I thought the theme here was "buy . .and never sell" . .unless you do a "Tax Deferred Exchange (IRS Tax Code 1031)".
Time was I would have agreed with that, but unique circumstances in the last decade changed my mind. I was lucky enough that some of my career choices put me in a position to buy pretty close to the bottom in San Diego. The first house I bought (with 5% down) tripled in price in less than a decade. While it sounds like you might not have agreed with my choice, I did indeed sell that and have since sold others that I initially bought with the intent to hang on to forever. (I am actually down to owning only two - the house I live in and a condo in SD with a great tenant in it).
Again, I'm not disputing any advice you've given, I just wanted to make sure folks were considering all the angles. As much as the market was favorable for me a decade ago, it has probably been tough on folks who bought in the last couple of years. I don't know how easy it is these days for folks to get the loans you or I were getting not many years ago (but if you or anybody else has a good feel for it then I would be curious).
As a side note, I've contemplated starting a "Stupid Financial Questions" thread where people could ask these sorts of questions. We probably have a fair amount of folks on the board who have done pretty well for themselves. This would NOT be a stock tips thread, just a place where people could ask financial/retirement related questions without fear of looking ignorant or behind the curve. Any interest in that?