I was watching an interesting documentary on PBS.org about saving for retirement and how many people are simply falling short. One of the big reasons is that they are investing in the wrong vehicles such as high fee mutual funds and actively managed portfolios through a broker. Many people are finally starting to realize there is a much better way and that's to index invest through low cost ETF's (Exchange Traded funds) You simply buy the broad index like the S&P 500 or the TSX 60 and let time and compounding do it's thing. Many people do the same thing with Real Estate. They try and over complicate things and time markets waiting for some magical time when everything lines up. Guess what? There will never be a time when all the lights are green light to go! As a matter of fact the best time to buy Real estate is when the market has slipped 15 or 20% and it looks like the sky is falling, similar to what we had in Late 2008 in Vancouver. Unfortunately not many people had the courage to do it at that time.  Those who did have done quite well over the past 5 years. My advice is keep it simple if you can afford the home and you have a long term need to own it.  In other words if you think you might need to sell in 3 years then stay renting. Creating capital gains in Real Estate takes time. Buy it, live in it, enjoy it and you will reap the rewards. Remember the alternative is to pay almost the same amount each month to rent. All the capital gains on your principal residence grow tax free. It's the main reason why your home will more than likely be your most valuable asset once you approach retirement age. Stack that with a nice ETF portfolio and some dividend growth stocks and you will not have anything to worry about when it comes to being able to retire comfortably
 
Here's the link to the PBS documentary called the retirement gamble:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/business-economy-financial-crisis/retirement-gamble/the-retirement-gamble-facing-us-all/