How could someone who's been reborn be optimized?

Chapter 50: The Advantages of Old, Dilapidated, and Small Apartments

"Ms. Fang, I'm so sorry about that."

Chen Yuanzhou and Fang Zhaodi walked side by side toward Chenxing Residential Area, while Chen Yuanzhou began to comfort her.

Fang Zhaodi didn't seem displeased at all. She replied, "You're in sales, competing for customers... I understand. Besides, it's my own fault; I only just saw the last text message you sent."

"However, this is indeed my first time looking at a house. Could you tell me about the details of the property transaction?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Yuanzhou began to earnestly explain the science to Fang Zhaodi.

Although it was Fang Zhaodi's first time looking at a house, she wasn't a complete novice. As she listened to what Chen Yuanzhou said, she compared it with what she had found online, and soon she was able to discuss it with Chen Yuanzhou.

"So, in the process of a second-hand house transaction, the official 'tax' is inescapable; what's negotiable is the 'fee,' right?"

"For example, the appraisal fee and service fee you mentioned, these two are where the potential for profit lies, right?"

"But do your agents all like to use terms like 'taxes' to describe things?"

Chen Yuanzhou looked at her with some surprise, then smiled and replied, "You're right. Bank loan amounts are approved based on assessment reports issued by qualified appraisal companies. I can help you get an assessment report for a very low price."

Fang Zhaodi laughed too: "You mean, since you'll handle the assessment report, I don't need to haggle over the service fee anymore, right?"

"Yes," Chen Yuanzhou readily admitted.

Fang Zhaodi was somewhat surprised by his straightforwardness, but her trust in him grew unconsciously.

Given her personality, she would rather put everything on the table for discussion than have the other party deliberately hide anything.

"Assuming the transaction price is 60, is the service fee 12000?" she asked.

Chen Yuanzhou said seriously, "According to the Price Bureau's standards, it is indeed correct. However, the Price Bureau also allows intermediary companies to raise prices by 25%, so it should be 14250."

Fang Zhaodi frowned: "That's outrageous! If it's a house with no double tax, wouldn't the service fee be higher than the tax itself?"

"No, if I really buy a house from you, you have to give me a discount."

"Well about this~" Chen Yuanzhou laughed, "On the one hand, I don't have the authority, and on the other hand, the price depends on the quality of service. I can assure you that my service will definitely be worth more than the price."

"That sounds like something a jerk would say!" Fang Zhaodi joked. "Can I guarantee I'm the one who loves you the most?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Yuanzhou thought to himself that, just as he had expected, the lower the total price of the customer, the more meticulous they were in haggling over every penny. Rather than getting entangled with her on this point, he decided to change the subject.

So he said, "You're from the North, right?"

"Oh? You recognized me?" Fang Zhaodi was clearly a little embarrassed. "I thought that after living in the South for so many years, my accent had completely changed."

"Actually, I didn't figure it out from what I heard," Chen Yuanzhou said with a smile. "I've seen your previous posts on the forum. In your first post looking for roommates, you wrote that you wanted to find someone from the North to share the apartment, so that's how I guessed it."

Fang Zhaodi blinked: "You really are thoughtful."

Chen Yuanzhou nodded: "So one of the apartments I found for you is fully furnished with underfloor heating. The main reason is that although you've lived in the south for many years, you might not be used to the damp and cold winters yet."

"Don't even mention it!" Fang Zhaodi chuckled awkwardly. "I almost froze to death during the first two years! Even though the temperature was above freezing, it felt even worse than sub-zero temperatures in the north!"

"Actually, it's the same for southerners; they basically rely on willpower to get through the winter," Chen Yuanzhou said with a smile.

As they spoke, the two arrived at the entrance of Chenxing Residential Area, where Mo Dongyan was already waiting.

"Master, I came over as soon as I received your text message," she said, panting, straddling her bicycle.

Chen Yuanzhou nodded to her, and Mo Dongyan understood. She didn't go with the two to look at the house, but continued to wait at the entrance of the community.

Soon, as the two walked into the residential area, Sun Qiang cautiously followed, only to be stopped by Mo Dongyan, who was waiting in the shadows, which startled him!

"Who are you?" He looked at Mo Dongyan with annoyance, then realized after a moment, "From Yijingyuan Store?"

Mo Dongyan tilted her head back and snorted, "My master told you to stop following him, or he'll never forgive you!"

Sun Qiang: "..."

He was momentarily flustered!

Even if Chen Yuanzhou discovered that he was being followed, shouldn't the people who stopped him be from the Qinchun Jiayuan store?

