Real estate mogul cautions about avoidable mistake when buying a home,

Real estate mogul Shawn Meaike believes young Americans looking to purchase their first home need to prioritize discretionary income in the current climate of sky-high interest rates. 

“If you become locked to your home, and you can’t afford to do anything else, that’s not a good purchase,” Meaike told Fox News Digital. 

Meaike believes potential homeowners need to make sure they’re comfortable with the amount of discretionary income that would be available on a monthly basis if they take the leap. 

“What makes me nervous in today’s world is how many people have literally shackled themselves to their home. They can’t afford to buy it,” he said. 

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“What you should be thinking about is, after I pay my mortgage, I got my principal, my interest, my taxes, my homeowner’s insurance… every bill, and then I have money put aside in case something goes wrong,” Meaike continued. “What do I have to live on? And where most young homeowners, homeowners in general, struggle is, they buy too much house.”

Meaike believes “you never get hurt when you buy too little house,” but feels many Americans fail to realize this. 

“Everybody says, ‘It’s my starter home,’ except they want more than they can afford. So, what money will you have left at the end of the month? Run your numbers,” he said.

Meaike practiced what he preaches, and said he owned five or six primary residences before he purchased anything that was worth over $1 million. He began investing in rental properties in his early 20s as a way to add additional income and eventually accumulated hundreds of properties, launching him into a successful career as a serial entrepreneur who has earned generational wealth. 

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“I didn’t have any money. I worked my butt off to make my money. I didn’t want to be house rich and cash poor because I can make money with my cash,” he said. 

“I was never uncomfortable with where I lived, and I was never worried about what people thought about where I lived,” he continued. “I was running companies that were doing, you know, tens of millions of dollars a year and living in a house in places people didn’t want to come visit.”

After finding the right-sized potential home and figuring out the discretionary income, buyers need to make tough decisions so that a dream doesn’t turn into a nightmare, Meaike said.

“Sit down and talk about it and…