As an investment, a home is risky. For one, you’re only going to have one most likely, so you’re not diversified. While property values do trend up, there’s a myriad of things that could potentially happen to reduce your property value as well. Not to mention, while the land underneath the home increases in value, the value of the home itself (on top of the land) decreases as the house ages.

On top of that, you’re paying maintenance, insurance, and property tax. While yes, it’s better than renting, it’s not necessarily a good investment compared to other investments you can make. On average, you’re going to have a better return on the stock market than a home. True, that’s also risky, but it’s easier to diversify and there’s more money to be made.

Finally, you’re usually leveraged pretty deep on a home. If you default for whatever reason, you’ll be left with nothing. If the bank somehow fails to recover its investment after selling the home (say, because you owed more than it was worth), they can sue you for the difference.

That said, it’s not a bad idea to buy a home. You can always live in it, if nothing else. You might want to buy one just because you want it, which is valid. Lots of people do well on homes. You just need to realize that it’s not as safe or good of an investment as it might seem.