Following.. We had cash liquidated for a Seattle house down payment. It was about 1/2 of our total assets. We got outbid on several houses that, in retrospect, would have been a bit disappointing anyway. It's hard to get anything nice in a walkable/bikeable part of our end of town for under $700-800k. Prices continue to skyrocket here. With a baby on the way, we're now re-thinking whether we even want to stay here, which means that renting is our best bet, even if a bigger rental than our current one is $3000k+. (ugh, right?) After our final bidding war loss, I put 1/3 of the down payment back into an index fund but have been holding the remaining 2/3 as cash. I'm giving myself time to recover from the emotional toll of house hunting and the ensuing life indecision. Once the dust has settled a bit, I plan to start re-investing in phases (for my peace of mind/psychology, even though lump sum is technically "better") but keep $50k or so in some semi- liquid or cash form, knowing I am missing out on potential gains but also that we may want to buy if we move to a lower cost of living area.