On Wednesday, the three of us unfolded the folding table and started eating breakfast around it. However, I was still preoccupied with my phone, so much so that I couldn't get into the conversation when they were chatting.

At this point, Ping Ge said to me again, “Michael, we’ll only stay in Bangkok for another two or three days before we have to leave. When we get to Phuket, you and San San can stay at my place, and we’ll officially get this business started… This is what I’m thinking: we’ll first set up a real estate agency, and then use that agency as the core to develop the second-hand housing market. The second-hand housing market in Phuket is pretty good right now; a good agency can sell twenty-three houses a month.”

It wasn't until we started talking about business that I snapped out of my daze. I glanced at Brother Ping and said, "I'm not inclined to be a real estate agent for two reasons. First, I don't think my strengths lie there; second, the return on investment for real estate agents is too low. We can do the math. The common practice in the industry is that for every property sold, the agent gets a 1% commission. For a 5 million baht property, that means we only get 50,000 baht in profit, which is about 10,000 yuan. Selling 20 properties a month would only amount to 200,000 yuan. And a real estate agency that can sell 20 properties a month would need a team of at least 10 to 15 people. After deducting the company's operating costs, would the actual profit be enough for us to share?"

“You can’t just calculate the low. If there are five or six villas among the 20 houses, our profits can multiply.”

I smiled and replied, "But the truth is, the most popular type of property in Phuket is actually a small apartment of around 50 square meters. This is because the apartments here have very complete amenities and are freehold, making them very popular with foreign investors. As for villas, foreigners don't have land use rights, and Thailand is not an immigration country. So, if a foreigner wants to buy a villa here, they either need to set up a company and register the property under their company's name, or they need to have a very trusted Thai friend and register the property under their friend's name. But both of these methods are last resorts, so the proportion of villa investments is very low. If one villa is sold out of 20 properties, that's considered pretty good!"

Brother Ping nodded in agreement with my statement, and then asked, "So what do you want to do?"

"I've looked into it. Although the real estate market here is far from saturated, development efficiency is low, so the supply of housing is relatively limited. If you want to make quick money, you need to become an agent, and you absolutely cannot sell pre-furnished apartments. To grab the lion's share of the profits, you must get involved before the apartments are completed... Therefore, we only look for agents for 'unfinished' apartments, and then we build a team to handle the renovations... What is real estate speculation? This is how I understand it: it's selling a house that's only worth 5,000 yuan per square meter for a higher price. So you have to create added value for the house first, and renovation is where you can best demonstrate that added value... A good interior design team can easily be built with a budget of 1,000 yuan."

"To create the effect of 3000 yuan...and that's how we make our profit...Brother Ping, can you understand my thinking?"

Brother Ping stared at me in disbelief, and after a long while, he replied, "I... I understand, but isn't this a bit too ambitious?... Where are we going to get so much money to renovate a whole bunch of apartments? Even if each apartment costs 80,000 yuan, 200 apartments would cost 16 million yuan. And there are basically no apartment complexes with fewer than 200 units here. Just do a conservative calculation of how much investment is needed. If the apartments end up being worthless in our hands, the loss is something we can't afford!"

"Then you do the math. If we get an average price of 7,000 yuan per square meter from the developer, and then sell it to the market at that average price, how much money can we make? ... That's how I do business. I don't like to think about the worst-case scenario. I only like to pursue the maximum profit."

Brother Ping waved his hands repeatedly, "I dare not play, I really dare not play, you're going too far!" For the latest chapter, please follow the author's official WeChat account, Tank's Bookstall, to view the complete song list for this book and participate in more activities to interact with the author.

"It's normal to have disagreements, but as long as we can agree on two things, then we can do it... First, is our goal to make money?"

Brother Ping replied, "What business isn't about making money?"

"Alright, what are your thoughts on the future of Phuket's real estate market?"

"I asked you to do this because I'm optimistic about Phuket's future real estate market."

I then asked, "If you were to conduct a risk assessment of Phuket's real estate market, what kind of result could you give me?"

"As for the overall environment, there is at least an 85% chance that it will trend upward."

"That means there's only a 15% risk... then there's no problem. With such a high rate of return on investment and only a 15% risk, what are you still hesitating for?"

After a moment of silence, Brother Ping frowned and replied, "Since you're being so blunt, I won't hide anything from you either... I definitely don't have that much capital to make such a big investment. Can you come up with that? Or, can you contribute 30%? As long as you can contribute 30%, I'll grit my teeth and do it. I'll sell all my properties in other places, but the condition is that I can't bear all the financial risk alone!"

The reason I'm willing to work with Brother Ping is because I admire his straightforward and honest personality. If things are discussed beforehand, it's less likely to cause conflicts later.

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