Homeownership and Accidental Landlording or Gold Mine?

 I am confident that home ownership can assist most people in achieving retirement.  If you really think about it you can buy an asset that generally goes up in value as our dollar loses value.  Then you can live in that property and when it's time to move out you can rent it out.  This can be handled completely in house through a property manager.  Now most situations require you to supplement that property for the first few years (just like an investment vehicle) but soon all of you costs are covered and eventually cash will flow to you.  As all this happens the value of the property is going up (again in general and over time) regardless of how much you still owe on the property.  I submit that real estate can be run like a business, no a Family business with all involved and can lead to an increased retirement.