This is the way.
When I bought (in Ipswich, which is the cheaper little brother of Brisbane, Australia) I was 55 and I had the following priorities..
1. There must no chance (zero, nil, none) that I would ever lose the house
2. Working* full-time past 60 y.o. must be 'optional' not 'required'
3. Working* part-time (at all) past 67 y.o must be 'optional', not 'required.'
To accomplish that I bought something that was half the price of what I could afford. I am so, so glad I didn't give in to the temptation to stretch myself more.
*By 'working' I mean working in a way that means doing things on someone else's clock. I'll certainly be productive and attempting to monetise various projects until the day I die because it's enjoyable but without the stress of necessity.