On the one hand, I believe you because that sounds like what a lot of other people do. On the other hand though? None of those scenarios sound even remotely like the life trajectory I'd ever imagined for myself. Especially three mortgages.
Most people don't think about mortgages. Most people also don't hold them simultaneously. Carry one, sell house, pay off, get another. My wife's parents bought a house in '77. They still live in it. My wife bought a house in '00. We still live in it. We didn't for nine years but boy howdy lemme tell ya: I'd much rather have a 2011 mortgage on a 2000 purchase than a 2018 mortgage on a 2018 purchase.
Those same people are the ones who pick a cat loan based on the monthly payment and not their total cost. I'm still a bit miffed that my last car salesman used the "what monthly payment do we need to make this work" line on me.Most people don't think about mortgages.
https://www.edmunds.com/about/press/auto-loan-lengths-reach-all-time-high-according-to-new-edmunds-analysis.html The average auto loan length reached an all-time high of 69.3 months in June — up 6.8 percent from five years ago.
(June being June 2017)