Reborn in America, I am a legendary short seller on Wall Street.

Chapter 176 Luckily, he was greedy enough

Larry knew absolutely nothing about the real estate market at the time, but it was clear that Mr. Porter was all too familiar with it.

Henry Goldman had barely finished his introduction when Larry could hear Mr. Porter's questions or rebuttals.

Larry was secretly pleased, thinking that it was a wise decision to bring Mr. Potter along to buy the land; otherwise, he would have been fooled by the owner or Henry Goldman.

There was an unexpected bonus here. Because Mr. Porter himself disliked Goldman Sachs, his first reaction to anything Henry Goldman said was to question it. As a result, he actually managed to extract a lot of information that Henry Goldman had been hiding.

Henry Goldman hadn't expected his opponent to be so difficult. Under Mr. Porter's relentless questioning, he eventually had no choice but to reveal the other party's hand.

“Alright, alright… Mr. Potter, Mr. Livingston, the owner of the property intends to sell these two houses, along with the land. Since you are so knowledgeable about land prices, I'll give you a realistic price: each of these two buildings occupies 0.5 acres, with a total building area of ​​4 square feet…”

Pointing to the land of a building, Goldman continued, “Currently, land in Manhattan is $200,000 per acre. This is Fifth Avenue, so the land price will definitely be higher. Let’s calculate it at $220,000 per acre for now… The land at the base of the two buildings is 1 acre, plus the attached land, so the land price alone is $240,000.”

As Larry listened to Goldman speak, he glanced at Mr. Porter and, seeing that the other man did not object, knew that the price of the land had not been quoted too high.

Gao Man then pointed to the two buildings and continued,

“These two old buildings, as I just mentioned, each have a total floor area of ​​4 square feet. If we calculate the price at $2 per square foot, then the construction cost of one building would be $8, and the cost of both buildings would be $16…”

As Larry listened to Goldman's description, he kept doing the math in his mind: 40000 square feet is about 3716 square meters, averaging 929 square meters per floor. The building area seems about right, and there should be official assessment figures in the property register, so this can't be faked.

But Mr. Potter frowned and said, “But these two buildings definitely need repairs. These two properties are too old. Just standing outside, I can tell that many parts of the properties need maintenance. And the depreciation for these repairs also needs to be calculated!”

Goldman was momentarily speechless, but continued, "For renovations, I'll charge you $0.5 per square foot..."

“Not only, absolutely not!” Mr. Potter interrupted him loudly, then pointed to a four-story building and said, “If you want to continue renting this kind of building at a high price, you’ll have to spend at least $1 per square foot on renovations, otherwise you won’t get a good price!”

“Alright, sir, let’s start at $1 per square foot, as you mentioned. I reckon the property owner will consider building depreciation!” Goldman said somewhat helplessly, continuing his explanation.
"So the above costs are roughly $24 for the land and $16 for the house, totaling $40. If we take depreciation into account, let's estimate 95% off. What do you think of this price?"

Larry raised his eyebrows and pointed to a 0.5-acre greenbelt between the two properties, asking, "Isn't this also considered outbuilding land?"

Goldman tilted his top hat up with his thumb, looked at the middle land Larry had mentioned, and nodded, saying, "Yes, these definitely count as subordinate lands."

Larry nodded, then pointed to about 0.5 acres of land next to the two buildings, near the street corner, where a row of single-story shops now stood. He asked, “What about those? If we buy these two buildings, this row of street-facing buildings will look out of place.”

Mr. Potter listened to Larry's words, then turned to look at Larry, unsure whether this was a new bargaining tactic or if Larry really intended to buy the entire row of shops as well, so he remained silent for the time being.

Gao Man raised her eyebrows and said, "Oh, you mean this? It's a bit expensive here. This is the intersection of 34th Street and Fifth Avenue, and there are about 9000 square feet of commercial property here. I think the land and housing prices here will be higher."

Larry nodded without speaking. Mr. Potter, however, said with a stern face, "Why don't you take us to see the owner of the property, or let us visit him? We can ask them directly."

Henry Goldman smiled and said, "Sir, the property owner might not be able to come at the right time, and we also need to discuss the commission beforehand..."

Mr. Porter frowned and said coldly, "This doesn't need to be calculated, does it? According to New York practice, the property owner who entrusts the sale will pay you a 3% to 5% commission."

A sly smile appeared on Goldman's face as he continued, "But this deal is different. This is also a property that Mr. Livingston commissioned me to find. Logically speaking, I should get at least half a percent commission."

Mr. Potter frowned, glanced at Larry, and said that the other man had a point.

Larry laughed, walked over to Goldman, put his arm around his waist, and said, "Mr. Goldman, if this deal goes through, you'll get at least $2 from Astor, right?"

Goman raised an eyebrow, looked at Larry with a puzzled expression, and then nodded, saying, "If you really buy the extra 9000 square feet of land, and the total price is $50, then at 5%, I can earn $2.5."

