[meditate89]

why can you only borrow 1/3 of the value of the property? putting more than 10% down on a piece of RE seems really really -EV to me. Is this standard in the UK?

There's no way in hell buying is better than renting in your area if you have to put 66% down on any property you buy.

otoh, it's pretty hard for people in the US to land a 250k / salary job right out of school...

I would much rather rent out a place for 17.5k per year than drop 800k into a property and still have a 30k per year mortgage on top of that

If I were you I would bank almost all of the 450k++ per year in income you're making for 4-5 years, live cheaply renting for 17.5k/year and then come to the U.S. with 2 million++ or so 4-5 years from now... you'll be able to buy tons of well priced RE that will cashflow, borrow up to 90% LTV and be able to semi retire if you play your cards right