Story of a Big Player from Gangnam

“What did you get?”

“I needed soaps.”

“You don’t see any oil flowing into your land lately, do you? We are not an auto repair shop, and there is no reason to spill any oils because we don’t use oils.”

“Do you live there?”

“Yes, I stay there during weekdays. My home is in Mangwon Town. It’s a bit far to commute so I only go home for weekends.”

“That’s why you are here at this hour to buy soju, huh?”

“Right. I’m feeling bored there alone after work. You know what? Why don’t you come over to our building? I will show you around. If you haven’t had your dinner yet, let’s have dinner with me. We can go to the restaurant over there.”

“Well, I don’t know...”

“Sir, my residency is registered in this town. I am a local here too. Let me buy you dinner.”

Jae-Sik Moon dragged the landowner’s sleeve.

“Haha.”

The landowner didn’t reject Jae-Sik’s offer.

Jae-Sik and the landowner went to the restaurant across the supermarket. Jae-Sik ordered spicy stir-fried pork dishes with a bottle of soju.

“I heard you are the president of that company. You have been in the transportation field for a while?”

“No. I was in another field, and a friend of mine asked me to run this company. I don’t have money to own a business like that at all. I am just a salaryman.”

“You are kind of a servant then, huh?”

“Well, you can say that. Haha.”

The landowner had high alcohol tolerance. He must be a regular drinker like on a daily basis. He drank soju as if he was drinking water. It wasn’t easy to drink with the landowner because he kept filling up Jae-Sik’s glass with soju.

“Let me fill up your glass. When I was younger, I worked for other people too just like a servant.”

“Really? You look like a big property owner.”

“Nah. I have only a few farmlands that I bought forty years ago when the land price was really low. At that time, this area was all farmland, no factory, and even no paved roads.”

“Do you live with your son, sir?”

“Young people don’t want to live in the countryside. He is in Pyeongtaek City.”

“What about your daughter?”

“I have two daughters, and both of them are married and live in Suwon City.”

“Mister, there is no point for us to bicker about whether some oil spilled over the property or not. Why don’t you sell your land?”

“Why do you say that? Is there anyone who is interested in buying my land?”

“Someone I know wants to buy farmland here. He wants to do some farming with me once he retires. Since he is living in Seoul, it’s hard for him to get a permit to buy farmland in this area, so he asked me to buy one with my name for him. If your farmland is not up for sale, do you know anyone who wants to sell their land?”

“If I sell it, how much can you pay for it? My son actually wants me to sell this land and move close to him in Pyeongtaek City.”

“The current market price is 500,000 won per pyung, isn’t it?”

“Whoa, no way. The land is adjacent to a two-way paved road. There is no way you could find land in this location for that price. The previous owner, who ran an auto repair shop at your location, was thinking of buying my land too, and we once agreed on 600,000 won.”

“Is your land 1,500 pyung large?”

“The land is composed of two parcels. Those two parcels of land combined are 1,520 pyung large.”

Jae-Sik did the math to figure out how much would the entire land be.

“Wow! It’s more than 900 million won.”

“This is embarrassing to talk about, but my son suffered from some financial difficulties in running his business and incurred some debt. So I will need to pay for his debt to Nonghyup Bank, and also I want to give 100 million won to each of my daughters to help them out. Not much will be left in my hands. I’m not even sure if I can buy a condo in Pyeongtaek City with that money.”

“Well, I think you will have a hard time finding a buyer who could pay 900 million won.”

“If someone buys the land and changes the land use, then the price will dramatically go up like twice higher. I’m sure of it.”

“Well, that takes a long time and high taxes will be imposed.”

“That’s true, but it’s almost guaranteed to make a fortune. People with enough money will be interested in it.”

“Well, thank you for having dinner with me today. I will talk to the person if he is interested.”

“Did you say your last name was Moon? President Moon, you have such low alcohol tolerance. Let’s have one more bottle of soju before we call it a night.”

Jae-Sik thought the old man seemed to be having a good time with soju.

Jae-Sik made a call to Gun-Ho.

“I had a drink with the landowner of the farmland next door yesterday.”

“That’s nice. So, did you make an offer to buy his land?”

“It seems that he needs money for his son’s business. He is asking 600,000 won per pyung. The entire property is 1,520 pyung large, and it’s 912 million won.”

“Did you look at its real estate registration?”

“Yes, I did. The property is combined with two parcels of 420 pyung and 1,100 pyung. The large one is being used to secure a loan of 150 million won with Nonghyup Bank.”

“I guess he borrowed that money for his son, huh?”

“He said that when he was younger he was a farmhand around this area.”

“That sounds plausible. Since he has been around for a long time, he must have information about real properties there and saved enough money to buy some. The price of the land in that area was very low thirty or forty years ago.”

“Once he sells his property, he wants to give some to his children and buy a condo in Pyeongtaek City with the sales proceeds.”

“That sounds like a good plan. Since he has a loan with a bank, he is paying for the interest. In the old days, it was possible to make enough money to provide for and educate their children by farming, but those days are gone.”

“Yeah, and farming is hard labor.”

“The farmers over there must be very rich these days, right? That old man would make 900 million won once he sells his property. Think about our parents. They had worked and saved money in their entire life, but they didn’t even have 200 million won in hand to buy a condo.”

“Yeah, tell me about it.”

“Let’s make an offer for 900 million won since he priced it for 912 million won. Use the fund in GH Logistics’ bank account to make a sales and purchase contract for now. I will send the fund once the contract is made.”

“Okay.”

“And make sure that you get a realtor involved in making the contract even though we have to pay the realtor fees.”

“Okay, I will.”