Just bought my second house, renting out the first. Probably will pick one up each time I move (every 3-4 years or so) if all goes well, and then roll those properties into the house my wife and I will retire in. Perhaps a little townhome or something at our favorite ski resort too.
Concerning the whole living with the folks vs living on your own thing: everyone's situation is different, and I would never presume to know what is right for anyone else based on posts here. What I do know is this: I've been living away from my parents since I was married at 20. I'm now 29. Has it been difficult at times? Hell yes. Would I have wanted to stay with my parents instead? Not in a million years. Why? It's not because my parents were hard to get along with, quite the opposite, they were awesome and did much to set me up for success during my formative years. Nope, it's because I relish being independent, an adult in the truest sense of the word, and would have seen it as a defeat if I had stayed home with the parents even before I was married. My wife and I could have stayed on, even as we were both going to college, until 'we got on our feet'. But it wouldn't have been the same. I felt I had taken enough from them as it was and it was time to make my own way in the world.
The Z is on hold for the moment, but my S4 keeps things interesting enough for the time being.
S.