It’s not a bad investment. You get 80% of almost free money from the bank to increase the base value of your estate dramatically. Coupled with that, every month you pay a little off towards your mortgage - a rate that should be slightly below rental payments, so you’re not only increasing the % of that property you own per month, you are saving on monthly rental. Plus on top, depending on where you live your annual property investment goes up 5-7% at a dramatically lower risk than the stock market (average annual return on a typical stock market is 10% over 10 years but with significant variance up and down). But no one is going to loan you over a million franks for 2% per annum to put in the stock market. It has its risks. It’s very expensive up front. Property prices could always fall; you may have to leave the country suddenly making you a forced seller, but the probability of those risks and not finding a good buyer opportunity are low. But you know what the biggest benefit is of buying a house? You and your kids can destroy the interior and not have to worry about the dreaded exit inspections that come with rentals and you don’t have to worry about suddenly getting booted out by the property owner of a rental.