Moreover, if you use leverage to make an investment in stock (say) and the stock market temporarily goes down enough, you can get hit by a margin call and go b

Moreover, if you use leverage to make an investment in stock (say) and the stock market temporarily goes down enough, you can get hit by a margin call and go broke. With a house, when the housing market goes down, it is an inconvenience (e.g., it can be harder to get a home equity line of credit or refinance your mortgage), but there's NO automatic "margin call" as long as you can pay your monthly payments. For people with limited capital, a leveraged investment without any possibility of a margin call is very valuable. I'm glad I put my money into buying a house.