eurekapd Chapter 53 House Purchase
Chapter 53 House Purchase
After spending half an hour in the yamen (government office) successfully completing the household registration for Xinghua Village, Wen Dashan and his two sons arranged to meet the officials at the city gate. They then rushed back to the disaster relief settlement in the north of the city to pack their belongings.
"Da Ya, do you need Grandpa to go house hunting with you?" Wen Dashan asked again before they left.
If disaster victims wanted to register their household in the city, in addition to the approval document from the prefectural government, they also needed to own a house in the city. Wen Yuxia had to buy a house first before she could go to the county government to register her household.
With the approval document in hand and the money in hand, Wen Yuxia felt there was no need to rush into buying a house. She planned to find an inn to stay in first, and then slowly look for a suitable place to live.
So she said with a smile, "Grandpa, I can handle the house purchase myself. Once I'm settled, I'll bring Hong'er back to see you. We should also take advantage of the off-season to build the house as soon as possible—a brick and tile house. Don't worry about the cost."
"Okay, Grandpa will listen to you." Wen Dashan nodded in agreement and left the disaster relief site with his group of children and grandchildren.
On the way to Xinghua Village, Wen Dashan learned from Wen Yunhai that Wen Yuxia had prepared 1,500 jin of grain for them and was also going to send Wen Yunhai and the others to school.
While wiping away his tears, Wen Dashan, who was driving the mule cart, said with emotion, "You must remember how good Da Ya was to you!"
Wen Yunhai replied sensibly, "Grandpa, I remember. I will tell my younger brothers to always be good to Daya."
Because of the approval from the prefectural government, the county magistrate treated Wen Dashan differently and specifically instructed his accompanying officials to speak well of the village head of Xinghua Village. Therefore, the resettlement of Wen Dashan and his entourage proceeded exceptionally smoothly.
The village chief first led Wen Dashan and others to rent a vacant courtyard in the village to settle down, and then divided up the residential land and farmland.
The Wen family had long since divided their property. Wen Dashan, Wen Yunhai, Wen Zibai, and Wen Zihua each received one mu of residential land, and later they each bought two mu of residential land.
According to the county government's regulations, each disaster-stricken household was entitled to two mu of fertile land. After careful consideration, Wen Dashan and his son resolutely decided that each family would contribute thirty taels of silver to purchase an additional two mu of fertile land.
"Village Chief Wang, do you know any construction workers? The kind who can build large brick and tile houses?" Wen Dashan said gently to Wang Guiyuan, the village chief of Xinghua Village, after seeing off the officials.
Wang Guiyuan asked in surprise, "You want to build a house?"
Xinghua Village is a large village with over 800 original inhabitants. This time, more than 200 disaster victims have settled in the village.
Of the disaster victims who settled in the village, only Wen Tongsheng's family was actively building a house; the rest were all penniless and simply couldn't afford to build anything.
Moreover, Wen Tongsheng's family only built a simple tile-roofed house that was half adobe and half brick, while Wen Dashan actually wanted to build a large tile-roofed house that was entirely made of brick, and several families, including his father and sons, were building it at the same time.
Knowing that Wen Dashan had the county magistrate's favor, his family was wearing new cotton-padded clothes, and they even came to Xinghua Village in three mule carts. They had just bought a house plot and some fertile land.
Village Chief Wang knew that Wen Dashan was a wealthy man, and adhering to the principle of keeping the wealth within the family, he immediately recommended his second son, Wang He'an:
"What a coincidence, my son has a construction team on his side. They're doing the finishing touches in town these past few days. I'll have him come find you when he gets back tonight."
Wen Dashan said with a slightly heavy heart, "Okay."
No matter how much he planned, he never expected that his estranged parents and brother would also settle in Xinghua Village. Wen Dashan looked up at the sky speechlessly, thinking, "God, are you trying to lock me up with them forever?"
At this time, Wen Yuxia, who remained in Xinchuan County, was unaware that Wen Zhihua's family had also settled in Xinghua Village. The siblings were listening attentively as Xiao Zhang, the broker, introduced the situation in the county town.
The west and east sides of the city have high property prices because they are where wealthy people congregate. The north side of the city has the lowest property prices, but it is too chaotic, with many local thugs and petty criminals living there.
Although the residents in the south of the city were not wealthy, they generally all had legitimate jobs, such as government officials, small vendors, and shop assistants.
Most importantly, there are several good private schools in the south of the city, and the two best academies in the county are also located there. Therefore, after Xiao Zhang introduced the situation in the county,
Wen Yuxia said in a clear voice, "Brother Zhang, can you recommend a few houses in the south of the city for me?"
"Any special requirements?" Xiao Zhang asked as he picked up the picture book.
Wen Yuxia pondered for a moment, then said, "A house with one or two courtyards is fine, but it must have a large yard."
Living in the city costs money everywhere. Until she can figure out a way to make money, she'll have to sell the vegetables from her spatial storage. Having a large yard to grow vegetables and provide cover wouldn't be bad either.
"Miss Wen, these houses all meet your requirements. Please take a look and see if there's one you like," Xiao Zhang said skillfully, taking out several house floor plans from the catalog and handing them to Wen Yuxia.
The brokerage owner had even drawn up both the houses for rent and sale on blueprints, complete with dimensions. It seems the wisdom of the ancients should not be underestimated.
Once settled, she needed to carefully examine what skills she possessed in her past life but not in this one, skills she happened to know.
"Wow, this house actually has a 5-acre vegetable garden in the backyard," Wen Yuxia said curiously, pointing to the word "vegetable garden" marked on the map.
Xiao Zhang chuckled, "This house has been listed for two years, priced at 220 taels. The owner's surname is Li, and the only condition for the sale is that the vegetable garden will always remain a vegetable garden and cannot be used for any other purpose."
It turned out that the house belonged to an elderly couple who had supported their son's education by growing and selling vegetables in their backyard. Two years ago, their son passed the imperial examination and settled down in the prefectural city. At their son's request, the elderly couple decided to move to the prefectural city with him.
The elderly couple had poured so much effort into their vegetable garden in the backyard, so they insisted that the new homeowner not alter it.
City dwellers don't have the time to tend five acres of vegetable gardens, so while many people viewed the two-courtyard house, not a single person expressed interest in buying it.
Wen Yuxia said, puzzled, "They pretended to agree to keep the vegetable garden unchanged when they bought it, but after the purchase, isn't it up to the new homeowner to decide how to change it?"
Xiao Zhang shook his head and said helplessly, "The purchase contract must include a clause stating that the vegetable plot cannot be changed. If the new homeowner doesn't grow vegetables, the 5 mu of land can be left idle, but if they want to grow flowers, plant fruit trees, or build houses, it will be a breach of contract."
If the contract is breached, the house will be reclaimed by the original owner. The new owner will have to pay double the market rent during the period they reside there, and the original owner will refund the purchase price to the new owner.
Wow, you can even do that? Wen Yuxia thought she'd learned something new. From now on, she'll always read the contract carefully before signing with anyone, lest she get herself into a trap.
However, she had always wanted a vegetable garden, and she could accept the request of this elderly couple. So she asked with a smile, "Brother Zhang, this house meets my requirements, but the price is a bit high. Could you contact the owner to lower the price?"
Xiao Zhang said somewhat awkwardly, "The price I told you is the lowest price they've set for brokers. How about I take you to see it in person?"
There were indeed no discounts on the price. 220 taels was the elderly couple's bottom line. Two years ago, when the brokerage first listed this house, the asking price was 3 taels. Now, the brokerage is no longer planning to make a profit; they are satisfied as long as they can sell it and earn a commission.