The next day, as soon as the morning rush hour was over, He's mother hurriedly went to the factory to ask the boss for half a day off. Her family of five (including He Wenjun) wanted to go look at houses.
At 7:40, the family hailed two motorcycle taxis and set off on time.
When I arrived at the breakfast shop, it was exactly eight o'clock, and the shop was busy.
The real estate agent was already waiting inside the store.
"Auntie, these are my parents, my grandma, and my brother," He Wenlin introduced. "May I ask your surname?"
"My surname is Zheng, Zheng Juan. Let's go look at that two-bedroom apartment nearby. It's close to your breakfast shop, and it will be convenient for your business if you buy it here."
Mr. He: "Please lead the way."
Zheng Juan led them to the other side of the road and through a box behind the bus stop on the other side.
This area is full of old houses, with almost no spacing between them.
"This house looks quite old, and the buildings are very close together, so the sound insulation must be terrible." He Wenlin started being picky even before she had seen the house.
It wasn't that I really disliked it; it was mainly to set the stage for bargaining later.
"The houses here are cheap, and although they don't look impressive from the outside, the transportation is very convenient. It's easy to take the bus, and it's close to your shop, so it's also convenient for the kids to go to school," Zheng Juan said. "We're here. This is the building, on the sixth floor."
“The top floor, it must be very hot in the summer,” said Aunt He. “My old lady has a hard time climbing six floors.”
Zheng Juan: "It's not hot, and the sixth floor has good lighting and ventilation. Let's go take a look first. If we're not satisfied with this one, there are other options. Let's take our time, look around, and choose the one that suits our taste best."
While climbing the stairs, He Wenlin noticed that there were three households on each floor.
We soon reached the top floor.
The entrance leads directly to the foyer, and directly opposite is the kitchen, which, to be honest, is very greasy and small. To the right of the entrance is the toilet, which is also small.
However, the living room and two bedrooms are of decent size, with the master bedroom having a balcony and a washing machine.
The apartment layout is quite square.
"How much is this house?" Aunt He asked.
"The homeowner said, 80,000 yuan, and all the furniture and appliances inside are yours; they don't want them anymore."
Mr. He's voice suddenly rose: "This dilapidated house costs 80,000!"
Zheng Juan: "Boss He, this house is fifty square meters. The market price is 1,500 yuan per square meter, so fifty square meters would cost 75,000 yuan. The water heater, two air conditioners, washing machine, furniture, and other miscellaneous items would add up to 10,000 yuan."
“They’re all old and worthless,” He Wenlin said. “Besides, this house costs 1,500 yuan per square meter. Aunt Zheng, are you implying that we out-of-towners don’t know the market? Longzhu Garden and Jinghua New Village opened in 1997, and the lowest price back then was less than 1,000 yuan. Although it’s been three years and the price has gone up a bit, the most expensive houses there are only 1,800 yuan, and the cheapest ones are around 1,300 yuan. This old, dilapidated house is not worth 1,500 yuan per square meter. I would even think it’s too expensive if it’s more than 800 yuan.”
He Wenlin had a close classmate in her past life who became a real estate agent and made a lot of money. She told He Wenlin that the second-hand housing market was very murky, especially in some smaller cities. Prices were often inflated, and most of the houses were bought by the agents themselves. They would only do the notarization and not transfer the ownership. Then they would have someone impersonate the owner's representative to negotiate prices with the buyer. If the buyer didn't know how to bargain or was unfamiliar with the market, they would rip them off.
Zheng Juan was shocked. She hadn't expected He Wenlin to be so knowledgeable about the market. She had bought the house for only 39,000.
He then laughed and said, "You can negotiate the price with the homeowner yourselves, or should I call the owner over now?"
Mr. He shook his head: "I don't like this house. It's too small and too old, and it's on the top floor. My mother is so old, she definitely can't handle climbing up and down every day."
Zheng Juan: "This young lady just mentioned Longzhu Garden. There is a four-bedroom, two-living room, two-bathroom apartment there, but it's not renovated yet; it's a bare shell. Would you like to take a look? It's on the third floor, and there's a direct bus from here; it's about an hour's drive."
He Wenlin: "Let's go see the houses in Swan Bay first. We need to go back to make a quick lunch. After we see the houses in Swan Bay, we'll go see the houses in Hengling and the one in Longzhu Garden that you mentioned around 1 p.m.
Zheng Juan looked at the adults of the He family and was surprised to find that no one objected. She hadn't expected that this little girl was the one in charge.
Zheng Juan's husband, Wang Daqiang, drove a minivan and took He Wenlin's family to Swan Bay.
This time, my second brother didn't go with us because he had to prepare lunch delivery.
Swan Bay is also quite remote; it took a minivan half an hour to drive there.
Looking at the scenery along the way, He Wenlin knew that the village near the highway in Swan Bay would be demolished around 2004 and replaced with apartment buildings with elevators.
Around 2007, Baijia Village, which is far from the highway, will be demolished and replaced with apartment buildings.
From now on, this place will be mostly rented by people from other places, with very few locals.
The house that Zheng Juan and her husband brought them to see was in Baijia Village.
"Old Bao, I've brought some people to look at the house," Zheng Juan called out.
Bao Weiming came out, looked at He Wenlin's family, and then invited them in: "Come in and look around. My son bought a house in Shanghai, but he's short of money for renovations, so he wants to sell this house. We wouldn't be selling it if we weren't short of money."
This house was built in 1992. Although it's only one story, it has four rooms. The toilet and bathroom are at the back. Originally, it had five rooms, but in 1997, we converted this small room into a kitchen.
The house is very large, with a living room of more than 30 square meters, two bedrooms on each side, each bedroom being 16 or 17 square meters, and a kitchen of 8 or 9 square meters.
The house has a red brick roof and a cement floor. The toilet in the back is a squat toilet, but it is relatively clean.
"Uncle, does this land belong to you too?"
"Yes, there are houses here and here too, so if you want to buy this house, I won't sell it for less than 120,000."
The house has only one floor, and the staircase to the roof is outside, with a space of five or six square meters on each side of the staircase.
He Wenlin estimated the house's area to be at least 190 square meters, including the outdoor area.
Mr. He said, "Houses in the city only cost a thousand or so yuan per square meter, but houses in the countryside cost 120,000 yuan. It's too expensive."
“My place is large, nearly 200 square meters, and 120,000 is not expensive. Moreover, all my belongings in the house belong to you,” Bao Weiming said.
Aunt He looked disgusted: "Although it's big, building a house in the countryside only costs a few hundred thousand. Look at the walls of your house, they're all moldy, and the plaster is peeling off. There aren't any expensive appliances in the house either. 120,000 is too expensive."
"Can you transfer your household registration?" He Wenlin asked. "We bought the house to register our household and for our children's education. If you transfer your household registration, we can sit down and discuss the price."
If they don't move their household registration, He Wenlin's family can't move in.
This place will be demolished in six or seven years. He Wenlin is here waiting for the demolition, and all her household registrations will be transferred here. Then she can sit back and wait to receive her share of the money.
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