Does it EVER make sense to buy real estate for cash? Great conversation with @awealthofcs - here is what I WISH I had said... - I said there are 2 times it make sense to buy with cash 1) when you just sleep better that way and thus may live longer without stress (i.e. the psychological factor) 2) retirees ... But why retirees? I didn't really explain it: - it's about sequence of return risk. A paid for house today is basically a locked in 6% return (the interest you do not pay) - so your paid for house beats bonds for sure - you will probably, over time, get a better return in stocks... but that is b/c stocks average out over the long term, NOT a given in any one year... and retirees have less years to smooth out returns.... so your 6% is a hedge against a possible -20% (read Ben's excellent Risk & Reward book to see how surprising actually annual returns are) So, yes, retirees will often do better to just lock in their real estate as a hedge against market downturns. This advise is actually really old, dating back at least to the 1800s