Yi Anguo and his daughter managed the shop, receiving visitors interested in renting a property, while Li Sisi, Su ili, and Wang Bing were responsible for showing the apartnts.
After a viewing, satisfied tenants would return to the office to sign the contract and make their paynt. All tenants were required to pay a security deposit equal to two months’ rent plus the first month’s rent upfront. This ant they paid three months’ worth of rent at once, followed by monthly paynts thereafter.
The rent due date was flexible. By default, it was the sa day of the month a tenant moved in. However, tenants could request a specific monthly due date. If no request was made, the move-in date was set as the recurring paynt date.
Blue Coast was a high-end residential community with a beautiful environnt. The apartnts were newly built, exquisitely decorated, and fully equipped with brand-new furniture and appliances, so they attracted a large number of prospective tenants. Since the properties were rented directly by the landlord, tenants saved on the typical agency fee, which was half a month’s rent, making it a very economical deal. The rent itself wasn’t very expensive and was slightly more affordable than other properties in the area.
So smaller apartnts, around 30 square ters, cost over a thousand yuan a month. Many might initially find this expensive, as a two-bedroom apartnt cost over two thousand, while a three-bedroom in another area might cost around the sa. However, those three-bedroom apartnts were often only sixty to seventy square ters, making them less spacious than the two-bedroom units here. So it wasn’t that his rent was expensive; rather, his apartnts were more spacious and located in a much better environnt.
In any case, Yi Anguo’s philosophy was that it was fine if he didn’t make a profit from renting, as long as he didn’t lose money. Renting them out at 30 yuan per square ter would still yield a small profit. After deducting property managent fees, each apartnt would probably earn about two hundred yuan a month.
He wasn’t too worried about whether the apartnts would rent out. So what if they’re difficult to rent? At worst, I’ll just leave them vacant. After struggling through next year, if I really can’t afford the mortgage and run out of money, I’ll just sell so of them. Besides, out of a thousand apartnts, most of them should rent out, right? It’s impossible for none of them to find tenants! Yi Anguo refused to believe in such bad luck.
As long as he could rent out over half of them, he could hold on for another year or two. By 2006, housing prices would be much higher. Although selling before October 2007 would an earning significantly less, he had no other choice.
On the first day, with only Li Sisi helping, nine apartnts were rented out. Li Sisi was constantly busy, often showing properties to several potential tenants at once. So decided to rent on the spot, while others wanted to go ho and think it over. A few others ca in to inquire but left because they were unwilling to wait. There was nothing to be done; with only Li Sisi showing the apartnts, she was completely overwheld.
Only nine apartnts in one day? That’s just over two hundred a month. At this rate, won’t it take five months to rent out all one thousand apartnts? It seems my expectations were a bit too optimistic. Now that things have co to this, there are no other options. Lowering the rent might make them easier to lease, but if the inco can’t cover the monthly mortgage, the loss would outweigh the gain!
For now, Yi Anguo decided against lowering the rent. He would just take things one step at a ti.
After closing the shop, Li Sisi went back to her university dorm for the night. She planned to bring her luggage the next morning and stay temporarily at Yi Anguo’s place. It wasn’t far from Shenzhen University, only about four kiloters, a ten-minute bus ride away.
The next day, two more people, Su ili and Wang Bing, were there to help show apartnts to prospective tenants. Yi Anguo instructed Li Sisi to print nurous rental ads and post them in nearby residential complexes and on the streets for publicity. So people might be looking to rent but were unaware of the large number of vacancies here.
Most people bought the large, upscale units at Blue Coast to live in themselves, so very few were actually available for rent. The smaller units were a different story; many people bought them as investnt properties to lease out. Comparatively, the smaller units were easier to rent because the rent was cheaper. The larger units were less suitable for the rental market due to their higher prices.
It was still only 2003, and the average salary for many young people working in Shenzhen was around 3,000 yuan. They might be able to afford 1,000 yuan for rent, but if it cost over 2,000 yuan, who could handle that? Consequently, many who rented larger apartnts chose to share with others, which significantly reduced the financial pressure. Of the nine apartnts rented, four were for co-tenancy. However, Yi Anguo didn’t care if they were sharing; he rented the entire unit to a single individual and would only collect rent and utility fees from that one person.
The posted advertisents seed to have a significant effect. After noon, the number of people visiting the shop noticeably increased. While only three units had been rented out in the morning, sixteen were leased in the afternoon, two of which went to people who had viewed them the previous day. This brought the day’s total to nineteen units, ten more than the day before.
Before the bank closed in the afternoon, Yi Anguo went to a nearby branch to deposit the rent and security deposits he had collected. Cash was, of course, safer in a bank, and this money was destined to pay off his bank loans anyway. The rent and deposits from twenty-eight units totaled over 200,000 yuan, all carried in a single bag. Thankfully, the bank was just a few dozen ters away, so he didn’t have to worry much about safety.
Having had takeout for lunch, he couldn’t do the sa for dinner. After depositing the money, Yi Anguo went to a supermarket to buy so fresh ingredients. Carrying the groceries, he returned to the shop and asked Li Sisi to take his daughter, Yi Xinyi, ho to start cooking. He decided to stay a while longer, hoping he might get lucky and rent out a couple more apartnts.
Su ili and Wang Bing, who were on a fixed salary, clocked out right on ti. Their working hours were nine to five, eight hours a day.
After they left, a few more people did indeed show up to view apartnts. Yi Anguo closed the shop door and took them for a viewing. During the tour, he received several calls from others who wanted to see the units, asking why the shop was closed. Yi Anguo explained he was with clients and asked them to wait a bit at the entrance.
When Li Sisi got ho and finished cooking, she called Yi Anguo to co back for dinner. When she found out he was swamped with potential tenants, she brought Yi Xinyi back to the shop to help out.
They were busy until 8:30 p.m., but their efforts were well-rewarded. Another seven units were rented out, bringing the day’s total to twenty-six.
While chatting with the new tenants, Yi Anguo learned that most of them had co after seeing the rental ads. They had looked at many other places but found the units too small and cramped. The community environnts were also poor, often consisting of just a few bare buildings with no gardens. The buildings were also too close together, resulting in poor lighting. Although they were in bustling downtown areas and the rent was much cheaper, the tenants were very unsatisfied.
For those who valued quality of life, a community like Blue Coast was the obvious first choice.
Twenty-six units today, plus nine from yesterday, makes thirty-five in total. Compared to a thousand, I still have a long, long way to go!
By the ti he got ho, the food was a bit cool. Li Sisi asked if she should reheat it.
Yi Anguo smiled and said, "The weather is warm, so the food isn’t that cold. There’s no need to reheat it."
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