"Buying a house is a bad investment right now." You'll hear some version of this more than you'd expect, and the instinct to argue back with market optimism is usually the wrong move. Most people saying this aren't actually making a financial argument — they're really saying "I'm scared" or "I heard something negative recently." The goal isn't to win a debate. It's to get them curious about what they're actually comparing buying to.
Don't argue with "bad investment" directly. Redirect to what they're comparing it against:
"You're not wrong that real estate isn't guaranteed — but let's compare it to the alternative. If you rent instead, you're paying someone else's mortgage with zero equity at the end. A home forces you to save. What would you do with that money instead? Because whatever the answer is, we should compare it apples to apples."
The second move is to make it concrete to their specific situation:
"If that money would otherwise sit in a savings account earning a few percent, and home values in this market are outpacing that, you're losing ground by waiting — not protecting yourself."
The point of both isn't to win the argument. It's to force them to name a real alternative — because most of the time, when they actually have to say it out loud, there isn't a better one.
You don't need to memorize hyper-local numbers to make this case — a couple of well-sourced national data points do the job:
"The average U.S. homeowner gained roughly $200,000+ in equity over the 2019-2024 window, and homeowners in higher-appreciation states have seen even more. That's not a bad investment — that's a forced savings account with leverage."
Two things matter when you use a stat like this: cite where it's from (CoreLogic/Cotality equity reports are the standard national source and are worth checking for the current figure before you quote it — the numbers above are illustrative, not something to repeat as current fact indefinitely), and always follow it with your own local comps. A national stat opens the conversation; your MLS data for their specific area is what actually closes it.
You're not a financial advisor. Frame all of this as helping them think it through, not telling them what's right for their money — that framing protects both the relationship and you.
Next time this objection comes up, resist the urge to argue with "bad investment" as a phrase. Ask what they'd do with the money instead, and let their own answer do the work of exposing whether the alternative is actually better.
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