Some of these posts are on thin ice.

As for the ice cream, well, it all depends on your specific situation.

Investing for tax benefits should not be the prime reason but simply the icing on the cake however.What I found typical is for people to lower their leverage as they age.

(My grandfather built his first house with his own hands; my dad, as a kid, straightening the bent nails that my grandfather mis-struck so we wouldn't lose money.)

Be conservative when estimating the appreciation, treat it as icing on the cake.

Tax benefits are the icing on the cake, not the cake. 

I was all of about 10 the first time I was shot at, for the "crime" of walking through parking lot while some person was getting all twacked out on ice and just, who knows, seeing things or just felt like shooting at someone.

Then a series of body weight exercises and dumbbell work rounds it out for me.As far as intake, I cut out ice cream and bought a Ninja Creami to make my own. 

@Dennis Wayne Thanks and I also like that I get a "Cherry" - I call the appreciation I have been seeing the last few years the "Cherry on top of the icing of the cake".

No state income taxLow property taxCheap insuranceGood weather (no hurricanes/tornados/ice/snow storms)Low maintenance/newer housing inventory.