The Real Estate Blues

Reader Fatslug the Impetuous has tipped us off to an interesting article about London real estate prices:

Almost anywhere else, the tiny dilapidated studio wouldn't attract much more than mice. But this is London and the 77-square-foot former storage room — slightly bigger than a prison cell and without electricity — is going for $335,000.

The closet-sized space in the exclusive Knightsbridge neighborhood may be only "about the size of a ship's galley, said real estate agent Andrew Scott, who's handling the sale. "But it's permanently anchored to one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in the world."

It gets better.

A coffin-sized shower is en suite, and storage is provided by a shallow closet and 10-inch-deep shelves cut into the wall. Two hot plates and a small sink make up the kitchen. Two dirty windows allow light to filter into the basement room, and the fire escape could conceivably double as a shared patio.

With no electricity or heating, Scott said it would cost an additional $59,000 to make the room habitable.

Topped off by the ultimate bit of estate agent BS:

"It is an investment," he said, as he stretched his arms the width of the room, laying his palms flat on opposite sides of the wall.

Fatslug's comment:
How the #$%@ do you afford it there???