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EPISODE 126 – Is Your House Really an Investment or Just a Home?

If you spend any time online, you have probably seen bold claims about homeownership. Some voices insist you should never pay off your house and instead keep borrowing against it to build a real estate empire. Others argue that buying a house is “the worst investment in the history of mankind” and that you should always rent instead.

In Episode 126 of The Last Paycheck Podcast, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® professionals Archie Hoxton and Rob Hoxton react to this kind of viral housing advice and offer a calmer, more realistic way to think about your home.

Their conclusion is straightforward. A house can be an asset, but for most people it is first and foremost a place to live your life. When you treat it only as an investment, you risk making decisions that look clever on paper but could be dangerous in the real world.

Why “Never Pay Off Your House” Is Risky Advice

One of the clips Archie and Rob review claims that paying off your mortgage is “the biggest mistake of your life.” The suggestion is to borrow aggressively against your home, use that money to buy multiple rental properties, and then live off the cash flow.

On the surface, the math sounds compelling. In practice, it is highly leveraged, highly concentrated risk.

  • It works beautifully in a strong, rising real estate market.
  • It can be devastating if property values fall, tenants disappear, or financing terms change.
  • In a serious downturn, you can end up underwater on multiple properties and lose not only your investments, but your primary home.

Rob and Archie remind listeners that this is not a neutral strategy. It is a speculative business model. For a small subset of people who truly want to be full-time real estate investors, high leverage might be part of the plan. For most families, it is far more risk than they need to take on to have a secure retirement.

A much more realistic path for many households is:

  • Buy a home that fits your budget.
  • Pay the mortgage on schedule, or a little faster if rates are high.
  • Build retirement savings at the same time, through a 401(k), IRA, or other investment accounts.

You do not have to choose between ever paying off your home and saving for retirement. The internet may frame it that way, but sound financial planning rarely does.

Is Buying a House Really a “Terrible Investment”?

Another popular video claims that buying a home is the worst investment you will ever make, once you factor in maintenance, taxes, mortgage interest, and selling costs. The speaker argues that unless your property more than doubles in value in ten years, you are behind.

Archie and Rob acknowledge that there is a grain of truth here. When you count all the costs of ownership, the true financial return on a primary residence may not match stock-market-level returns. That is especially true if:

  • You buy a home and only live in it for a short period.
  • Local prices stagnate or decline.
  • You stretch to buy more house than your budget supports.

However, this is still too narrow a lens. A house is not just a line on a balance sheet.

Your home provides:

  • Shelter and stability.
  • A place to raise children, host holidays, and build community.
  • The ability to customize your environment in a way renting often cannot.

From a planning standpoint, Rob suggests thinking of your home as shelter and possibly as a store of value, not primarily as a high-yield investment. If you make money on it over time, that is a bonus, not the main purpose.

When Renting Makes More Sense

One area where Archie and Rob strongly agree with some of the critics is on time horizon. If you know that you are unlikely to stay in a house for long, renting can absolutely be the smarter financial move.

Situations where renting often makes sense include:

  • You expect to move within five years.
  • Your job, family plans, or location are still in flux.
  • You do not have a sufficient down payment and would be taking on a very large mortgage relative to your income.

Short holding periods magnify closing costs, selling costs, and the risk that the market has a bad stretch at exactly the wrong time. Renting in those seasons can preserve flexibility while you build savings and clarity.

The Quiet Advantage of a Fixed Mortgage Payment

One point that rarely shows up in viral clips is the long-term advantage of a fixed mortgage payment.

If you take out a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage and stay in the home for decades:

  • Your payment stays the same in nominal terms.
  • Your income, in most careers, rises over time.
  • Inflation gradually makes that fixed payment feel smaller in “real” dollars.

As Rob notes, by the time you are in year twenty-five or twenty-eight of your mortgage, you may still be making the same monthly payment, but your salary is far higher than it was in year one. That dynamic can make it easier to accelerate payments near retirement if that fits your plan, or simply enjoy a relatively low housing cost later in life.

How To Decide What Is Right For You

Instead of adopting an extreme stance for or against homeownership, Archie and Rob encourage listeners to ask practical questions that fit their own situation:

  • How long do you realistically expect to stay in this area and this home?
  • Can you afford the payment and still save for retirement and other goals?
  • Are you comfortable taking on real estate investor risk, or do you want a simpler path?
  • Does paying off your home before retirement support your sense of security and flexibility?

The right answer is highly personal. Some clients value the peace of mind of entering retirement without a mortgage. Others prefer to keep a low-rate mortgage and invest extra dollars elsewhere. Still others rent by choice for the flexibility.

A good financial plan makes these trade-offs visible, stress tests them under different market conditions, and helps you align your housing decision with your broader goals.

Final Thought

The loudest voices online often talk about housing in absolutes. Never pay off your house. Never buy. Always leverage. Always rent.

The reality, as Rob and Archie explain, is more nuanced. Your home is a financial decision, but it is also a life decision. When you see it that way, you can ignore the hype and choose the path that supports both your balance sheet and your well-being.

Thinking about buying, refinancing, or paying off your home and wondering how it all fits into your bigger financial picture?

Use Hoxton Planning & Management’s free Net Worth & Budget Worksheet to map out your income, expenses, debts, and assets so you can see clearly what you can afford and how housing decisions affect your long-term plan. If you want help turning that snapshot into a full retirement and investment strategy, you can also start a conversation with the team.
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Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Center for Financial Planning, Inc. owns and licenses the certification marks CFP®, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER®, and CFP® (with plaque design) in the United States to Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc., which authorizes individuals who successfully complete the organization’s initial and ongoing certification requirements to use the certification marks.