you really want to learn and get your hands dirty.

Gamble on Magic Johnson coming in and the area appreciating.  

I personally don't like the smaller stuff because I want more units of cash flow and don't want to depend on appreciation (to me thats gambling).