ICTU 06

Chapter 6

I Got 30,000 Coins Through Secondhand Trading  

Chapter 3. Real Estate Horror Story (1)

After returning to Seoul, Choi Hyuk finished arranging a few things related to establishing the corporation at Choi Yeon-uk’s office.

Then he immediately moved on to his next goal.

Building shopping.

Just hearing those words made it sound like a very light hobby, but in reality, buying a building was a decision that could change one’s entire life.

Choi Hyuk knew that better than anyone.

“Hyung. Where’s the list of properties we’re going to see today?”

Choi Yeon-uk rummaged through a drawer and placed several sheets of paper on the desk with a thud.

“Here. These are the investment properties recommended by the real estate agency. They include the location, roads, commercial district analysis, and everything else. They’re not materials for beginners in real estate, so they might be a little complicated……”

Choi Yeon-uk was about to say, ‘Should I contact them and ask them to organize it so it’s easier to understand?’

But before he could, he noticed Choi Hyuk quickly scanning through the documents with his eyes.

“Are you able to understand all that stuff?”

“Yeah. This is actually pretty easy to read.”

“Did you secretly study real estate without me knowing?”

“Not really study. I had to look around a lot when I was searching for a room to live in. And I also worked part-time at a real estate office before.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yeah. A friend introduced me to the job. Thanks to that, I learned a little by watching what they did.”

Choi Hyuk had one major advantage.

He learned things extremely quickly.

Ever since he was young, he had enjoyed learning things he did not know. He even felt a sense of excitement from it.

Choi Yeon-uk had known Choi Hyuk for a long time.

Whether when he was young or now, this part of him had never changed.

Choi Yeon-uk was certain that this trait would become a huge advantage for Choi Hyuk someday……

No, from this very moment.

In fact, even when the accountants from Daeseung Accounting Firm used difficult terms while talking with Choi Yeon-uk, Choi Hyuk understood them immediately and followed the flow of the conversation.

The accountants had been greatly surprised by this.

Meanwhile, Choi Hyuk spread the list of properties across the desk.

There were eight places in total.

Gangnam, Yongsan, Seongsu……

Just looking at the names of the areas, they were all obviously hot places.

Instead of the first page, his eyes stopped at one line written on the very bottom, on the last page.

[Property No. 8. Old three-story commercial building in B District, A-gu, Seoul. Aging condition. Narrow road. Commercial district rental prices declining.]

Choi Hyuk tilted his head as he looked at it.

“Why did you include this one?”

Choi Yeon-uk shrugged.

“When I asked them, they said they included it as an example of a property you should ‘absolutely never buy.’ They said it was just for reference, to show that buildings like this also exist. The tenants change often, and the roads around it are too narrow. They also said there were no plans to expand the nearby intersection.”

“Really?”

An ordinary person would have closed the paper immediately at this point.

But Choi Hyuk was different.

“Hyung, let’s go see this one first.”

“What? Why would we see that one first?”

“You said they included it for reference, right? It’s hard to get a feel for it just by looking at the text, so I want to go there and see it with my own eyes.”

Choi Yeon-uk seemed to find his words somewhat convincing, because he soon nodded.

“Fine. If you say so. Let’s go. Should we take my car?”

“No. Let’s take mine.”

“It wouldn’t be polite to make my precious client drive.”

Choi Hyuk smiled slightly and said,

“I just bought a good car for once. I should drive it around.”

While buying a car for his younger sister, Choi Hyuk had also bought a new car for himself.

It was a sedan from a foreign luxury brand, his dream car that he had wanted to buy someday. With all the options included, it was priced in the 700 million won range.

Choi Yeon-uk hurriedly prepared to leave, looking pleased.

“I should take this chance to see just how good your car is.”

“After you ride it, don’t suddenly buy a car because you can’t forget the ride.”

“I don’t have that kind of money, you idiot.”

“You’re the company president. Why don’t you have money?”

“If you think every company president in the world is rich, you’re seriously mistaken.”

Well.

That was not completely wrong.

The car they were riding in entered an old downtown area in northern Seoul.

After going a little farther from the intersection, the road became noticeably narrower, and old-fashioned signboards covered the shops on both sides.

“Wow. You can tell right away that this place is really old.”

Choi Yeon-uk muttered while looking out the window.

“If we buy a building here…… will we even make any profit?”

“That must be why the real estate agency included it as an example of a property not to buy.”

While responding to his older brother, Choi Hyuk slowly looked at both sides of the road as if scanning them.

To an expert, this would probably look like a terrible area.

But Choi Hyuk decided to look at it from a different point of view.

They stopped the car in front of the three-story commercial building they had come to see.

‘It’s old.’

The metal railings were rusty in several places, and half of the LED lights on the restaurant sign on the first floor were broken.

The exterior walls had the typical exterior materials from the 1990s.

