Just bought a house myself. I'd say it's a good investment for the following reasons:
1) It's nonliquid, meaning you won't be able to tap into it and waste it, and are unlikely to sell if prices drop (unlike with stocks).
2) You have flexibility in terms of renting the whole house, living in one room renting the others out, living it in yourself if you have the cash flow.
One thing I was concerned of was buying a house that's too expensive / too high of payments including utilities that too much of your monthly budget is spent on housing. Sounds like the way you plan to do it, it won't be much of an issue.
Also I would take the time to look up rents in the area, compare to price of the home, to see what the overall return will be (from appreciatoin + yield) and compare this to other possible investments.
1) It's nonliquid, meaning you won't be able to tap into it and waste it, and are unlikely to sell if prices drop (unlike with stocks).
2) You have flexibility in terms of renting the whole house, living in one room renting the others out, living it in yourself if you have the cash flow.
One thing I was concerned of was buying a house that's too expensive / too high of payments including utilities that too much of your monthly budget is spent on housing. Sounds like the way you plan to do it, it won't be much of an issue.
Also I would take the time to look up rents in the area, compare to price of the home, to see what the overall return will be (from appreciatoin + yield) and compare this to other possible investments.