This broke my brain a bit. Chart shows a typical $500K mortgage at 8% fixed. You’re mostly paying interest for decades. Equity only kicks in the last 7–10 years.

Total paid: ~$1.2M. Interest alone: ~$700K.

I get its pros but levering up into an illiquid asset in a post-ZIRP world .. ??

Pls help me make sense why this is sold as the safe and very normal thing to do.

I am paying 2% for a flat for 20 years.

If everything would have gone, like I thought it would (spoiler: it didn't) I could have had rent pay for interest and payback.

Also no bank would give me 200k to gamble on stocks, but they have no problem giving you 200k for property.

So maybe it is a leveraged play for the common man?