50s: Starting with a storage ring

Chapter 325 Perpetual Property Rights in the United States

Sun Zhiwei said to Belinda in a slightly joking tone:
"You're actually worried that they'll come back and cause us a little trouble over a few thousand dollars?"

"Look, the little mare under his ass alone is worth tens of thousands of dollars."

“His grandfather not only owns a large ranch, but also a large farm. That’s what a third-generation rich kid looks like.”

Belinda clearly disliked Lieutenant Milan and retorted defiantly, "Hmph, what does that have to do with me? I don't care."

Then, worriedly, she asked, "Boss, how long will you be gone to New York? Will the store still be open while you're gone?"

"It'll be quick. New York isn't far, and there's a highway connecting them. It only takes a morning to drive there."

Although she didn't have a driver's license yet, Belinda had heard of the term "highway" before.
Since the first expressway was built 7 years ago, new expressways have been built all over the country.

Hearing that he would be back in half a day, she was no longer worried. If there was any problem, she could just make a phone call, and her boss would be back in half a day.

"As for the shops, why are they closed? If they're closed every day, people will think we've gone out of business."

"But boss, I don't know how to appraise things. What's the point of opening the shop if you're not here?"

“Are there still so many exhibits available for sale?” Sun Zhiwei said, pointing to the exhibits inside the room.

Belinda looked at the room full of counterfeit goods and felt like crying. Sun Zhiwei was displeased when he saw her expression.

“Belinda, you have to believe me, these are all real, there are no fakes.”

"If you don't even believe it yourself, how can you expect your customers to believe it?"

Sun Zhiwei patiently and skillfully persuaded Belinda to correct her misconceptions.

"On what grounds do they say our exhibits are fake? Do the people who say that have authentication certificates?"

Sun Zhiwei angrily pointed to the certificates on the wall and said:

"See? I'm the real appraiser. Those people don't believe me and instead believe hearsay. It's outrageous!"

"Boss, are these exhibits really genuine?" Belinda asked cautiously.

“Belinda, every single one of these items is genuine. I can guarantee it. I could even write a certificate of authenticity for each one.”

"When will you write it?" Belinda looked at Sun Zhiwei expectantly.

Sun Zhiwei immediately found the little girl unappealing. Why bother with certificates? Don't certificates cost money? Each one costs $2.

"We'll write it when customers need it, and remember to collect payment, $100 per page."

If you write it first, you'll lose two dollars; if you write it later, you'll earn 98 dollars. If you were the boss, what would you choose?
"Also, although I set the price myself, it may be a bit inflated, but they can't say it's fake just because it's expensive."

When it comes to pricing the items, Sun Zhiwei himself is a little hesitant, because he sets the prices based on prices decades from now, since he doesn't know the current selling price of these antiques.

Anyway, it's always better to set a higher price; these are genuine antiques, and we can't sell them cheaply.

"So you can tell those buyers that the things I sell here are guaranteed to be genuine."

"Moreover, any antique sold from me can be bought back at half price at any time."

He's not a devil; if he surrenders, he'll lose half the money. As long as the items are returned, he really will return half the money.

Hearing these two assurances, Belinda finally felt more confident about selling the antiques.

"Belinda, for every item in the store that is sold, you'll get a 5% commission on the selling price."

Hearing this, the young girl's eyes lit up. The cheapest item on display in the store was priced at $1000, and 5% was $50, which was much more than her salary.

"Don't worry, boss, I'll definitely sell all these fakes." Belinda puffed out her flat chest and made a confident promise.

Sun Zhiwei slapped his forehead and reiterated somewhat weakly, "Authentic! Authentic! Remember this, all the T·M exhibits here are genuine."

"Yes, it's all true."

The little girl, as if trying to hypnotize herself, kept repeating, "Really, really, it's all true."

Seeing that Belinda had gotten into the zone on her own, Sun Zhiwei stopped paying attention to her.

He was just internally grumbling: 'What kind of high-end community is this? Look at the quality of these people, spreading rumors and not trusting authority. They're all trash, ugh.'

As for buying a house, we still have to buy one. His moving here will improve the average quality of the community.

However, the house price is 8 yuan, and he needs to figure out how to pay it.

Theoretically, he doesn't have that much money right now, so he'll need a loan. The down payment can't be too low either, otherwise he'll be forced to buy mortgage insurance (PMI).

Buying a house is a big deal for a family, so he had to calculate the necessary expenses. What he found was quite shocking.

首先是房价，8万刀首付3成就是2万4，10年贷款5万6，每月要还本息600多，这个还行。

Then there's the property tax, which is 1.5% of the property value each year (the midpoint between 0.5% and 2.5%), or $100 per month.

Then there's the Owners Association (HOA) fee, $200 per month, and a special assessment fee of $80 per month.

The money was used for projects such as road maintenance, public facilities, garbage collection, pest control, and security.

Violating HOA rules, such as having lawns taller than 6 inches, illegal parking, or leaving trash outside of permitted hours, will result in fines.

In total, the cost of a HOA is approximately $300 per month.

Finally, there's the maintenance and renovation fund, which is also essential, as maintenance and renovation costs in the US can be very high.

On average, a family spends at least a thousand dollars a year on home repairs.

That's how the community's maintenance and renovation fund came about, with everyone sharing the costs.

This project earns about 700 yuan a month.

In the end, after paying the down payment for the house, he still had to spend an additional $1800 a month to maintain the property.

You think that's all? Not at all.

Many of these fees cannot be delayed.

For example, with loans, if you default on payments for 3 months, the house will be impounded and will definitely be sold within 4 months.

There's also property tax; if you default on it, a tax lien will be triggered, and the house will be auctioned off.

Then there's the issue of HOA fees. If you're in arrears, even if the amount is small, your house will be auctioned off, and this happens even faster than with banks.

Other expenses, including renovation and maintenance costs, can be subject to a tax lien if they are overdue, meaning the house will no longer be yours.

Not only that, your credit score will be downgraded, and the debt stain will remain for 7 years.

He used to envy the freehold property rights in the United States, but now he realizes that such freehold property rights are not so friendly to ordinary people.

(End of this chapter)