I've asked this question myself before stepping up in home so figured I owe my own .02. We find our home expenses of mortgage, taxes and insurance payment comfortable at 14% of our gross income, or 26% of our take home pay after contributing fully to pension, 401k's, FSA and DCFSA. The federal standard for being "housing burdened" is that your rent is >30% of gross income, so I figure half of that is a more mustachian level of reasonableness compared to the crazy American. As others say, all depends on the timing of your goals but for us, early in our lives, the 14% amount seems a manageable amount of expense to devote to housing and not sacrifice in other areas.