<prompt> Human: Hi guys, his is my first post to rpersonalfinance, and I could use some help.A little background, my family is made up of my oldest brother, a 25 yo law school student who is due to graduate this coming spring and may or may not move home for at least a few years to get on his feet. My sister is 22 yo and just graduated nursing school and landed her first professional job as an RN in a nearby hospital. She also plans on living at home for the time being and for as long as she can to save as much as possible. I myself am a 19 yo finance major that just finished my freshman year of college and plan to live at home at least through the end of college hopefully not much longer than I have to. We had to sell our house after my parents long divorced had a dispute in which my father demanded his cash portion of the house as declared by the divorce. To try and keep story telling to a minimum, my mother took out a 500k loan to buy out my father and for spending purposes, and then sold the house a year later to pay off the loan. The house sold for 849k, so after paying off the loan, she was left with around 350k, which she plans to save in order to put a down payment on the house. Currently we are living in an apartment on a 12 month lease at around 2500month. With my limited freshman knowledge of the world of finance, Ive advised my mother age 54 to invest about 200k in a no-load index fund and to allow that money to grow for as long as possible until she needs it. We have other assets in the family as well, including multiple commercial properties in the Greater Boston area Cambridge, Belmont. These currently belong to my grandmother, but she is in the process of grooming my brother and I to assume responsibility of these assets.Now the real question is, where does my family go from here to ensure a financially secure future? My mother hardly has any income she works part-time at an IATSE labor union and teaches yoga classes and my brother and I seem to be the only ones worried about our familys financial stability going forward. I told my mother that the next step we need to make is to purchase a new home. The housing market is back on the rise and going strong in our area our home was set to be sold for 795k last year, we waited a year and sold for 849k and I think we need to act sooner rather than later. My mother thinks townhomes are a worthy investment. I personally think theyre just a fad and the demand for a free-standing colonial is always going to be greater than the demand for townhomes. Please give me some guidance, I could use all the help I can get. And if anybody has any thoughts on the townhouse vs house debate, please share  <response>: My advice is to not look at a home as an investment, but as a place to live that may or may not increase in value over the period you own it. Buy as much house as you need - not more. 