A century-old wealthy family that rose from Shanghai

Chapter 120 The Shrewd Hartung

After a month of investigation and reporting, Cheng Zikang of Jincheng Bank finally obtained full authorization from the headquarters.

Of course, during this period, Zhou Zuomin, the founder of Jincheng Bank, also came to Shanghai for inspection. During this period, Cheng Zikang introduced Chen Guangliang to him, and everyone had a very pleasant chat.

Finally, Changjiang Real Estate also obtained the "consultancy contract", and the total consulting fee for this project was 5 yuan, which of course had to be paid in installments.

During this period, Chen Guangliang also presented a "big gift", which was to inform Changjiang Real Estate that it would seek cooperation with Jincheng Bank for its third project.

In this way, Jincheng Bank can obtain a "fixed deposit", which can be used to invest in Jincheng Bank's own projects. After all, interest must be paid, and of course, investment channels must be found for the funds.

this day.

Chen Guangliang accompanied Cheng Zikang to where Ha Tong worked.

Hardoon was almost eighty years old, but he was still working. The first reason was that this was basically how Jews did business - they worked until they died. The second reason was probably that Hardoon had no biological children.

In the 1930s, Hardoon's wealth was probably worth hundreds of millions of silver dollars.

In his previous life, it was said that upon his death, his estate would be inherited by his Chinese wife (of mixed Chinese and French descent), Luo Jialing (with an inheritance tax of 1800 million yuan). His adopted children and nephews would each receive 10 yuan, while his housekeeper Ji Juemi would receive 400 million yuan (a gift from Empress Dowager Longyu to the eunuchs). The remaining portion would go to George, Sir Arthur's adopted son, 70%, and Luo Bi 30%. In reality, this inheritance tax lawsuit dragged on for 16 years, nearly delaying the founding of New China.

When he first met Ha Tong, Chen Guangliang could see the shrewdness in his eyes at a glance, and thought that this negotiation must not be going well!

As expected, when Cheng Zikang proposed to lease his land, Hotung immediately raised the price.

At this moment, Chen Guangliang finally understood why the Jews suffered a disaster of the century. They really wanted to make every penny.

"Land prices in Shanghai are currently on the rise," Hardong said. "If I rent it to you at a low price now, I'd be taking a huge loss. So let me see. The annual rent must not be less than 18 taels of silver, and the lease term is 32 years. Upon expiration of the lease, all buildings and fixtures on the land must be returned to me free of charge. The lessee must use the best materials to build a new house, and the total construction cost must not be less than 45 taels of silver. The blueprints must be signed and approved by me."

Wow, the rent increased by 30,000 yuan in one go.

On the other hand, even the attachments on the buildings had to belong to Hardoon, which was like picking up a ready-made plate.

Chen Guangliang replied, "Mr. Hartung, it's obviously unreasonable for you to use future prices to negotiate today's rent!"

Hardong looked at Chen Guangliang with a shrewd look and said, "Compared to Mr. Chen's 'getting something for nothing', I think my request is very reasonable. If nothing unexpected happens, the first one to take a fancy to my land should be Mr. Chen's real estate company, right?"

Beforehand, when the two parties introduced themselves, when Ha Tong heard Chen Guangliang's name, he actually knew that he was the boss of Changjiang Real Estate, one of the most talk-about companies in the real estate industry this year.

Chen Guangliang said calmly, "I can't afford to rent your land, but it would be wonderful if we could build a beautiful building on this land."

Hardoon did not comment.

Although Cheng Zikang felt the conditions were harsh, since they concerned his "achievements," he continued to negotiate, saying, "We hope to reduce the rent by another 1 yuan, to 5 yuan. Furthermore, the rent cannot be changed due to pressure from others or other factors. Mr. Hardoon will be responsible for the demolition and relocation of the property."

At this point in the negotiations, both sides have basically expressed their "trump cards" to each other.

Chen Guangliang was also thinking that this project seemed to have great hope of success: first, the rent should be more than 1931 yuan less per year than in the previous life; second, the completion time would be in when Shanghai's economy was at its best (the Great Depression had not yet hit China); third, the concept of the shopping center could give it a certain leading advantage.

