Why do people work their ass off to own a home?

I love my parents but why didn’t they just buy a cheap house to own and then use all the extra money they made from saving on rent to pay off the mortgage and invest? I love the peace of mind of having a home so why not cheap and often run down fixer uppers? I know my parents could have afforded a 40k house but they went with a 250k one instead. It still doesn’t make sense to me, please help.