Another benefit of using your mortgage to create wealth is that it should (theoretically, I suppose) get easier over time to make the payments. Why?  For the average American, ones gross yearly income typically increase over time.  (Obviously, there are exceptions to the rule).

It can even get fun!  I hear stories about how my father was barely able to afford his first house and it cost him a grand total of $50,000.  He had mortgage payments of about $350 dollars per month and they way he tells me, "his parents thought this was absurd". 

"How in the world could he afford this huge $4200 per year expense when his yearly income was only about $18,000," they thought?  But that was way back in the early 1970's when the cost of homes was way lower. Twenty years later in the early 90's, he still hadn't refinanced, and he still hadn't made a payment bigger that $350 per month, but his income had more than doubled to approximately $45,000 per year!  So the net result is that his mortgage actually became easier to pay over time.

The moral of the story is this:  You might be struggling to make your mortgage payments at first, but don't sweat it.  They will eventually get easier.