Real Estate

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How would you go about evaluating real estate in a certain area?

My question is, would it be a good "investment" to buy a house in a certain place for ~5 years. I have just received a job offer making pretty good money and I'm wondering what the market looks like in the future in the USA for selling a home 5 years down the road. Would it be a good investment as far as not losing an incredible amount of money, of course taking into consideration the savings like no rent and the expenses like taxes.

I just wonder if the general sentiment now is that housing in the USA is over, under, or fairly valued. I want to rent short term, however, the place I'm going has almost NO rentals and is almost exclusively on a yearly lease basis.

I don't look at real estate as a pure investment, I also like to own my own shit and not have to answer to anyone and to have the ability to raise a garden or something, just wondering what the potential is for me losing my ass. I also realize it's VERY individualistic, such as you buy a house somewhere where no sane person would live you'll never get rid of it vs having it by a river with no neighbors that has access to cable.