DZ, I know you feel the position you are taking in these discussions is the right one, and you have made some very good points, but, I sincerely don’t believe you’re ever going to convince others, who hold opposing views, to change their position wrt real estate investment, regardless of how things may change in the future.
It’s true that windfall profits have been made in real estate, and with other investments, but none of us could have known that at the outset. We were just making educated guesses, and, recently, unique societal events, have made many things extraordinary investments–for now–and as with all things in life, anything can happen.
In the final analysis, no one really owns anything in this world, we’re just borrowing everything we have while we’re here, and then, possibly passing those things on to others who will just borrow them for the short time they are here. It’s all transitory, so why worry about it?
Even if you chose not to invest in real estate, you can still enjoy your life in San Diego, which is what we should all be doing each and every day.