Kevin O'Leary Says Don't Even Think About Buying A Home If You're Single Or Have Just 1 Kid. But 2 Kids? 'That's When You'll Need A Safe Place' To Raise Them

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Kevin O'Leary has a lodging regularisation that mightiness dependable similar a punchline until you recognize helium meant it. If you're single, don't bargain a home. If you're joined with nary kids? Still a no. In fact, unless you're actively raising "let's say, 2 kids," O'Leary says renting is the close move—and he's dormant superior astir it.

Back successful a 2018 interrogation with CNBC's Make It, the "Shark Tank" capitalist offered up a two-question test. "Are you married?" O'Leary asked. "If the reply is no, rent. If you're married, bash you person children? No? Rent." In his view, adjacent couples without kids shouldn't bargain a home. It's not until a household is forming that helium believes homeownership makes sense.

And successful lawsuit anyone thought 1 kid was capable to unlock a mortgage, O'Leary clarified: not quite.

"When you signifier a household and you're reasoning of having, let's say, 2 kids, that's the clip to commencement reasoning astir a home," helium said, "because you cognize for astir 5 to 7 years you're going to beryllium raising your children and you request a harmless spot for them."

While astir idiosyncratic concern gurus framework homeownership arsenic the instauration of wealth, O'Leary took the other view.

He warned that excessively galore radical overestimate the benefits, particularly successful a rising-rate environment. "Any plus that involves taking indebtedness to ain it, similar a mortgage, similar a house, appreciated successful worth portion involvement rates were going down," helium said. "Well conjecture what? Interest rates aren't going down immoderate more."

He pointed to a hypothetical: idiosyncratic buying a $200,000 location and assuming it'll beryllium worthy $250,000 successful a year. "That mightiness person been existent 10 years ago," helium said, "but I don't deliberation it is going to beryllium existent adjacent year, oregon the twelvemonth aft that."

In reality, prices did leap successful the years that followed—especially aft COVID. In 2018, the mean location was worthy astir $260,000. By 2020, it passed $300,000. By 2022, prices surged beyond $386,000 earlier leveling off. Now, successful 2025, the emblematic location sits astatine $360,727 according to Zillow—still higher than erstwhile O'Leary made his comments, but nary longer accelerating similar before.

Meanwhile, involvement rates person climbed too. In 2018, owe rates averaged astir 4.7%. Today, they're hovering astatine 6.29%.

So portion location values went up, truthful did the outgo of borrowing—making monthly payments heavier adjacent for the aforesaid indebtedness amount.