Mr. Porter said coldly from the side, "There won't be that many. The larger the land sale, the cheaper the brokerage fee will be. You'll be lucky to get $1.8!"

Mr. Goldman paused for two seconds before nodding dejectedly and saying, "Okay... then let's say $1.8."

Larry nodded and continued affectionately, "You want to ask me for half a point, which is... oh, right, about $2500, right?"

“Yes!” Goldman admitted. “Then, all together, the company can earn $2.05 from this deal!”

“Let’s round it up to $2…” Larry drawled, glancing at Goldman as he spoke. Seeing that Goldman only frowned without objecting, he smiled and continued, “Now, the commission is settled. Remember, even if the final transaction doesn’t reach that amount, and you don’t receive that much, I’ll still make up the difference to $2…”

Goman was stunned. He didn't understand what Larry meant by that statement. He just blinked at Larry, biting his lip and remaining silent...

Larry looked at him, smiling but saying nothing.

Goldman thought for a full 10 seconds before saying, "Mr. Livingston, just tell me! What do you want me to do?"

“Bargain! Bargain with the owner of this land!” Larry made a large circle in the air and said firmly, “Including the shops facing the street, you use the price standards you just mentioned, and then bargain down the price for us. If you cut the total price by $1, I'll give you an extra $800 commission, how about that?”

Hearing Larry's words, Goman's eyes widened as she mentally calculated: the other party had confirmed that the total commission of $2 would remain unchanged, and any shortfall would be covered. This meant that her total earnings from this deal were already locked in.

But the new terms were very tempting. Henry Goldman knew that the other party meant that if he could negotiate the price down, he would give an 8% discount, which was much higher than the commission he earned as an agent for the Astor family!
After thinking for a while, Goldman turned to Larry and nodded heavily, saying, "Sir, if you can truly keep your promise, I am willing to serve you."

Larry laughed and continued in a tempting tone, "If you can cut the price down by more than $10, I'll give you $1000 for every $1 that goes beyond that. How about that?"

"Really? Is that true?" Henry Goldman's face showed surprise, and he continued, "Sir... can you guarantee that you will definitely pay according to this?"

“We can write a contract!” Larry said generously.

“But…can you make decisions on behalf of your client?” Gao Man was still somewhat hesitant.

Larry chuckled and patted him on the shoulder, saying casually, "Haven't you figured it out yet? I don't have any clients behind me; I'm just buying properties for myself... Mr. Goldman, do you remember what I said when we first met? 'If you do a good job, our cooperation can last a long time.'"

Henry Goldman stared at Larry, his eyes wide with shock.

This blond boy was actually the real buyer behind the scenes!!

He looks very young, yet he can come up with hundreds of thousands of dollars at once; it's truly unbelievable.

However, Goldman then thought that the other party was probably not lying, because his act of giving away a $25 bank draft last time was already very alarming...

It's not uncommon for someone who can spend $25 on stocks to also spend $50 on real estate.

After hesitating for a long time, Henry Goldman made up his mind and said, "Alright! Goldman Sachs doesn't pry into our clients' privacy, as long as your price is fair. If you want me to be your client, I'm happy to serve you! I'll go visit Henry Astor III right now!"

“How long will it take?” Larry asked.

Goldman replied, "Either tomorrow or the day after, you can wait for my good news with Mr. Potter!"

After saying goodbye to Larry and Mr. Porter, Goldman hurried off to the street to flag down a carriage.

Larry watched his retreating figure with a smile on his lips. He was now very glad that the person who came was Henry Goldman, because he was a profit-driven man who could take the initiative to negotiate with the seller for Larry's terms. But if it had been that short, fat saxophonist today, things would have been different.
.
That evening, Larry and Mr. Porter had a long talk.

Mr. Porter was still worried that if he bought too much land, he would lose money if the real estate market declined or the properties could not be rented out.

Larry, however, said that properties near the Waldorf and Fifth Avenue can only appreciate in value, not depreciate.

Mr. Porter's considerations are reasonable. If a crisis occurs, real estate prices will definitely fall. However, Larry also reminded Mr. Porter that popular land is scarce. Even if land prices in other places fall, you may not be able to buy land at that price at all, because unless by chance, you will not be able to wait for the Astor family to sell their land!

Mr. Porter nodded, accepting Larry's point of view, because encountering the Astor family selling land was a very rare thing in itself. In his 20 years in the business, Mr. Porter had never heard of them selling their own land.

However, Mr. Potter asked again, "What a coincidence! It just so happens that the Astor family is selling land. Could there be a trap?"

Larry thought about it carefully for a while and felt it was unlikely. After all, Goldman Sachs had that reputation, and if he had such a stain, he wouldn't have been able to grow so big in the future.

If there are too many coincidences, then maybe I really am just a protagonist by nature!
Ultimately, the two agreed that they would have to wait until the land was fairly cleared or transferred before handing over the money, and that Mr. Porter would own 25% of the property.

(End of this chapter)