I'm not sure that starting with an asset that is appreciating at a much lesser rate than the asset you want is going to lead to a good outcome.
Studios and other crummy housing do not appreciate at the same rate as desirable homes and even if they appreciated at exactly the same percent 3% of 600K is way more than 3% of 200K.
The only way starting with something sucks allows someone to catch up is if someone buys in a shit neighborhood and it gentrifies.
Without gentrification, buying a home in broke ass area of Detroit isn't going to help anyone keep up with cost of homes in Northville. Same goes for buying house in Binghamton, NY. You can get a home there for free basically, but then you live in a county that is losing 10% of its population every 10 years because it is a rust belt hellscape.
What makes this all the more fun is that the Boomers poor management of the housing market benefits them at our expense. Limited supply, stupid ass zoning laws, lack of federal investment in housing, and so on pushed prices to the moon, which puts more money in their pocket as they move from major metro areas to retirement communities.