Property tax, homeowners association, home warranty, multiple things breaking down all the time (small fortune)...add it all up each year and then deduct it from your "appreciation" then consider an apartment and all that you save not living in a house. Take the savings and invest it... compare what you save and invest to your appreciation. I did a research paper on this in college and your better off in an apartment....of course you have dim wit neighbors and paper thin walls in an apartment with loud music, people arguing, doing it all night, getting drunk ....so it all sucks...