The birth of the Hong Kong Island family

"The land at No. 126 Magic Street, Yau Ma Tei, is 6,800 square feet, HKD 245,000, and can be used to build four 5-storey tenement buildings, with a total floor area of ​​230,000 square feet."

Before the real estate market could react, Changjiang Real Estate quickly started rebuilding the land.

According to Lin Zhichao’s plan: If the off-plan property is sold, the property on this land can obtain sales of approximately HK$600,000 to HK$650,000; and the entire construction fee plus tax, interest, etc. is around HK$180,000, so the total investment is HK$430,000. There is almost a profit of 170,000 to 200,000.

This rate of return is already very good, after all, the cycle is only one and a half years.

It was impossible to have such a rate of return in the past. After all, the unit price per square foot was less than about HK$30. The important thing is that it still takes up a lot of capital.

"Boss, the Bank of East Asia has provided a loan, totaling HK$150,000." Finance Zhou Fuzhao walked into Lin Zhichao's office and reported.

Lin Zhichao nodded with satisfaction and said, "Well, this fund will be kept in the account and used for company operations and launching the Magic City Street project."

After purchasing this land, Changjiang Real Estate's account was empty again, so there was no way to buy a land worth about HK$400,000. Unless you first fancy the land and get the loan from Bank of East Asia, then sign the contract.

But obviously, this is a bit risky, and Lin Zhichao doesn't want to do it yet.

Zhou Fuzhao breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Okay, I will arrange the finances. If more funds are withdrawn from the Forest Road project, the company can purchase land again."

Every two months, 15 property owners on Shanlin Road have to pay a total of just over HK$50,000 to Changjiang Real Estate, which is divided into five installments.

Lin Zhichao waved his hand and said: "I'm afraid that the land price will continue to rise, and there will be little profit in the end. It won't be worth the risk in the later stage. Of course, if there is a suitable opportunity, I will not miss it."

Land prices in Hong Kong are already high, but now that off-plan properties and strata properties can be sold, land prices will definitely rise. Therefore, the profits of real estate developers will become thinner in the later stages. Unless you acquire land this year, or acquire land in recent months, you will be able to make a profit.

In the second half of 1949, Hong Kong real estate may begin to fall. After all, the army is on the opposite side, and people are uneasy. Gold is obviously more suitable as a 'travelable asset'.

In 1950, the peninsula was not peaceful again, so real estate would slump again until 1953.

Based on these trends, Lin Zhichao would not buy land to develop real estate at the peak of 1948; at that time, he should consider gold speculation and shipping.

After Zhou Fuzhao left, Lin Zhichao couldn't help but pick up the newspaper on the table. This morning's news - "Hong Kong Government Cancels Hong Kong's Free Gold Import and Export Trade". This news is an important event that kicked off the three-year rise of Hong Kong gold.

There is a place for gold speculation in Hong Kong, and that is the Hong Kong Gold and Silver Exchange, a financial center that even Americans lament. Lin Zhichao planned to go and see something. After all, he knew some useful information that could become an important cornerstone for him to make profits.

"Dong dong"

"Come in"

Hu Zhaoxu walked in with a smile and said: "Boss, there is an old residential site for sale in Causeway Bay. It only has 3,500 square feet and can build two tenement buildings."

Lin Zhichao was not interested and said casually: "Forget it, this project is too small!"

In fact, the company's funds can no longer support it.

Hu Zhaoxu said "Oh" and saw that the boss was dissatisfied with the small land, and then said casually: "There is a 40,000-square-foot residential land for sale in Happy Valley. The owner is the Ho Tung family. I heard that several real estate developers are sharpening their knives." .”

Nowadays, it is possible to sell off-plan properties and strata-level sales. Hong Kong real estate developers have obviously seen the business opportunities in this. People no longer regard real estate as a cold business and are gradually becoming more active.

Lin Zhichao's eyelids twitched and he said calmly: "Has this land been sold?"

Hu Zhaoxu shook his head and said, "Probably not yet!"

Lin Zhichao said seriously: "Go and find out the news, and then tell me the situation!"

Hu Zhaoxu was surprised, how could the boss even spend one million Hong Kong dollars to acquire this piece of land?

Of course he doesn't think that the boss has the strength to take over this land. After all, if he has the strength, why not buy a large amount of land before.

"Okay, I'll go find out right away!"

After Hu Zhaoxu leaves.

Lin Zhichao banged on the table because he wanted to do the Happy Valley project.

The small project of a few tenement buildings obviously cannot display much technical content; and the 40,000 square feet of land can build at least 25 five-story tenement buildings.

This is a big project. If it can win this project, Cheung Kong Properties will become the "leader" in real estate development in Hong Kong, and its influence will be unparalleled.

He needs this influence!

At the same time, Lin Zhichao still has no intention of selling his 34 pieces of small yellow croaker (2265 taels of gold, 37.5g is 1 tael).

Well, he has no money!

If it were anyone else, he would definitely give up like this.

But as a person of later generations, Lin Zhichao knows very well that there is a practice called "empty wolf" in real estate.

Thinking of this, Lin Zhichao decided to give it a try!

