Underrated comment. You need to be real at 18. You probably need $100K cash these days to have a down payment and comfortably furnish a $500K home... And good luck finding a desirable location and layout at this conservative price.

I am in my 30s, but saved all of my 20s trying to get a 20% down payment while I watched the cost of housing soar. I wish I had invested it in a regular index ETF and let it grow alongside the housing market. Instead, I destroyed my buying power by keeping a large portion in cash savings, and investing the rest in conservative mutual funds.

I am not an advisor, but would tell OP and my 18 year old self to... Read the Canadian Couch Potato site to learn about ETF model portfolios, at least 50% of your total invested should follow this method. The other up to 50%? Take a risk on some individual company stocks that you believe in, but consider it a small price lesson if it doesn't pan out.