What's with these people from Yijingyuan branch showing up? And they keep calling me "Master"?

Did I miss the system announcement? Did the two stores merge?

"Don't meddle in other people's business!" he said to Mo Dongyan, feigning ferocity. "You're not even from the same store, this is completely absurd!"

After saying that, he prepared to continue following, but Mo Dongyan was not so easily fooled!

She shoved the bicycle at Sun Qiang and grabbed his clothes, saying, "If you yell at me again, I'll yell!"

Sun Qiang: ヾ(´･･｀｡)ノ

He never imagined that such a clichéd plot from a TV drama would one day happen to him.

But when he saw Mo Dongyan take a deep breath and make a move to start choking, he immediately chickened out!

"Don't shout, don't shout!" Sun Qiang hurriedly stopped Mo Dongyan: "I'll leave."

After saying that, he turned around and ran away. Mo Dongyan was still worried, so she rode her bicycle and followed him all the way until she saw him return to the store.

"Hehe~" Mo Dongyan was quite happy: "Finally, I can help Master!"

Upon seeing Sun Qiang return, Wu Jielei asked in confusion, "Why are you back?"

"Boss, would you believe me if I said I saw a ghost?" Sun Qiang said with a wry smile, explaining what had just happened.

Wu Jielei was completely dumbfounded when he heard this…

How come Peng Yong and Zhang Wang are in cahoots?

But Sun Qiang had already returned. There were more than 80 buildings in Chenxing Community. In their haste, they had only grabbed a few keys. They didn't know if Chen Yuanzhou had contacted the other landlords. If they went in now, they probably wouldn't be able to find him anyway, so they had no choice but to give up.

But this incident made Wu Jielei feel even more embarrassed!

He frowned, beginning to think that once he found an opportunity, he must teach Chen Yuanzhou a lesson...

……

Chen Yuanzhou had already started showing Fang Zhaodi houses.

Chenxing Residential Area was built around 1992, during the period of large-scale expansion of Jiangcheng City, with Liangxian Town being developed as an important cluster in the western part of the city.

At that time, it was the early stage of China's housing system reform, a transitional phase from welfare housing to commercial housing. All the buildings were multi-story, with unit sizes mainly ranging from 45 to 70 square meters. Only a few units were built in cooperation with Liangxian Town Textile Factory as welfare housing for the factory, with slightly larger areas, reaching around 120 square meters.

Therefore, the appearance of Chenxing Community was completely different from that of later commercial housing. The greening rate was less than 20%, there was no closed management, there were multiple entrances and exits, the alleys between the buildings were intricate and complicated, and there were not many streetlights.

"This neighborhood..." Fang Zhaodi followed Chen Yuanzhou and said with a wry smile, "I didn't expect it to be this old."

Chen Yuanzhou replied, "This is what they call 'old, dilapidated, and small apartments,' their advantage lies in their low total price, high usable floor area, and..."

He thought for a moment, then continued, "This neighborhood is so old, it might be demolished in a few years, then we'll make a fortune."

"Hehe~" Fang Zhaodi shook her head: "I never dream of getting rich overnight! Anyway, I do what I can within my means. My current income can only afford this kind of neighborhood. I have no other choice."

"What do you think of the apartments we just looked at?" Chen Yuanzhou began to probe her intentions: "Actually, the total price of a three-bedroom apartment here is only around 50 yuan, which is very cost-effective."

Upon hearing this, Fang Zhaodi shook her head again: "The price is indeed cheap, but the decoration is too outdated. It's basically the same level of decoration as in the 90s. If you want to move in, you have to renovate it."

"I only have 150,000 yuan on hand, and I can scrape together at most 170,000 to 180,000 yuan. There is simply no extra money for renovations."

As she spoke, she herself grew somewhat disinterested and suddenly stopped.

"Manager Chen, thank you so much for showing me the apartments today," Fang Zhaodi said earnestly. "However, if the remaining apartments are all like the ones we just saw, perhaps we should just skip them today..."

She said very earnestly, "I'm so sorry to have taken up your time today!"

Chen Yuanzhou looked at her, secretly amused.

He was waiting for Fang Zhaodi to say those words!

"Then we won't look at the other properties. I'll show you one last one!"

As Chen Yuanzhou spoke, he led her in a different direction and soon they arrived at a house. As soon as they entered the building, he took out his key to open the door.

"The first floor?" Fang Zhaodi frowned. "Won't the lighting be poor?"

