<prompt> Human: Growing up Ive learned that buying a house is a great way to invest, but Ive read a few threads that discourage people from investing property at a young age. So, Id like to understand why it is a financially good or bad decision to buy a house.Some background info, Im graduating college soon and plan on moving back home to San Jose, California. Ill be making a salary somewhere in between 70-100k a year CS degree. I will have almost no debt. My plan right now is to live at my parents house for a year or two so that I dont have to pay rent and I can buy a house asap so that it can appreciate in value. Is there something else I should be doing? Just want to get some outside advice.  <response>: My answer to your question is that it makes sense to buy a home when you know you will live there for 10 years. The myth of the home being the one investment that always appreciates in value fell apart in the housing bust. Not that its a fools game now, but its just not what it used to be. From a short term perspective housing values that stay flat or even decline in value are much more common than in yesteryear. But in the long term you should be safe in terms of building equity and hopefully market appreciation. PS - correct me if Im wrong but housing is crazy expensive out here and 70-100K salary will get stretched very thin. 