[dfraser992]

I recently bought a flat - my only real debt is the mortgage. There is a psychological shift - I was in London for 7 years and thought I'd rent forever. But it bugged me to be pissing away 1300 a month to a landlord... and it was never big enough. And London is its own headache. The shift for me at least has to do with 'settling down'.

I bought this current flat (outside of London) primarily as an investment (gentrification is already happening here) and so the much lower "rent"/mortgage (than even renting in this city) is an upside. I wish I'd bought in King's Cross 10 years ago, but that's how life goes.

But I do get the social pressure to "own". Under 30s these days are screwed. I always thought London was overpriced, but it kept going up and up and up... At some point, the bubble will burst, but the Tories don't care about the future for anyone but themselves at all.

As an aside, my friend just finished off his <$100 quid a month mortgage he got in the 80s and his two up-two down is easily worth 200K now. I think he paid like 50K overall?

[banku_brougham]

A Seattleite here, I know someone who bought a townhouse near Dollis Hills station on Jubilee line. £750K. Seemed like an eye-watering amount for a crummy looking neighborhood. What am I missing?