Chen Yuanzhou: "Please take a look first."

The door opened, and Fang Zhaodi followed him inside, her eyes immediately lighting up.

Newer apartment layouts generally have two living rooms and two dining rooms.

However, the Morning Star community was built a long time ago, and the original apartment layouts had a small living room right at the entrance, which needed to accommodate both a sofa and a dining table. Therefore, most of the apartments we looked at used folding tables.

In addition, there are two south-facing rooms side by side, then the kitchen and another small room facing north, with a windowless bathroom sandwiched in between.

But the house that Chen Yuanzhou showed her was clearly designed.

The original kitchen wall was knocked down and combined with the entrance hall, making the space large enough to be used as two living rooms. With one wall removed, natural light from the north could enter, making the room much brighter.

The other small room facing north was connected to the bathroom, creating a large bathroom. The landlord placed the washing machine inside, and it was still spacious.

Because it's on the first floor, there's a courtyard of about 20-30 square meters to the south, accessible through a sliding door in one of the bedrooms.

Fang Zhaodi stepped into the courtyard through the sliding door and was even more surprised!

The landlord of this house actually paved the original cement ground in the courtyard with tiles and installed tempered glass above it, turning the entire courtyard into a sunroom.

Furthermore, a kitchen and a small storage room were built into the side wall of the courtyard, and a small door leading to the alley outside was also opened in the courtyard.

Besides the changes to the apartment layout, the landlord also spent a lot of money on the renovation materials. Although the style is a bit outdated, it can be moved in with just a little tidying up.

Chen Yuanzhou followed Fang Zhaodi from the moment he entered, without saying much.

He has already introduced the apartment layout in the previous listings, so there's no need to go into details again. Just let Fang Zhaodi make her own decision.

Only when he saw the obvious satisfaction on her face did he speak, "Although the landlord has converted this apartment into a two-bedroom unit, I still think it's necessary to show it to you."

"It doesn't matter~" Fang Zhaodi said excitedly, "If you come in and out from the courtyard, that hall can be used as a study."

"But are these really all okay?"

She pointed to the tempered glass ceiling and the kitchen next to it: "Shouldn't this be considered an illegal structure?"

"If the people don't complain, the officials won't investigate," Chen Yuanzhou laughed. "If the urban management officers insist on taking it seriously, they could argue about the illegal constructions in Chenxing Community for years, since almost every first-floor resident did it."

"Besides, the landlord has lived here for over ten years and things have been peaceful, haven't they? That's the advantage of old, run-down apartments."

Upon hearing this, Fang Zhaodi felt somewhat relieved.

She carefully inspected the house inside and out again before asking, "Manager Chen, what is the size of this house? How much does it cost?"

"68 square meters, 60 yuan," Chen Yuanzhou replied.

"Is it that expensive?" Fang Zhaodi sighed.

Although her target price was 60, the properties she had previously looked at were mostly around 50 to 55, with a unit price of just over 7000. This house was obviously much more expensive.

Chen Yuanzhou didn't respond to her, but waited for her decision.

After the brief exchange, he had a general understanding of Fang Zhaodi's personality.

She left her hometown and traveled thousands of kilometers to the south, working hard on her own for many years, step by step, hoping to put down roots in Jiangcheng!

It is conceivable that such a person must be very opinionated, and at the same time, very stubborn and obstinate, and may even be somewhat paranoid.

When dealing with customers of this personality, excessive sales pitches are more likely to cause resentment...

After standing in the courtyard for a few more minutes thinking, Fang Zhaodi said, "Manager Chen, I really like this house, but I've calculated that buying it would require using up all the money I have on hand, and I might even have to borrow some, so..."

"I might need to reconsider taking the exam."

Before Fang Zhaodi could finish speaking, her phone suddenly rang!

She took out her phone and her expression changed instantly.

"Excuse me, I need to take this call."

As Fang Zhaodi spoke, she opened the small gate in the courtyard and went outside…

Although Chen Yuanzhou was curious, he refrained from eavesdropping and simply waited quietly.

To his surprise, the call went on for over half an hour without her returning. Frustrated, Chen Yuanzhou went outside to check on her and found her walking under a streetlamp on the main street, arguing agitatedly with someone on the other end of the phone…

"?"

This situation made Chen Yuanzhou secretly wary.

Fifty minutes later, Fang Zhaodi returned to the courtyard with an angry expression.

"Manager Chen! I want this apartment!"

Chen Yuanzhou was taken aback. Just now he said he needed to consider it, so why did he change his attitude after receiving a phone call?