Invisible Security Guard
Chapter 102: Buying a House and a Car

Chapter 102: Chapter 102: Buying a House and a Car

At 9:25 am, Yusuf Zuck met Samuel Ross and Dream Morrow, who, without a car, had to wait by the roadside until Yusuf Zuck’s car arrived for them to get in.

Yusuf Zuck handed each of them a bottle of water and said, "After we look at the house, let’s go buy a car. It’s not convenient to get around without one."

"Buy a car?" Hearing Yusuf Zuck’s words, the eyes of Samuel Ross and Dream Morrow lit up. Yusuf Zuck was really hitting it big.

"Bro, what price range are we talking about?" Dream Morrow excitedly asked.

Yusuf Zuck thought for a moment and said, "I plan to buy a Land Rover or an MPV-style van."

"Holy shit, bro, it’s only been a bit over a month since you came to the capital, how did you make money so fast?" Dream Morrow was shocked. It had been just over a month since Yusuf Zuck arrived in the capital, not even two months, and he was planning to buy both a house and a car? Could it be that he was being kept by some rich woman?

In fact, Samuel Ross was also extremely puzzled, suspecting that Yusuf Zuck might have been taken care of by Ms. Wilcox. Otherwise, where had Yusuf Zuck gotten so much money?

"You’ll know in a few days," Yusuf Zuck shook his head. He didn’t mention his treasure hunting at the antique market; such a thing was hard to explain since nobody would believe it anyway.

"Yusuf Zuck, Dream and I checked out two places, both nearby, in school districts and less than five minutes away from the Film Academy. One is for rent, and the other is for rent or sale, both with decent size, over 100 square meters."

"No renting, let’s buy. How much per square meter?" Yusuf Zuck asked.

"School district property is a bit pricey, around forty thousand," Samuel Ross said, looking at Yusuf Zuck.

"Forty thousand?" Yusuf Zuck jumped, astonished. If it was nearly forty thousand for over one hundred square meters, wouldn’t that be over four million?

In other cities, that amount of money could buy a large villa.

"There are cheaper ones around thirty thousand, but the buildings are older, dating back to the nineties, and a bit farther away," Samuel Ross explained.

"If it’s only a difference of ten thousand, we might as well buy a newer building with a new apartment layout, closer to the academy. Let’s go, take me to see the house." Although it was a bit painful to hear the prices, the purchase of a house was necessary; it’s a tangible asset and a dream he had always had.

The three drove into a residential complex, a new development with a nice environment, comprising six or seven high-rise buildings and about fifty-six-story standard apartment buildings.

The high-rise apartment up for rent or sale was on the fifteenth floor, roughly around 110 square meters, north-south facing, with good lighting, and well-decorated.

As soon as Yusuf Zuck entered the apartment, he took a liking to it at first glance. The fifteenth floor wasn’t too high, but standing by the window, one could see a good part of the capital.

"If you want to keep the furniture, that’s fine; if not, we’ll just have to sell it as second-hand," said the homeowners, a couple that looked like high-end intellectuals. They claimed they were going abroad, likely immigrating, and probably weren’t short on money; otherwise, they wouldn’t be offering the apartment both for rent and sale.

"We’ll keep it, then; saves us the trouble of buying new ones," Yusuf Zuck found that the furniture and things like the TV in the apartment weren’t old, and the TV was even a large 40-something-inch LCD.

"If you pay in one lump sum, we can settle on forty thousand per square meter," said the homeowner with a smile.

"Let’s not fuss over forty or fifty thousand anymore. Let’s settle on a round figure—how about four million even? If it goes over four million, we’ll have a look around; we’re not in a rush to buy." Though Yusuf Zuck had made his fortune overnight, spending so much money still pained him greatly, so he insisted on haggling.

"Then we won’t split the transfer costs with you!" the homeowner replied immediately.

"Okay, so shall we go straight to the transaction?" Yusuf Zuck suggested.

"Yusuf Zuck..." Before the homeowner could respond, Samuel Ross interjected with an ugly look on his face, "Transfer taxes are expensive, they should be around a hundred thousand or more!"

"What?" Hearing Samuel Ross’s words, Yusuf Zuck nearly bit his own tongue. A transfer tax of over a hundred thousand just for transferring property ownership?

"We’ve calculated it, and it should be around three hundred and twenty-four thousand," the homeowner pushed up his glasses and said, "Due to the new policy, there’s a business tax on new dwelling transactions within five years, at 5.6 percent. And this expense is, in principle, borne by the homeowner, that is, the seller."

When the homeowner mentioned the tax would amount to more than three hundred and twenty thousand, not only Yusuf Zuck was stunned, but Samuel Ross and Dream Morrow were also bewildered. With more than three hundred thousand, they could buy a hundred-square-meter apartment back in their hometown.

At that point, the homeowner continued, "Actually, many secondary transactions of new buildings wait until after five years before going to the property department for transfer. Just like this apartment—if the transaction happens three years from now, you could save around two hundred and fifty to sixty thousand."

"Brother, with your calculation, I’m not saving much anyway. It’s still nearly forty thousand per square meter as you said," Yusuf Zuck said, caught between a laugh and a cry. How could these intellectuals possibly take a loss so easily? Their minds were sharp as ever.

"If you trust us, then just wait another three years. It’s already been two years, so in three years’ time, if we happen to come back, we can transfer the property to you, and you could save around two hundred thousand," they said.

"No need to save, I don’t want to save that money. I’ll only feel at ease when the property deed has my name on it." Since he was buying a property, it was impossible for him not to get the deed in his name after paying the money. He also heard of many cases where people delayed the transfer to avoid taxes, and then the original homeowner racked up debts and the courts came to enforce the collection.

Indeed, if the homeowner had debts, the creditors could apply to preserve the debtor’s real estate. So even if you paid for the house, if you hadn’t transferred it, the property rights department would still recognize the original homeowner.

He didn’t want that trouble; paying an extra twenty-something thousand for peace of mind was worth it. He considered it the same as if he were paying forty thousand per square meter.

After the group discussed it, they immediately headed to the Ocean Property Transaction Center, hoping to pay the transaction tax before the lunch break.

The homeowners drove a BMW MINI—a very nice model mostly used for grocery shopping. Most importantly, they had a "For Sale" sign on the rear window, indicating they were also planning to sell their car.

Yusuf Zuck stared at the car for a few moments but did not ask about it.

Once they paid the tax at the property transaction hall and signed the contract, the deal was officially completed. Yusuf Zuck received a receipt, which also instructed him to collect the new property deed in a few days.

The homeowners gave him five keys and entry cards for the complex.

Upon leaving the property transaction hall, Yusuf Zuck, along with Samuel Ross and Dream Morrow, made a beeline for the southwestern third ring road in Fengtai district. Fleur Carson had previously taken him to repair his A8, and he recalled there was a BMW dealership near the Audi 4S shop they had visited.

He wanted to buy a BMW MINI, an idea that struck him when he saw the homeowners’ MINI. The rapid growth of his wealth was in no small part due to Miles O’Brien’s contributions, and it seemed he had forgotten to buy her a gift, having only invited her out for Zhajiang noodles in the past two days.

He couldn’t keep expecting Miles O’Brien to work so hard for him without giving her any incentive. Regardless of whether they had officially established a romantic relationship, even if they were a married couple, a husband who earned a lot of money would have to buy his wife cosmetics, jewelry, clothes, and such. Hence, he decided to buy Miles O’Brien a car as a way to repay her.