I dont believe the theory that buying and holding stocks will beat the return on real estate - this may be good advice - in theory.
In practice, people tend to invest heavily in stocks and then panic and sell during the first market plunge. Thousands of folks in Destin and elsewhere can atttest to how much money they LOST in the last tech debacle. The
posters here do not take this actual fact into account in their analysis.
Buying real estate for your personal home is always the best investment you will ever make.