What's bad about my suggestion? REITs are risky for a 5 year investment. Most are highly leveraged and have volatility similar to equities.

Go ahead and compare charts of VTSAX (Total Stock) vs VBILX (Intermediate Bond) vs VGSLX (REITs) from 2000 through today. If you need the money in 5 years you don't want that much risk.

Also it's entirely possible that average real estate values will decline while the housing market in the area the poster is looking to buy goes up.