<prompt> Human: BLUF: Is it worth buying a house in cash if we have the ability to do so?My wife and I are moving to South Carolina and intend to buy a house. We are planning on staying there for 5 years. She is tired of being in apartments and wants a house. Its a tough market for renting houses; there are many more options for buying. We are incredibly lucky and have invested 450k. Converting these investments to cash would result in 50k in long term capital gains. We have 40k in checking and savings accounts. If we take out a 30yr mortgage with a 3.75 rate , I am calculating paying 60k in interest in 5 years. I hate the thought paying all that interest plus loan fees. Conversely, Im losing out investment returns on 350k if I buy in cash, and I feel like we are losing diversification of our portfolio. I know ultimately the numbers come down to how the stock market does and how the house price fluctuates. Thoughts??  <response>: In your shoes Id finance. You dont want to pay the 50k capital gains tax that goes with liquidating your assets, and confidence is high that you can invest that 450k to earn returns better than 3.75.In seven or eight years that 450k could be worth 900k. Buy the house with it instead, you are cash-poor owners of a property that probably wont appreciate at anything like that rate. 