Wang Jianwen didn't know the reason, but he felt that Liu Zi was too picky and didn't even like such a new courtyard.
He sighed silently, becoming increasingly less confident about the other houses that were inferior to this one.
The second house's gate was located in the middle of the alley, but Liu Zi could tell at a glance that the gate had been built later.
Once inside the courtyard, it becomes clear that this was originally a side room of a large house. The owner had opened a door in the wall facing the alley for convenience.
Liu Zi knew that all these renovations would have to be restored, and when this main gate was closed, she would have to enter and exit through the tenement. She didn't want to cause that kind of trouble.
"There's one last place in this old alley, but the house is rather dilapidated."
As they walked, they arrived at the last place. Wang Jianwen first gave the group a pep talk, explaining that the house had been listed with their agency for almost half a year, and while many people had viewed it, no one had bought it.
"good!"
Liu Zi nodded. A house needs to be tidied up after it's bought, so it doesn't matter if it's a little broken.
Song Yan looked at the real estate agent with some suspicion, as if there was something deeper in the young man's words.
After Wang Jianwen led them to the location, the three of them finally understood the reason.
The yard looks alright from the outside, but inside it's overgrown with weeds, with waist-high weeds almost completely obscuring the main house.
They stood at the doorway and could only see the main house across the way; the roof seemed to have collapsed, and the beams were exposed.
It's a good thing there were so many of them today; if someone had come alone, it would have been a real haunted house adventure.
"This is supposed to be a house? In our village, even the poorest old bachelor lives in a better house!" Song Yan exclaimed.
Wang Jianwen was somewhat taken aback. He touched his nose, unsure of what to say. He remembered that when he came two months ago, the area hadn't collapsed yet, and he figured it would be even harder to sell now.
He had just tried everything as a last resort. This yard had been stuck with them for a long time; it was expensive, and the government had many requirements if they wanted to rebuild it. Now it had become a major headache for their company.
Liu Zi looked around for a moment, then found a thick wooden stick from the bottom of the steps and used it to pry open the weeds before walking inside.
"Girl!" Song Yan exclaimed in surprise.
"It's okay, I'll go in and take a look." Liu Zi felt that the location and space were quite to her liking, and it didn't matter that the house was a bit dilapidated.
Wang Jianwen finally realized what was going on. He hadn't expected that his seemingly gentle older sister would like this kind of place.
He quickly took the stick and began to explore the path ahead.
Liu Zi breathed a sigh of relief. Although it was winter now and there were fewer snakes, insects, and rodents, the tall grass still made her a little apprehensive.
Song Yan was worried, so she pulled her husband in with her.
Only when she got close enough to see the house's true appearance did Song Yan gasp in shock.
The door was wide open, the windows had large holes, and the room was filled with broken tables and rotten chairs. There were also fallen roof tiles on the floor. It was no exaggeration to call it desolate.
Liu Zi touched the window frame, then turned to Wang Jianwen and asked, "How much is this courtyard?"
"Sister, are you really going to buy it?" Wang Jianwen asked uncertainly.
"Let me tell you the truth. Two years ago, Beijing started to promote the protection of cultural relics. Courtyard houses like this in this area are not allowed to be renovated or rebuilt. They can only be rebuilt on the original site one to one. Have you really thought this through?"
"How much?"
Liu Zi values the location most; after the renovation, it will serve as a charming place to entertain guests.
"Fifteen thousand, no bargaining."
"150,000? That's so expensive? The only slightly larger thing here is the yard; the house is too dilapidated. Can you lower the price a bit?" Since Liu Zi liked it, even though Song Yan didn't like the place, she wanted to help her negotiate a lower price.
"Sister, to be honest, the homeowner has settled abroad now. This is his old family home. He's not short of money and has already said that if it doesn't sell for 150,000, he won't sell it."
Wang Jianwen also wanted to clear out this house. Because of this house, he and his real estate agents had been cursed by countless homebuyers. People said they were heartless for recommending such a dilapidated house to them.
"Can I go back and think about it?"
Liu Zi calculated that buying a house would cost 150,000 yuan, rebuilding it would cost another 100,000 yuan, and adding suitable furniture would bring the total to about 300,000 yuan.
Liu Zi didn't show it on her face, but she was overjoyed inside. This location, this position, buying a house for 300,000 yuan was like getting it for free.
"Okay, go back and discuss it with your family. Once you've decided, let me know. I can only hold it for you for two or three days at most; I can't do anything more than that," Wang Jianwen said, feigning reluctance.
“Okay, we’ll wait three days!” Liu Zi nodded.
Afterwards, the group went to the courtyard on the overpass side. Although it wasn't as new as the first one, it wasn't much different from the second one.
Most importantly, the commercial atmosphere here is strong. If Good Taste can open a branch here, it will definitely be a success.
The first house they looked at was a three-story building with a shop and a small backyard, with a floor area of 300 square meters, priced at 2.4 million.
The three of them were somewhat taken aback. Although they were all buildings, this one was three times more expensive than the houses on the pedestrian street they had just visited. That was outrageous!
Liu Zi had never inquired about the prices here in such detail before, mainly because they were too expensive and she couldn't afford them.
When she finally made some money and wanted to invest in real estate here, the prices had already risen to an alarming level, making it even more unaffordable for her.
Having already viewed two renovated and "expensive" houses, Song Yan couldn't contain herself any longer. She subtly inquired with the real estate agent, Wang, if there were any cheaper options.
Wang Jianwen then led them past this area and onto another street.
There were far fewer pedestrians passing by, and although there were shops on both sides, there were very few customers.
The shop owners, all wrapped in thick cotton-padded coats, sat at the entrance of their shops, trying to attract customers.
Is it okay to open a shop here?
Song Yan leaned closer to Liu Zi and asked hesitantly.
"Let's see how it goes first," Liu Zi said, patting her gently to comfort her.
So the three of them saw the most dilapidated house on the street once again.
Song Yan's face was contorted, and Shi Jianjun, who had been silent, also looked rather unwell.
This house looks just like the one Liu Zi liked earlier. It probably needs to be demolished and rebuilt. It doesn't need to be this dilapidated!
The group then looked at several more houses, some of which were suitable, but the prices were too high.
Song Yan wrote down a lot of things in her notebook, planning to discuss them further when she got home.
Before they knew it, it was already mid-afternoon. The group was so busy looking at houses that they didn't even have time for lunch.
I had originally planned to treat the small agent to a simple meal, but he declined, saying he had other appointments for the afternoon, and left first.
The three of them ate a simple bowl of noodles with soybean paste to fill their stomachs, then got in the car and went home.
No one spoke the whole way, until they were almost home, when Song Yan exclaimed, "Houses in Beijing are so expensive!"
Liu Zi twitched her lips, thinking to herself that housing prices were indeed much higher than in the past, but Sister Yan probably didn't know that twenty years later, housing prices in Beijing would be at least twenty times higher than they are now.
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