I don't have sympathy for folks making as much as we do who are "broke" or up to their ears in debt. If they're fortunate and privileged enough to get to our positions, they only brought it on themselves.
See this depends. If the following are true:
1) The interest rate on your debt is below inflation
2) The cost to service the debt is a sufficiently low percentage of your monthly take home
Then taking a loan is often MUCH smarter than buying it cash, because your cash can earn interest in excess of the loan interest in most scenarios. I know people with ten houses on 30-year 2.5% notes. They could pay them all off tomorrow but it wouldn't make sense financially.
Remember, when you take a loan you have extremely large banks on the other side of your "great idea" so either they're incredibly stupid, or they can take into account more factors.
Say you have $250k in diversified assets and a $500k note.
In scenario A you put $250k and have no earning power, owing $250k. If you lose your job and foreclose that downpayment is lost.
In scenario B you lose your job but you still have $250k on assets, you can draw on that to pay the $500k note as it comes due. You have options.