Chapter 111 Notes on Buying a House
Chapter 111 Notes on Buying a House
There were not as many real estate agents in the Sui Dynasty as in the Tang Dynasty, nor were they as developed as in the Song Dynasty. However, they did start off, but the qualification requirements were relatively high. Not everyone who wanted to do it could do it; one had to have strong capital as a guarantee.
Many counters discovered the business opportunity and began to operate as real estate and land agents, recommending their own clients to buy houses and land. They earned money from brokerage and errands.
Xiao Xia smiled and said, "I want to buy a house, can you recommend one?"
"How big a house can you afford?"
"I can buy a house with ten acres!"
Shopkeeper Ma stood in awe, "So you are the county lord. I am so sorry! I am so sorry!"
He asked the waiter to replace the hot tea, took out a roll of real estate records and said, "I recommend that you consider the houses in Xuanrenfang and Qinrenfang. Xuanrenfang is a prosperous place second only to Pingkangfang. Qinrenfang has a good environment, no commercial areas, and is particularly quiet at night."
Xiao Xia pondered for a moment and asked, "How much are the housing prices in Xuanrenfang and Qinrenfang?"
"The price per mu in Xuanrenfang is 1,500 guan. Since there is no business in Qinrenfang, it is much cheaper and can be bought for around 1,000 guan. I suggest you consider Qinrenfang because there is no house available in Xuanrenfang at the moment. Qinrenfang happens to have a house of 10 mu, and the other party is in urgent need of money so they are selling it."
"A ten-acre house can be bought for ten thousand strings of cash?"
Shopkeeper Ma nodded, "Add two hundred strings of silver coins and one hundred strings of transfer tax, a total of 10,300 strings of silver coins!"
Xiao Xia was a little surprised and said, "I thought the bigger the area, the more expensive it would be."
Shopkeeper Ma smiled and said, "People in the north have power, and people in the south have money. People with power live in government-run houses that cost nothing, and they buy good farmland with their little money. If you ask them to take out 10,000 strings of cash, it's hard for ordinary people to come up with that except for the rich and powerful.
The wealthy families in Jiangnan are rich and can easily take out hundreds of thousands of strings of cash, but they have no power. If they want to buy a house of ten acres, they need a title of county lord or above, which they are not yet qualified for.
So it's quite contradictory. The rich are not qualified, and the qualified cannot afford it. Just like what the young master said, the bigger the house is, the more valuable it should be, but in fact it is not easy to sell, so it can only be sold at the same price as the one-acre house. I said this is a once-in-a-century opportunity. In the future, as the Sui Dynasty accumulates more and more wealth, it will not be possible to get this price. "
Xiao Xia said happily: "I will come to see the house tomorrow!"
.........
At dusk, the Longshan Restaurant in Wubenfang was filled with young students. Although the court provided them with free meals, the free food was rather crude, with no wine or meat, and the quantity was not much. Even someone with a big appetite like Xiao Xia could not be full.
Xiao Xia and her two new roommates sat in front of the window on the second floor and ordered a pot of wine, six pounds of Hu pancakes and six or seven dishes.
Xiao Xia filled the glasses for the two of them and asked with a smile, "Our master wants to come to Chang'an to buy a house. Can you two brothers give us some advice?"
Wei Chengfeng nodded. "My father also said that now is a good opportunity to buy real estate. There are many vacant lots in Chang'an, and the prices are cheap, but you must buy a good property, a larger one. Does the head of the family have a title, my dear brother?"
"He is the county marquis!"
"A county marquis can buy a five-acre house, but it must be in a good location. There is a saying in Chang'an, buy east and not west. You must buy Wannian County, not Chang'an County. Wannian County is where the rich and powerful and officials are concentrated, while the common people are concentrated in Chang'an County. In the future, the housing prices in Wannian County will increase tenfold, and those in Chang'an County will at most double." Cui Lian also smiled and said, "Brother Wei is right. The location is the most important. East-West Street, Suzaku Street, and the circle surrounding the metropolitan city. Pingkang, Chongren, Xuanren, Qinren, Shengye, and Anyi are all good, but Daozheng and Changle are close to the city wall, so it's best not to consider them."
