[Sylvanfan]

I'd like to know what the answer is to the question...do you consider your house to be an investment? Even that needs some definition. My guess is that it would get a resounding no on this forum.

I don't consider my house to be a financial investment that's going to blow up in value like my parents generations did and essentially fund my retirement. I do think parents often tell their kids that houses are a great investment because thats what happend to them, and they think it's just going to keep on going that way (My inlaws for example who think real estate is the only way to make money). Real Estate can be if you time them right, but as most on this forum know, it's not some magical thing that always doubles in value every 5 years no matter what the global economy is up to.

But I do consider my house to be an investment in terms of providing my family with a steady place to live that also allows me to customize the place I live in to suit my personal taste, and not have to deal with a landlord, wanting to sell the place, or deciding he wants to rent out the upstairs and downstairs separately type of thing. So I'll invest in a house as a lifestyle choice at this point in my life. I expect it to return something of value to me, not just monetary value.

But at the end of the day, my mortgage surely is a debt. If my lender does a cash call on me to pay my mortgage out tommorrow or lose my house. I'm packing my things. Granted that shouldn't happen, but thats how a financial system collapses, someone gets in trouble with a bad investment and has to make a cash call to cover it...the guy who borrowed from him now has to figure out how to cover his debt and so on.