<prompt> Human: As the title says. I have been thinking about purchasing a condo. Im 25 I make a decent living and building up my savings. But I have bigger goals for the future. I dont see myself getting stuck at a job just because I have a mortgage obligation. I also know that it could be a good investment for my future self. Can anybody show me some downsides to purchasing a house vs lets say start a business with a percentage of your savings? I can afford to lose now... Im not sure if I will be able to recover from a big loss if I was 40 without a house in my name.Tl;dr: Any reasons why a 25 year old should not use their savings to put money down on a house?  <response>: Personally I dont look at residential real estate as an investment unless it is an income producing property. Sure youre likely to see price appreciation and will be building equity in the asset, but its also one of the basic necessities of life.In terms of returns of real estate versus other options, youre likely to get a wider range of outcomes starting a business because you could be taking about a lawn service business lower margins or a software application higher margin or the business could fail.Overall if youre not going to be stretching yourself too thinly, real estate is a good way to build net worth over time.Edit: swapped out home for residential real estate in first line. 