I Will Appreciate Your Opinion!

"Also, if it would be a good investment, how long should they be held before selling on ebay or elsewhere?"

There are several variables to that equation. It depends on what is considered a good investment...5%, 20%, 100% returns? The U.S. proof sets pose little risk and little reward, it can also be a futile task to sell US mint products in online auctions for a profit. An area of consistent returns and little risk are solid, highly liquid, classic rarities. Some moderns such as the 2004 Plat. have great upside if one has the foresight.
2004 Plat Example and other upside indicators to look for:
1. Ultra modern coin
2. Lowest mintage for a proof type coin in past roughly 90 years
3. Mintage isn't entirely everything - the KING of platinum is still the Proof 2004 set (no offense intended 2006(w) MS)
4. $500,000 spent on 2004 Proof Plat sets just 2 1/2 years ago is worth roughly $1,500,000 - $1,7500,000 today. Virtually nothing touches that return in numismatics - classic, ultra rarity classic or moderns.

If you are looking to invest, I would put that money into a savings account before a proof set. If you are looking to expand and share the joys of the hobby I would purchase a set for each member of the family for the enjoyment and hopefully everyone lives long enough or has heirs to turn a profit when it's a good time to sell.

The silver proof set is a fantastic collectible.

That being said, The last silver proof set that actually increased in value was the 2001. Since then every silver proof set can be purchased for a little over the original issue price.

All but the 1999 and 2001 Silver proof sets can be had for less then mint issue price currently (of the 50 State Quarter era.) 1999 Silver proof sets are insane for some reason (2000 has the same mintage, but sells for mint issue or less) and 2001 is pretty expensive too. Those are the exceptions, and the mintages contiue to go up (804,000 in 1999, 972,000 + 520,000 more of the quater sets in 2006.) They make great collectables, but not something you can sit on. You might be better off with 3 American Silver Eagles for about the same price, which has a better chance at appreciating if silver continues it's slow rise in price. ASE will always be worth melt price outside there collector value.

A long term investment in the medals markets are always a good idea. Buy in the U.S. right now and sell overseas in the World market could even make a short term investment look good. I do remember when that was the other way around - hmmm You might not make a killing ($) but, long term, certainly. JMO

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That being said, The last silver proof set that actually increased in value was the 2001. Since then every silver proof set can be purchased for a little over the original issue price.

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Which brings up another point. You have to sell them at the right time as well.

Yes the 2001 set went up. It went up shotly after issue, and if you sold it then you had a good investment. If you held it and sold it today it was a much poorer investment (I don't think the retail price has changed that much over the past five years. So if you bought it in 2001 and sold it in 2002 you had a 650% return and a 650% per annum return. If you bought it then and sold it today you have a 650% return but only a 141% per annum return. Still a great return rate but not as good as 650%.

A better example was the GSA dollars. While back someone made the comment that he wished he had bought a bunch of them back in 72 when they were sold because of the high prices they were now bringing. I pointed out that if he had his annual rate of return would have been about 3%, less than if he had put them in CD's. And that if he had sold them a year too early his rate would have been 1%. On the other hand if he had bought them just two years earlier his rate of return would have been 250%

In investing, timing is critical.

"But I don't really want to spend that much on coins or bullion, so I'd probably sell it before long. So really I'd just be paying to rent it as a collectible. If I got lucky, it would be rent-free."

I've used this practice in the case of the 93-S used for a short time to "complete" my set of morgans.

IMO Modern Proof sets will never be an investment. Then can, however, be a reckless speculation that might even pay off with an awful lot of good luck. You may recall the Proof set frenzy of the mid 60's. A lot of people made money but even more went broke when it was over. I believe 50% of the FACTS dealers went belly up after that one.

Often times a surge in proof set interest indicates a new wave of collectors coming in. Do you believe that is going to happen any time soon? Maybe it will or maybe, despite glowing reports, this cycle is just coasting on old momentum.

There is also the problem of time. Everyone, it would seem, wants perfect coins. But there is only one direction that perfection can go. What happens if you have sit on proof sets for a decade waiting on the "Fad-wagon" to come through. Will they still be "perfect?"

Frankly, I'd rather buy lotto tickets. I can then save on Maalox since I only have to wait a few days to see that I lost.