Lin Zhichao and Hu Siu-hsu came to Wan Chai's "Tung Sang Building", which is the property of the Robert Ho Tung family and the office location of Robert Ho Tung Properties.

For the 40,000-square-foot piece of land in Happy Valley, Ho Tung adopted an on-site bidding method, and the highest bidder won.

Ho Tung is currently Hong Kong's 'Chinese leader' and 'Hong Kong's richest man'. He is also a knight in many countries and has a very high status. And Ho Tung is very fond of investing in properties, such as Tung Ying Building in Kowloon, Tung Sang Building in Wan Chai, Tung Shing Building, etc. He can be called a real estate tycoon.

Because of his relationship with the government, he knew some of the government's plans and purchased some remote land and properties in advance. Once the government plans came in, these lands and properties would increase in value, and he would take the opportunity to sell them.

Ho Tung is a mixed-race child, his father He Shiwen is a foreigner, and his mother Shi Shi is a legendary Chinese woman (He Shiwen is her third man). In that era, mixed-race children were looked down upon by society, so He Shiwen arranged for Ho Tung's mother and son to live in a tenement building outside. However, He Shiwen was also a responsible man and arranged for his children to study and learn English since childhood.

Ho Tung worked as a teacher and customs officer in his early years. At the age of 20, he switched to Jardine Matheson as a comprador and began to make a fortune. The so-called "comprador" means that foreigners want to do business with the Chinese, but do not want to deal directly with the Chinese (they look down on them), so they select people with outstanding abilities from the Chinese to act as middlemen, that is, compradors.

Compradors are "high-class Chinese" in Hong Kong. They can speak English and are appreciated by foreigners. They not only work for foreign companies, but also make money for themselves.

Because of this, when Ho Tung was working as a comprador at Jardine He, he made his fortune on a piece of land. He also served as an intermediary and sold it at a record price in Hong Kong of HK$435,000. Then he took a commission of 1% from the buyer and seller, totaling 8,700. Yuan, who became rich because of this, was in 1890, when he was only 26 years old.

After that, Ho Tung attacked from all sides, working as a comprador for Jardine Matheson while doing his own business. Because Jardine Matheson relies heavily on Ho Tung's ability, Jardine Maison also said when many employees complained, "Robert (Ho Tung) is a business wizard, and I can't think of a more suitable candidate."

At the age of 35, Ho Tung had a net worth of HK$2 million. By 1900, at the age of 38, Ho Tung had a net worth of HK$5 million, making him the richest Chinese businessman in Hong Kong.

Under the guidance of the staff, Lin Zhichao and Hu Zhaoxu came to an office building, where people were already sitting and waiting.

"Mr. Lin, please wait a moment. Manager Li will explain the bidding rules later!"

"Okay, thank you!"

Lin Zhichao looked at the waves of people inside. They were all Chinese, but he had few connections and didn't recognize them.

A short and fat man stood up, came to Lin Zhichao, and said with a smile: "Young man, are you Mr. Lin Zhichao who invented stratified sales and off-plan sales?"

When Lin Zhichao saw that the visitor spoke with a Chaoshan accent, he said, "This is Lin Zhichao, who are you?"

Liao Baoshan said: "My name is Liao Baoshan. I am in the business of making money, rice, oil, salt and cloth. I have also been in real estate for several years."

It's him!

Lin Zhichao pretended to be honored and said: "It turns out to be Liao Sheng. I'm glad to meet you. I heard Mr. Jian talk about you. He said that you are an outstanding figure in Chaoshan."

When he carried Jian Dongpu out, he naturally showed that he also had a backing.

At this time, these people have not yet truly become a generation of tycoons and tycoons, including Chen Weinan, the president of the Chaoshan Chamber of Commerce, nor have they truly become a tycoon.

To be honest, Lin Zhichao doesn't feel that he is in the same era as Li Chaoren, Shark Dantong, Li Shauji, and Guo Desheng. He feels that he is competing on the same stage with people like Chen Weinan, Liao Baoshan, He Shanheng, Feiping Tai, and Hui Aizhou.

Liao Baoshan said politely: "Mr. Jian is my benefactor. I didn't expect Lin Sheng to get his advice. Lin Sheng, if you hadn't changed the way Hong Kong's real estate works, we people wouldn't have dared to come and get millions of dollars." Land. However, Lin Sheng has great strength!"

Back then, when he was buying real estate at the bottom, Jian Dongpu gave him a lot of support.

At this time, another group of people stood up, walked towards Lin Zhichao, and said unkindly: "Mr. Lin, I don't know which wealthy family you belong to, but this bid will cost you millions of Hong Kong dollars?"

After saying that, he looked like you have money.

Liao Baoshan reconciled the situation at this time and said: "We are all joint developers, Mr. Lin may also have a partner! Lin Sheng, let me introduce to you, this is Mr. Zhang Jun, who is engaged in real estate."

do not know!

Lin Zhichao's first reaction was.

"I've been admiring you for a long time! I didn't know until here that this piece of land is so valuable. I definitely can't afford a million, and I don't have a partner, so it seems that I have lost everything today. You are welcome, don't think of me as a Just your opponent!”

Seeing Lin Zhichao's sincerity, everyone immediately laughed.