The two sides did not reach an agreement in this negotiation, but they remained willing to continue the negotiations.

Judging from Cheng Zikang's expression, he would completely agree to Ha Tong's conditions if the rent was 17 yuan, and he would even agree to 18 yuan in the end.

On the way back, Cheng Zikang asked, "Guangliang, what do you think?"

Chen Guangliang immediately said, "Yes, we can. We shouldn't delay this for too long. First, the market will be better next year, and Hardoon might change his mind. Second, we must also hurry up with the design of the building and strive to launch it during this market wave."

Cheng Zikang grasped the key point and asked, "With this wave of market conditions, do you still think that real estate prices won't continue to rise?"

Chen Guangliang shook his head and said, "Who knows? It's bound to go up in the next two to three years anyway. By the way, Manager Cheng, I'd like to borrow 10 yuan from your mainland bank. The collateral will be the future earnings from Changjiang Real Estate's third project, and I plan to use the funds to purchase land, which will also serve as collateral."

As long as you can make money, you will naturally try your best to borrow money.

The most important requirement for borrowing money is credibility, and Chen Guangliang and Changjiang Real Estate just happen to have credibility.

His borrowing of money was not an exaggeration. In later generations, a Chinese real estate developer named Sun Chunsheng adopted the method of "chain borrowing". In just seven or eight years, his assets increased from tens of thousands of oceans to four million oceans. Of course, he was not an invincible general. The "January 1933th" Incident and the world economic crisis (which swept China in ) caused the real estate market to plummet and Jinxing Company to go bankrupt.

Chen Guangliang's advantage was that he could choose to sell off his property and land assets in 1931.

Hearing this, Cheng Zikang said, "Guangliang, you're just buying land without developing it. This isn't a long-term solution. You're already an excellent real estate developer. Why not utilize the land you have and develop buildings? Whether you rent it out or sell it, it's better than just speculating on the land! Of course, there's no problem with the 100,000 yuan loan. You and Changjiang Real Estate Company have a good reputation."

Chen Guangliang took these words to heart and realized that no one seemed to have considered utilizing his advantage - owning an excellent real estate company.

Take "Happy Home" as an example. The original land price was only worth 5 to 6 yuan (of course the owner may not be willing to sell it), the construction cost was 18 yuan, and the land donation was 2 yuan. The total cost was only about 25 yuan, but its total selling price was as high as 55 yuan.

Even if the land price rose to 1930 yuan per mu (prime land in the middle section of Yuyuan Road) between 1931 and 1, the total price of the land would be 2 yuan; construction costs and land donations would not increase (even the price of imported materials would fall due to the impact of the global economic downturn), and the total cost would be 18 yuan.

But at that time, selling a building for 1.5 yuan wasn't a problem, and the total value could increase by 70 yuan. Thinking about this, Chen Guangliang realized that if he introduced the "pre-sale" and "installment payment" methods to the Shanghai market, wouldn't the vast amount of land he owned be enough to significantly increase his profits?

Selling pre-sale properties means he doesn’t have to spend money on construction costs, which greatly reduces his financial pressure.

As long as these houses were sold (one by one) before 1932, the profits would naturally come rolling in.

Thinking of this, Chen Guangliang said to Cheng Zikang with bright eyes: "Manager Cheng, what you said makes sense. I will consider it later."

First borrow 100,000 yuan, and then invest it in land.

The year after next, we will consider launching "sale of pre-sale properties" and "installment payment (2-3 years)". After all, we have to do it when the market is the hottest.

In 1930, construction funding in Shanghai reached over 9000 taels of silver. By 1931, this had soared to 1.8 million taels, demonstrating the real estate boom of the period. The Broadway Building alone saw a 500 million tael investment, becoming the tallest and largest single building in Shanghai.

Changjiang Real Estate moved to an office building on Jing'an Temple Road (Nanjing West Road), covering approximately 800 square feet and renting for 1000 yuan a year. At the same time, Changjiang Real Estate also installed a telephone.

