In other words, after 10 years I have $103,687.09 in positive wealth, all other things in my life being equal.Equity (wealth) I own in home - $420,007.09Home’s value after 10 years from Natural Appreciation ($706,757.76) - original loan amount ($334,160) + Principle Pay-Down ($47,409.33)Mortgage costs paid - $316,320.So without doing really anything in either scenario - no crazy financial engineering or value boosting home remodeling etc… - what is the best financial decision?

I think that is just one of the things I've changed recently that have boosted my ratings significantly. 

., @Terence Wang, @Dustin Rose, @Jeb Brilliant, @Mark Shuter, @Jon Minerick, @Jonathan Orr, @Nick McCandless, @Blake La Grange, @Sulaiman Harooni, @Andrew Johnson, @Eric Hyde, @Colin Lee, @Victor Morales, @Christopher Yerikian, @Steven Marlowe, @Julie Phan, @Wei Cho, @Vinci S. and @Khoa P.

Adding a twist to this, depending on where you purchase, you could turn your rentals into short-term or executive/traveling nurse rentals to boost the income...provided your willing to self manage.

@Mario Morales yeah, give us some more details here. 

With in mind, if there are any contractors that are willing to do me a service for a couple of bucks, it would be highly appreciated.So the moral of the question is, is purchasing a home from a bank a PITA or is it not worth it as a first time investment?

Moral of this story - always do background checks!

Moral of the story- check your limiting beliefs.

The ease of that transaction boosted my confidence and within the next year I bought an additional property near the same university.

BOOST it on FB!