If you’re able to pay for rent, you’re able to afford paying back a loan.

May not be true depending on where OP lives. There are a lot of rent vs buy calculators out there, and home prices are so expensive in some areas that it’s actually better financially to rent instead of own, and to invest the difference in payments. For example that’s the case where I live in San Francisco - investing the difference between rent payments and mortgage payments nets me more in the long run, even considering housing value appreciation.

Edit: this of course doesn’t apply to investment properties, where you get the value of the asset + appreciation, but also get rental payments.