It would scare the heck out of me to have my house 25% or 50% paid off right now. I would not be able to sleep even though I have some considerable safety net. Other people are perfectly fine with it as they view the world differently. Some people prefer lack of debt over a combination of debt and investments other smart people love leverage and many people from both camps do fine, although, I bet more get screwed in the latter camp than the former.
Back to the topic. If Alex’s friend handles most of his business this way, which he probably does because he didn’t heloc out profits he is in the top percentage of his neighbors in the wisdom and finacial security factor. Lets hope he has a rainy day fund and it doesn’t rain beyond the norms too much.