@Andrew Johnson Great advice - I totally agree, precisely why I'm on the forum.

You can expect a ~2% greater return over the lifetime of the investment with a company match vs. without.Are you getting that from the below chart?

This fact plays much stronger in my market than lending standards.Values around Puget Sound are increasing rapidly because of the success/types of employers based here (Amazon, Microsoft, Starbucks, Expedia, Costco, Alaska Air, PACCAR, Weyerhauser, Cray, F5, Redfin, Zillow) which is drawing in many high pay employees, the lack of supply noted by @David Dachtera, the copious number of all cash buyers (including non-US Citizens whom for example just bought my last home), exacerbated by restrictive building permits/zoning and the lack of land due to the amount of water/shorelines and steep hillsides; not so much because of a incremental lowering in lender standards.Median Seattle Home price $670,000, not exactly a first time home buyers market.https://www.zillow.com/seattle-wa/home-values/Overlay that chart with stock price charts for AMZN and EXPE...  

Not sure exactly what you asking here... the average is what is often skewed... the median indicates the most precise central tendency.If this data set represented the after tax pay of residents in the city of Smallville, notice how 1 through 6 are sort of in the same range, but 7 and 8 materially different. 

Bill Tracking California:https://caanet.org/kb/legislative-bill-charts-year...

I love real estate precisely because of the control it gives me, and the monthly income.

Let's say you have several Investments that pays you $800 a week.Technically, by the definition of that chart, you are ULTRA-Wealthy because you can live forever this way.Scenario 2 - Live like a King / BrokeNOW.... let's say you have $10 million in the bank but make ZERO Income and all you do is live on that cash.

I need to feel comfortable (although I understand any investment comes with risk) but I know I can mitigate as much risk as I can.I know there's no chart or table I can look up, but with a 100K investment, would ANYONE be able to ballpark a return?

Funny how the same people who will occasionally play the lotto would scold their children exceedingly if they looked in their rear view mirror of the car and witnessed their kid throw a dollar bill out the back window but is precisely what they are doing every time they play .

Below is a quick chart I just ran regarding wages and housing prices. 1990 2018 Average Wage $ 20,172 $ 50,000 Average Housing Price $ 151,700 $ 377,800 Multiple (# Years of wage to purchase house) 7.52 7.56 1990 2018 Median Wage $ 14,499 $ 32,838 Median Housing Price Housing $ 125,000 $ 329,600 Multiple (# Years of wage to purchase house) 8.62 10.04 While on average, the ratio of an average wage compared to an average house price has remained relatively consistent, where purchasing a house is only 7.52 times or 7.56 times a persons wage, the median shows a different multiple.