The mortgage interest deduction is for most people overrated. I believe only about half of homeowners actually claim it, and I recall that the average deduction was around $2,000/year.

Again, if your interest is in profit, real estate-related investments are hard to beat for the average person, especially if you hold them in tax advantaged retirement accounts. Also, consider that with a leveraged product like MORL, which has total annual fees of .80%, you're leveraging at an effective cost of capital you could never get as an individual.