You don’t need five bedrooms if three of them are just holding unpacked Amazon boxes and a forgotten Peloton — and Kevin O’Leary says rushing into a mortgage that swallows half your income is exactly how people get boxed in financially.
The Shark Tank investor laid it out in a LinkedIn post this month: “The biggest money trap people fall into without noticing? Buying a house that’s too big,” O’Leary wrote.
“Your mortgage should be no more than a third of your income. People stretch to 50–60% and then wonder why they’re suffocating. Get a smaller house. Upgrade later.” In the video he shared alongside the post, he emphasized that the value isn’t in owning a bigger house right away — it’s in owning a house you can afford without sacrificing everything else in your life.
O’Leary has been doubling down on the idea that homebuying should align with life stage, not just impulse or social pressure.
In other LinkedIn posts this fall, he said buying a home “only makes sense if you’re staying put for at least five years,” and that renting closer to work makes sense early in a career because it keeps cash liquid and options open.
He’s also warned in a 2018 CNBC interview that young adults and single people shouldn’t feel obligated to buy until they have the financial and personal stability that comes with a family — and in his view, the ideal time often comes when you’re married with kids.
There’s logic behind the blunt wording. Today’s buyers are dealing with higher prices and mortgage rates that put real pressure on monthly budgets.
Data this year show that many new homeowners are committing a much larger share of their income to housing than the traditional 30% guideline, especially in pricey metros where a median‑priced home can eat up well over half of take‑home pay. That leaves little breathing room for other goals like savings, emergency funds, or investments.
O’Leary’s “upgrade later” approach isn’t about being forever small — it’s about sequencing. Buy what fits your budget now. Pay down the mortgage. Build equity. Let your income and net worth grow. Then, when you’re in a stronger position — maybe with a spouse, maybe with two kids and more predictable expenses — you can either renovate or sell and move up to something larger with much less stress on your finances.
That’s a different strategy from chasing square footage straight out of the gate. Instead of being house‑poor for years on a place that feels too big for your current life, you climb into space on your terms.
There’s another angle some homeowners are exploring to avoid overextending: tapping existing equity without taking on new monthly debt. Companies like Nada have set up home equity agreements that give homeowners upfront cash in exchange for a share of future appreciation. That way, someone who followed O’Leary’s playbook and built equity in a modest starter home can unlock some of that value for renovations, investments, or a future down payment — without refinancing or stacking on more mortgage payments.
Advice from O’Leary isn’t anti‑homeownership. It’s anti‑financial suffocation. Start with what fits your life and your income, resist the pressure to “keep up,” and upgrade only when your foundation is strong enough to support it. That’s how a house becomes a stepping stone, not a stumbling block.
