I wouldn't say the average person plans on buying a "fixer upper", put a lot of work into it and turn it around for a profit. There's some people who make a very lucrative amount of money doing that, but then again there are some people who have 200% returns on stocks because they know their #### and stay on top of it.

The article talks about it from the perspective of an investment. Not everyone is going to look at their house as an investment - some will look at it like a business (you), some will look at it like a luxury item (Valg), some will look at it like a cost savings mechanism (people with 5+ children, for instance), some will look at it as a convenience of not having to deal with a landlord (Nep), etc.

Very few things are black and white. This article deals with it as a long term investment and I think in that light its probably not worth it. If your goal is to have a beautiful place to live in and pass down to your kids, a home is great. If you're looking at "what ways can I have a very high net worth in 30 years", its not. Personally I'm more interested in the latter rather than the former, which won't be the same for everyone.