You make the assumption that most people have the free time, know-how and physical strength to do this.<p>Most people don&#x27;t, so rely on hiring contractors (expensive), and waiting on prices to go up with their earning power to be able to put down a larger down payment and upgrade that way.<p>Although I never quite got how that works because if the market goes up and you sell, well, prices are higher than when you originally bought, so minus taxes, odds are you might not come out ahead unless you&#x27;ve bought in at the right time or went through several cycles.