A large home used to be 1,600 sf. Now it is much larger.
You didn’t have as much stuff back then, so now you need a bigger place for your stuff.
“1,600 sf”
Remember the walls (and inside electric and plumbing lines) of a 2500 sf house are only about 25% longer.
My first home in 1978 was 900 sq ft INCLUDING a one car garage, so livable space was about 700 sq ft. Spent five years there, got hitched, and we moved to a 1,600 sq ft home that was built in 1952. At the time, 1,600 sq ft was TWICE the national average house size. My wife was raised with her brother in a 1,000 sq ft home so 1,600 seemed luxurious to her! We raised our family in that four-bedroom, 1,600 sq ft rancher and still own it.
Young people should learn to be satisfied in those types of smaller homes. As others have said, start small, build some equity, and then move up, but don’t go getting a 5,000 sq ft home with huge mortgage and huge maintenance expenses.
I will always remember dear old Dad’s sage advice: “Son, don’t be house-rich and cash-poor.” Of course, buying in Silicon Valley assured we would be both house-poor AND cash-poor (even back in 1978!). But it all worked out.