At the risk of sounding like a dumbass for bringing this up with a bunch of relative strangers, I've been thinking about this issue a lot lately and I'm looking for some third opinions.
I'm a guy in my late 20s, and I'm currently a renter. Ever since getting married a year ago, the idea of owning a home has continued to present itself. I've spent a lot of time looking a houses over the last year, and ultimately I've been disappointed by what I've seen, as well as a little bit intimidated by the idea of taking on a mortgage and 30 year loan. It's become obvious that I don't want to live in the houses and/or areas I can afford comfortably, so the next logical step is to look in areas where I'd be paying more.
My parents think I should buy a house, but they are also the type of people who worked 60 hour weeks their entire lives to pay a mortgage. Personally, I'm much happier knowing that I can pay for housing, pay bills, invest, and then still have a good amount of money to enjoy travel, concerts, hobbies, etc., maybe even go back to school. This idea seems completely foreign to the older generation, or at least blue collar folks like my parents. They seem to not understand why anyone wouldn't want to buy a house as soon as possible.
Does anyone care to share any insight on the topic? I'd like to start a family soon, but despite familial pressure I'm just not sure I see the value in purchasing a home. Seems like a ton of stress over nothing. If I have kids, wouldn't it be better and cheaper to just rent a larger apartment in area I wouldn't be able to afford to buy in? And, re: the home is an investment, even from that angle a house seems hard to justify, since my wife and I are priced out of the better areas anyway, why not just rent in them and put what I'm not paying taxes into an IRA or something?