Buying a house was our dream. After 3 years as homeowners, we still question if it was the right choice. Becoming homeowners felt like fulfilling a dream, but it's been more challenging than we expected. There are a lot of things I wish we'd done differently when we purchased our first house. Jennifer Calonia Three years ago, we spent most of our savings buying our first home in Los Angeles. We have regrets. If we'd had a smaller down payment, we'd have money to personalize the house and handle emergencies. The mental load of homeownership is more than we expected, and I worry we rushed into this. As a first-generation Filipino-American and native Angeleno, I was sold a dream. I grew up witnessing my single mother grapple with rising LA rent for a one-bedroom unit to keep a roof over our heads. Neither of my parents has ever owned a home, but they regularly lauded the merits of homeownership .…