The society we live in teaches us to invest in big homes. In schools, we are taught to work and buy a house. Since I was 20 years old, I and my husband were owners of our own houses, never rented. We even ended up with a big dream house, which was actually cheaper on rent, because we were willing to rent out a basement sweet which paid half or our mortgage. Long story short now we are renting since we realize how stupid it is to get a house that makes you a slave to that house. This is all we work for, just to feed that house, that we don't even spend much time in it since most of the time we spend at work, being a slave. If you can afford a house go for it, but just because a bank tells you that you can afford a house, doesn't mean you should get one unless you want to become a slave to it. I learned my lesson on having a big house and that is, you cannot enjoy life because you are constantly fixing something (more money) and all I did when I wasn't working for IT, I was cleaning it and just the basic maintenance doesn't give you permission to enjoy your life.
When achieving that dream is when reality sets in, have you ever thought about a tiny house, that was suitable for you's and less cleaning.
That's one thing they don't teach in school is the expense of owing a home and living.