"Why can't we consider relying on the city wall?" Xiao Xia asked puzzledly.
"Because once a war breaks out, the area around the city wall will be demolished. Also, if you live near the city wall, women in your family can forget about going out. Once you go out, the soldiers on the top of the city wall will use foul language to tease you. It is said that even urinating on the city wall is a minor matter. It is said that some soldiers even climb down the city wall with ropes at night and do whatever they want. So when buying a house, you must stay away from the city wall. It is not safe to live near the city wall."
"What about the restaurant? What's the price at the restaurant now?"
Wei Chengfeng waved his hands and said, "Don't even think about a restaurant. A restaurant needs a good location. No one will transfer a good restaurant. A restaurant that is transferred must be losing money for various reasons. You can't imagine many of the reasons, but the owner won't tell you. You will be in tears after you get it.
For example, our Wei family transferred a restaurant from the Dou family at the beginning of the year. Chongrenfang covers an area of three acres. The location is very good, surrounded by Jinzouyuan. This restaurant costs at least 30,000 strings of cash, but we only spent 10,000 strings of cash to get it. We thought we got a great deal, but in the end, there was no business at all after it opened. Do you know why?"
Xiao Xia shook his head.
Wei Chengfeng sighed and said, "Because there is a small river behind the restaurant, there is a strong smell of feces and urine in the river from dusk to night every day. There is no smell during the day, and it cannot be blocked even if the windows are closed at night. However, the restaurant cannot only do business during the day, it mainly relies on the night, and as a result, there is basically no business at night.
Except in winter when the river is frozen and has no smell, it is the same in spring, autumn and summer. So after losing money for half a year, we had to close the restaurant and use it as a temporary warehouse. In just one year, we lost thousands of guan. We are now selling the restaurant at a low price of several thousand guan, but no one wants it. "
"The reason has not been found yet?"
Wei Chengfeng shook his head. "If the reason could be found, the Dou family would not have sold it. It's such a good location."
Xiao Xia was a little tempted. He knew that under normal circumstances it couldn't be the smell of feces and urine. He had experience that people living along the river usually smelled the odor in the morning because morning was the time when people concentrated on cleaning toilets. This must be the odor caused by other reasons.
"Can it be transferred for just a few thousand guan?"
"If you want, I can give you four thousand strings of cash. To be honest, since we bought that restaurant, the business of all the Wei family stores has deteriorated, and our family fortune has also declined. Several elders have unfortunately passed away. I have asked several alchemists to look at the feng shui, and they all said that the restaurant is the root of the disaster. The same is true for the Dou family. Anyway, I am telling you the truth, so think carefully before making a decision."
Xiao Xia nodded, "Brother Wei, when you are free, take me to see it!"
..........
The next morning, Xiao Xia had no intention of going to class, so he went straight to Baocheng Shop in Metropolitan City and found Shopkeeper Ma, who had been waiting for him for a long time.
The two of them took a ox cart to Qinrenfang. As expected, the square was very quiet. There were basically no businesses, only a grocery store and a drug store. Most of the houses in the square were official residences, and there were many small houses of three or four acres. There were very few ordinary houses of one acre, and there were basically no thatched huts.
"Shopkeeper Ma said that the size of the house you live in depends on your title, so what should officials without titles do?"
Shopkeeper Ma laughed and said, "Big houses depend on the title, small and medium houses depend on the official rank, so there is a saying that houses over five acres depend on the title, and houses under five acres depend on the official rank."
At this time, the ox cart stopped, and the two men got off the ox cart. Shopkeeper Ma pointed to a very low-key house in front and said with a smile: "This is the house."
(End of this chapter)