I think I'm in between: neither an asset nor a liability. Maybe tilting towards 'assets'.
I do not include our house in our retirement planning, though I've listed the balance of the mortgage on 'the whole picture' of our finances. So the mortgage balance is clearly a liability right now that will hopefully go away within a year: planning to pay it off early.
When we decide to sell it, I'm sure we won't profit from it. We'll be lucky if we break even considering insurance, taxes, maintenance, future carpet replacement and painting, etc.
On the other hand, after the mortgage is paid off, we'll be living 'rent free', so the house becomes a sort of an asset.
Anyway, I'm not like a majority of people who enjoy painting, decorating, furnishing their houses. Ours is very plain and half empty. I see it as a shelter to sleep-in. No sense to paint interior for the next 5 years since we'll be having two little kids. Now DD has done some 'art' on the walls in the living room and kitchen.
