I totally agree. When you're trying to build your house, invest in the land too. If you get cheap land in the midst of people who are way too below your level, you may face untold envy. At your level, you know you're struggling and wishing to even grow bigger but to them, you're showing off. To you, you're not big enough. To them, you're showing that you're too big. Also, they don't have to get inside your fence before they gossip and spread wrong information about you.