<prompt> Human: My wife and I just bought our first home at age 28 this year in Seattle approx 800K. Now Im looking at potential retirement homes in the price range of 200-300K.My reasoning:1 If I wait 30 years, assuming an appreciation of 7 on the potential retirement home, they could be valued at 1.5M.2 Such a large portion of the potential gains of my current home would have to go toward the 1.5M retirement home.3 I can rent out the home and have someone else pay for it until retirement.Is it as simple as If you have the down payment and you can rent it out, you should do it, or am I missing some other critical elements?Also, I understand that no one can predict where you may be in 30 years... But for purposes of this post, lets assume I chose correctly :  <response>: The idea that personal real estate appreciates at an annualized rate of 7 is a fallacy. It is so different that it materially changes your supposition - closer to 3 to 5, and it can be argued that even these rates are unsustainable.And very importantly, while you own, youre responsible for taxes, insurance, and upkeep. Put your money in the market and buy a retirement home when youre ready to retire.If you want to be a landlord, thats fine. But thats a different proposition. 