If you remember 2008, chances are you also remember the fear. Home values were collapsing. Borrowers were defaulting. The phrase "underwater mortgage" was everywhere. But fast forward to 2012, and Warren Buffett was telling CNBC viewers something no ...

Buffett didn’t hesitate. “If I knew where I was going to want to live the next five or 10 years, I would buy a home and I’d finance it with a 30-year mortgage, and it’s a terrific deal,” he said.

He didn’t stop there. “If I was an investor that was a handy type, which I’m not, and I could buy a couple of them at distressed prices and find renters… it’s a leveraged way of owning a very cheap asset now, and I think that’s probably as attractive an investment as you can make now.”