At this point, the number of employees at Changjiang Real Estate has reached eight, most of whom are "white-collar workers" with certain cultural and professional skills.

"Boss, the budget and design draft are out!"

Guo Deming and Lu Yuantai came to Chen Guangliang's office together and handed him a document.

Chen Guangliang took the information and said, "The Nanjing East Road project is almost done. This time, Changjiang Real Estate is the consultant. I'm mainly the consultant for Jincheng Bank, but Changjiang Real Estate also wants to learn about commercial real estate."

Guo Deming and Lu Yuantai were both delighted. After all, participating in a project like this was a great way to improve their professional skills. Furthermore, Changjiang Real Estate might not have the resources to develop such a large project today, but it would certainly be able to in the future.

"Okay, we have been participating in this project and will definitely be able to gain enough experience." Lu Yuantai then said.

Initially, Chen Guangliang undoubtedly commissioned Changjiang Real Estate to conduct the investigation and survey, so everyone was involved in this project from the very beginning. Even many of Chen Guangliang's ideas were shared and discussed with everyone.

Chen Guangliang continued, "Also, I'm planning to invest in a piece of land under the name of Changjiang Real Estate. It needs to be within the concession, at least close to the concession in southern Shanghai. I'll have about 10 to 15 yuan. You guys should all get involved in this!"

"Ok"

This time, the land was purchased in the name of the company.

In any case, Changjiang Real Estate's equity was 2% owned by Chen Guangliang, while Guo Deming and Lu Yuantai only received % of the profits from the "renting land and building houses" project as dividends. In reality, Chen Guangliang was just taking some of the profits as bonuses for his employees, nothing more.

In the next year, Changjiang Real Estate's main focus will still be on the two businesses of "leasing land and building houses" and "commercial real estate consulting"; of course, acquiring land is not considered a business, but only purchasing goods.

Afterwards, Guo Deming also reported: "Boss, isn't it time to start preparing for the establishment of Changjiang Property Management? There is still a month and a half left, and Happy Home will be ready for delivery!"

Chen Guangliang suddenly realized that there was another business to do, which was "property management".

Not only do we have to do this business, we also have to do it well. After all, if we do it well, we will not only make money but also increase our influence.

"Yes, it can be set up. For a project like the first phase of Happy Home, we can start with four security guards and two cleaners. The trial period is six months, and then we can start charging after six months."

He calculated that there were 135 households in the first phase of Happy Home. If the annual property management fee was 20 yuan, he could collect 2700 yuan. Maintaining a property management staff member cost 160 yuan a year, so six people would only make 1000 yuan. Adding other costs, the total was about 1200 to 1500 yuan.

There is still profit!

"Okay, we'll arrange it right away."

Then, Chen Guangliang began to look at the information.

The third real estate project of Changjiang Real Estate is called "Happy Home Phase II". Since Happy Home Phase I is also located in the middle section of Yuyuan Road, this project is simply called Happy Home Phase II.

The area spans 13.5 mu (approximately 42 acres) and features three-story brick-and-wood houses arranged in a herringbone pattern. The width of each lane is adequate, allowing for easy access by car.

The total construction area is 10600 square meters, with two main doors: the front door and the back door.

This time, the selling price will increase by 100 yuan per floor, with the lowest price being 3799 yuan, the middle price being 4199 yuan, and the top floor being 4799 yuan, which is equivalent to an average price of 4200 yuan per floor.

The price is not bad. Based on the current average monthly income of 30 yuan per household in Shanghai, it will only last for a little over 10 years without eating or drinking.

Of course, ordinary people cannot afford to buy a house. They have to be from a family with at least a middle income or above, because this requires savings.

At this time, if you want to do "installment payment", it will be a sure win, because many middle-class people have the purchasing power.

Therefore, Chen Guangliang should not rush into "installment payment" and "sale of pre-sale houses". He can wait until this model becomes saturated and then bring it out to continue making huge profits.

(End of this chapter)