Second thing I learned at the parental knee, don't go for a mortgage. (First thing: tenants are anathema.)
Buy what you can afford, and shop where taxes are low. With the money you save you can work less and pursue delightful hobbies.
Charles Ingalls always said “cash on the barrel”, but few people can buy homes outright.
Decades ago when we were shopping for a home friends told us to buy a two-family house for the help on the mortgage; I had no interest in doing so because I’m not handy enough to make it worthwhile (most housing stock is old and requires constant upkeep). With the recent evictions freeze, and the monger-term assault on landlord rights, I’m glad I ignored their advice.
Those who stuck to the "Democrats are for the working class" meme mostly live in $#*+hole cities around the Mon Valley. Those who got over it and reinvented their areas live in smaller cities like mine in Westmoreland, Butler, Washington and Armstrong County.