[fintstone]

I guess it depends on how much return you expect and how fast. There is also quite a difference between buying something to flip (after much work...either by you or someone you pay) and a pure investment play. If one has time, investing in an mutual fund or 401K that is indexed to the S&P 500 or similar has proved over time to achieve almost 10% per year. If you do not need to be too liquid, rental real estate usually performs very well if you do not invest too much of your own money and count the tax savings. Your return should computed be based on your down payment rather than the cost of the house.