There was not even one gram of anything flashy about the building’s appearance.

But the moment he saw it, Choi Hyuk seemed to realize something and quietly muttered,

“The land is good, though.”

“What? It’s just an old building sitting there.”

“No. The building isn’t the problem. The land is good. Look at how it takes up the space along the curve of the three-way intersection. And look at that empty lot across from us. That one.”

Choi Hyuk’s eyes became sharp.

“Can you find out who owns that lot?”

“Wait a second. I’ll call the agency that introduced this place to me.”

Choi Yeon-uk immediately called the real estate agent.

A few minutes later, he got an answer.

“It’s the empty lot you’re talking about, right? They’ve been negotiating to purchase it for a while because of the intersection expansion. They’re coordinating with the district office, so they say there’s a possibility that an announcement about the construction will be made soon. Wow…… How did this happen? I’m sorry. We only confirmed this information just now…… We didn’t know about it before.”

“Didn’t you say there were no plans for expansion? That’s what it said in the materials you sent us.”

“Yes. That was originally the case. But now that they’re negotiating to purchase the lot, and they’ve even said that an announcement about the construction may come soon…… it looks like the expansion is going to happen.”

As soon as those words were spoken, silence fell between the two of them.

If the road was expanded, the value of this building would increase tremendously.

If the road became wider, the number of people passing through the area would increase immediately.

If the reason this commercial district had been dying was because it was difficult to access, then solving just that one problem could completely change the value of the building.

In other words, this was the seed of a huge jackpot.

“You heard the conversation, right?”

“Yeah.”

Choi Hyuk nodded shortly and spoke with certainty.

“Let’s buy it.”

Choi Hyuk had always been confident in his ability to read situations and recognize opportunities.

That was also why he had been able to avoid missing opportunities even when he was poor.

“And Hyung. You know that real estate agency that gave us the materials? I think it would be better if we don’t deal with them anymore.”

“Yeah, you’re right. They should have updated the information before giving it to us. We asked them to make a list, but they didn’t even update it with the latest information. They just handed it over as it was.”

“No wonder. I thought it might be like that.”

Choi Yeon-uk tilted his head at Choi Hyuk’s words.

“You thought so? Didn’t you just suggest that we come here?”

“Looking at it, only Property No. 8 was based on information from four years ago. So I wondered if the situation had changed, and I came here to check. Normally, the more you go around and look at properties yourself, the higher your chances of finding a good one. Isn’t that right?”

It was the most basic rule.

Choi Hyuk had simply followed that basic rule.

“This building is being handled by a real estate office nearby, right? Let’s hurry. Before the people who notice this start rushing to buy the building, we need to act first.”

“Okay. Let’s do that.”

The two men’s steps became lighter.

The real estate agent adjusted his glasses and said,

“Let’s see……”

“As for the building you mentioned…… the seller’s asking price is 2.3 billion won. But honestly, that’s a little high compared to the market price in this area. The building is old, and the tenants aren’t very stable either. That’s why it hasn’t sold. I can try to negotiate somehow and lower the price for you.”

But Choi Hyuk shook his head and firmly said,

“I’ll buy it for the full 2.3 billion won.”

“What? Really?”

“I can transfer the money immediately, including the final payment. So let’s write the contract here.”

The agent stared at him with his mouth open, unable to speak.

“Still, wouldn’t it be better to buy it a little cheaper if possible?”

But Choi Hyuk was firm.

“You said it was listed at a price slightly higher than the market value, right?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“During the years the building didn’t sell, did the owner ever ask you to lower the price?”

“No? Not at all.”

“Then even if you talk to him, he won’t lower the price. The owner probably already told you that 2.3 billion won was the final price, the absolute lowest he was willing to go.”

If that was the case, trying to negotiate for an even lower price would only make the building owner dislike them.

And if that happened, there was a good chance the entire deal would fall through.

‘I won’t sell it to this person.’

If the owner became stubborn like that, all the effort they had made to come here would become meaningless.

Instead, Choi Hyuk decided that it was better to simply make a clean deal at 2.3 billion won.

Just as Choi Hyuk expected, when the real estate agent contacted the owner and said they would buy it for the full 2.3 billion won, the owner immediately replied that he would come to the office.

“He says he’ll make the deal.”

“Hyung. Sorry, but can you prepare the money?”

Choi Yeon-uk nodded shortly and immediately said it was possible.

Preparing the money was not a problem.

But……

“What the hell are you?”

“Huh? What?”

“I mean, I didn’t know you were this capable.”

Choi Hyuk thought back to the days when he had been desperately poor and said,

“When I was starving for money, there was almost nothing I hadn’t done. Thanks to that, I learned a lot of things.”

Hard times make a person stronger.

Choi Hyuk stretched his arms and told Choi Yeon-uk about their next schedule.

“After this is finished, let’s go see the next building right away.”

His shopping had only just begun.