"Don't worry! I know what I'm doing. If I weren't somewhat confident, I wouldn't dare to take this on."
"I still have a daughter to raise, and with you liking me now, I definitely won't take huge risks recklessly."
Yi Anguo knew in his heart that Li Sisi was worried about him, which was why she said these things.
Seeing that she couldn't dissuade Yi Anguo, Li Sisi could only sigh. Perhaps what he believes is right, and housing prices will soar next year.
After the successful handover of the units in Blue Coast Phase Three, Yi Anguo, as usual, acquired a 200-square-meter shop next to the community's main gate, purchasing it outright for one million yuan.
Then, he moved on to managing Blue Coast Phase Three. After some time, he discovered that the three-bedroom apartments were the easiest to rent out. Two-bedroom units were manageable, and four-bedroom units under 150 square meters were also decent. However, the five- and six-bedroom apartments over 250 square meters were the hardest to lease, with hardly any inquiries.
This was actually quite understandable. For example, the largest layout, a 277-square-meter unit with six bedrooms and three living rooms, would require a monthly rent of at least 8,200 yuan at a rate of 30 yuan per square meter. Who with that kind of money would rent your apartment? Wouldn't they just buy one themselves?
Although Phase Two also had large units—four-bedroom apartments over 150 square meters, some five-bedroom units, and even some up to 198 square meters—there weren't many of them. In total, there were only a little over three hundred, and they were rented out slowly only through sheer luck. But in Blue Coast Phase Three, the majority of the apartments were these large four-, five-, and six-bedroom layouts, accounting for at least half of the total units.
Four-bedroom apartments were still reasonably easy to rent, but five- and six-bedroom units were a real challenge, especially the six-bedroom ones at 258 square meters. The largest ones were nearly 300 square meters.
The remaining three-bedroom, one-living room and three-bedroom, two-living room apartments were the easiest to lease. The two-bedroom, one-living room units couldn't compete with the three-bedroom, one-living room layouts. The size difference was only a dozen square meters, and the rent difference was four to five hundred yuan a month. But one had two bedrooms while the other had three; the three-bedroom units were certainly more popular, as it allowed for one more person to split the cost when sharing.
Yi Anguo's accounts were credited with over 29 million yuan, but he also took on 410 million yuan in bank loans. Adding the 90 million yuan borrowed from the developer, the total came to exactly 500 million yuan, bringing his total debt to one billion yuan.
Yi Anguo re-entered the stock market and bought 1.3 million shares of National Liquor. The average transaction price had risen to 20.98 yuan, giving him a total paper profit of over 760,000 yuan.
Yi Anguo looked at the numbers and couldn't help but sigh. There was nothing he could do about it, but he believed the share price of National Liquor would start to accelerate its climb soon. I remember that in 2004, National Liquor's share price increased by more than 90%, nearly doubling. It hit the 40-yuan mark twice—once in early April and again at the end of October. I don't remember much else. When I researched it back then, I was mainly focused on the stocks with the largest gains during the 2005 to 2007 bull market.
「A month after Blue Coast Phase Three was officially handed over and put up for rent, it was already Christmas Day, December 25th.」
Of the 600 apartments, only 273 had been rented out, not even half.
The crucial issue was that the remaining units were all large layouts, which were even harder to lease. Furthermore, with the year's end approaching, renting out properties became more difficult. Most people who needed a place had already found one, and those who were still looking would likely wait until after the Lunar New Year.
The Lunar New Year was early this year, less than a month away. It was practically impossible to rent out all the remaining apartments before then.
This was all to be expected. Hopefully, I can rent out another hundred or so before the holiday. If only 200 apartments are vacant, the pressure won't be that great.
The one consolation was that National Liquor's stock price had already risen to over 25 yuan. With a total of 3.3 million shares, his paper profit was over 13 million yuan.
The sales price for Blue Coast Phase Three had also been adjusted, with the new price set at 6,800 yuan per square meter.
Yi Anguo suddenly remembered something and called Zhuo Weidong.
"Zhuo, is Blue Coast Phase Four definitely launching on New Year's Day?"
"Yes! Weren't you uninterested in our Phase Four? What's up? Have you had a change of heart?" Zhuo Weidong replied.
"Your properties won't be ready for handover for another year. I'm not that interested, and I can't afford it anyway. Buying 600 units in your third phase has already given me a huge headache. Those large five- and six-bedroom apartments are very hard to rent out," Yi Anguo said with a wry smile.
Zhuo Weidong chuckled. "If they're hard to rent, just take your time. It should get a bit easier after the Lunar New Year. If all else fails, you can always sell them off slowly in the second half of next year. You should be able to make a nice profit."
"I'm not sure if I should say this, but I think for Blue Coast Phase Four, if you have sufficient funds, there's no need to launch so early," Yi Anguo said. "Perhaps when the properties are completed, the prices will be even higher. Housing prices should increase quite a bit in 2004, don't you think?"
"Why do you think housing prices will increase significantly in 2004?" Zhuo Weidong asked.
"Construction on the Shenzhen Bay Bridge has already begun. In the future, it will only take 20 minutes to get to Harbor Island from here. At that point, Nanshan's location will become extremely important. It will become another Shenzhen City Center, potentially even more crucial than the current Futian District. Housing prices are bound to see a major surge. It's not impossible for them to catch up to, or even surpass, the prices in Futian District.
"Moreover, with the construction of the subway, transportation here will become even more convenient, and housing prices will definitely rise along with it.
"Also, Shenzhen is a small city with a limited land supply, especially within the inner districts. The land supply this year has been significantly reduced compared to last year, which will inevitably drive prices up.
"Furthermore, Zhuo, you could actually set your sights on the outer districts. Land there should still be very cheap right now. As the subway system is built out, traveling to the outer areas will become much more convenient, and the housing prices there will definitely experience a developmental leap.
"And it won't take long—three or four years at most."
"Your analysis is very sound! I never expected you to have such a clear perspective on the real estate industry's development," Zhuo Weidong said, pleasantly surprised.
After hanging up, Zhuo Weidong still felt a bit unsettled. If Yi Anguo's analysis was correct, they truly needed to reconsider the launch date for Phase Four.
Thanks to Yi Anguo's second major purchase of 1,600 units, the company's financial pressure was no longer intense. Waiting another year to complete the construction of Phase Four was entirely feasible.
It was a given that completed properties sold for more than off-plan properties. Moreover, with the start of the Shenzhen Bay Bridge construction, the geographical advantage of Lanshan District would be significantly enhanced.
In fact, the effects were already palpable. Ever since construction began on the bridge, housing prices in Lanshan's Houhai and Qianshan areas had shown a clear upward trend. On the surface, prices hadn't risen much, but previous promotional activities had been almost entirely canceled. Even for the few properties still running promotions, the discounts were substantially smaller. For example, for their own Blue Coast Phase Three, they had not only canceled the 10% down payment waiver but also eliminated the 1,000 yuan per square meter cash rebate, leaving only a prize raffle.
As for the 600 units sold to Yi Anguo, that was a special case that received special treatment.
Shenzhen is a city of migrants. As the Lunar New Year drew closer, the streets grew quieter, and it became truly difficult to rent out apartments. The only potential renters were those planning to stay in Shenzhen for the holiday, some of whom were bringing their families over to celebrate.
Consequently, by the eve of the Lunar New Year, only 387 of the 600 apartments had been rented out, leaving 213 vacant.