Chapter 77: Acquiring a Siheyuan
The layout of Li Lidong's house is similar to the one Lin Weimin had seen in Caishikou before, both of which have a courtyard at the entrance.
There are three main rooms facing north, two side rooms on the east and west, and the only extra thing is three more rooms facing south. The so-called back rooms are rooms with doors facing north. They also built a toilet and a coal shed in the yard.
The level of regularity is even better than that in Caishikou.
The house was also passed down from ancestors. Li Lidong said that it cost more than 800 yuan to buy the house. After taking into account taxes, agency fees and the cost of renovating the house over the years, the money his family paid had to double.
"I told Lidong before that their family is lucky that the house is in government hands. If it was distributed to ordinary people, they wouldn't be able to sell it even if they wanted it back," said Li Guangfu.
"Yes, yes, I'm lucky to have caught up with you." Li Lidong nodded.
Lin Weimin has been studying courtyard houses recently and is aware of the situation he is talking about.
Many houses were returned, but the tenants could not be driven out because the houses were allocated by the government and they had permanent residency rights.
Of course, the landlord can ask people to pay rent, but it can't be too expensive. According to the current market conditions in Yanjing, each room costs more than 2 yuan per month, which is not enough to repair the houses for these tenants every year.
The house was taken back, but I still had to pay compensation.
Of course, homeowners won't accept this, and these days there are generally three countermeasures.
One is to be arrogant and use all kinds of methods to drive the tenants away, and then move in themselves.
The second type is to just lie down and not collect rent or repair the house, letting them do whatever they want.
The third is to accept the consequences and simply sell the house. Otherwise, you will have to renovate the house and pay property tax every month, which is really not cost-effective.
The current property tax in Yanjing is about 0.2 cents per room, payable every three months. It was not until 1986 that the property tax on ordinary residential buildings was stopped and only levied on commercial properties.
They are all ordinary people, and most of them choose the second and third methods.
The second option is better. If you are lucky enough, you can get a share of the money when your house is demolished in a few years.
The worst is the third type, who swallow their anger and ask someone to sell their house. Because the property rights are unclear, such houses usually cannot be sold at a high price. For example, a courtyard house like Li Lidong's is normally priced at 5,000 to 6,000 yuan, but in such a situation, no one is willing to take it over even at 2,000 yuan.
Lin Weimin heard from his colleagues in the editorial department that a family who had already settled in Shaanxi did not want to return to Yanjing, so they asked someone to sell their house. In the end, the highest offer was only 1,200 yuan.
That yard has ten rooms just like Li Lidong's. Even if one room costs 200 yuan, it would still cost 2,000 yuan. What's more, it has a private door and yard.
So, no matter what year it is, the ones who suffer the most are always the honest people.
After looking around at the houses, Lin Weimin felt that this house generally met his needs. It was about six or seven miles away from Chaonei Street and could be reached in 20 minutes by bicycle, which was quite convenient for work.
Needless to say, Shichahai is not a first-class location as for its geographical location, but it later became a tourist attraction in Yanjing, and its surrounding environment is not bad.
After Lin Weimin exchanged glances with Li Guangfu, he asked, "Brother Li, how much do you plan to sell this house for?"
Li Lidong glanced at Li Guangfu and hesitated, "Five thousand yuan?"
Lin Weimin could tell from the moment he entered the door that this big brother was an honest man with a bit of literary interest. When he heard that he was a writer, the look in his eyes changed.
"Five thousand yuan..." Lin Weimin pondered and said nothing.
Li Lidong thought he was too proud and wanted to say something, "Teacher Lin, my house is still in good condition. It was just renovated last year. You don't have to do any renovations when you move in. I'll leave all the furniture to you."
Most of the furniture in Li Lidong's home is made of rosewood and wenge, and is well preserved. Li Lidong also specifically mentioned that the eight-immortal table and chairs they use for dining are made of huanghuali wood.
Lin Weimin smiled and said, "That's fine, just five thousand yuan."
Li Guangfu looked at Lin Weimin in surprise and said nothing.
Li Lidong was immediately overjoyed, "Oh, this is great."
Nowadays, information is not circulated, and it is not easy to buy and sell houses. In the past two years, there have been many people selling houses in Yanjing City, but not many people buying houses.
Their house is in very good condition both inside and outside. They would be reluctant to sell it at a lower price, but they are also afraid that no one will buy it if they sell it at a higher price. They are very conflicted.
The worst outcome is to go to the Housing Authority, where they charge 200 yuan per room. If you don't ask someone to help you, you can probably sell it at this price, but you don't know when you will have to wait in line.
The Housing Authority has limited funds and cannot buy all the houses at once, so they have to wait in line. It is not easy to cash out the houses.
So it was not easy for Li Lidong's family to meet a happy buyer like Lin Weimin.
Normally the buyer should bargain for the price, but Teacher Lin was unusually generous and didn't even bargain. Li Lidong felt even more respect for Teacher Lin.
With an acquaintance like Li Guangfu around, the two parties first drafted a sales contract. Lin Weimin paid a deposit and made an appointment to go to the Housing Authority on Monday to handle the formalities.
Coming out of Li's house, Li Guangfu asked, "Teacher Lin, if you had bargained just now, you could have gotten a lot less."
Lin Weimin smiled and said, "The house is good and worth the money. There's no need to bargain. With you as the middleman, I feel assured when buying it."
Li Guangfu immediately understood that Lin Weimin was giving him face, and he was touched, "Teacher Lin, thank you."
"Why thank me? I should thank you for introducing me to a good house." He patted Li Guangfu's arm and continued, "I have inquired about many yards for sale these days. Some of them can be bought for one or two thousand yuan, but the renovation of such a house will cost at least two thousand yuan. This time is great, I can buy a convenient one in one go."
Li Guangfu nodded, "Thank you anyway."
"It would be too formal if we say any more. Why should we be so polite among friends?" Lin Weimin said generously.
Li Guangfu was secretly delighted to be treated like this by Lin Weimin.
Putting aside Mr. Lin’s talent and status, just the way he did things today is admirable.
Little did people know that the reason why Lin Weimin didn't bargain was purely because he was a later comer with a sense of indifference. When he thought about the price of this courtyard house increasing thousands of times in the future, he felt great sympathy for Li Lidong's family.
After working hard overseas for a lifetime, I finally saved some money and planned to return home in glory. However, I found that the money I earned in my lifetime could not even buy the house I sold that year.
He is not short of money now, so he can just consider the little money he bargained for as psychological comfort.
On Monday, Lin Weimin took a special leave and went to the real estate agency with Li Lidong and Li Guangfu to go through the house purchase procedures. After paying 5,000 yuan, the title deed to the courtyard house in Shichahai was in Lin Weimin's hands.
Three days later, Li Lidong's family moved out of the courtyard and handed the key to Lin Weimin.
(End of this chapter)
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