I am a local in North America

Chapter 55 Congratulations, Mr. Su! (4000 words, please continue reading!)
While the agent was on the phone negotiating with the seller, Arou only asked Su Jierui:
"Brother, have you thought it through?"

"Of course!"

Su Jierui did not hesitate:
"I'm not worried about anything else, I'm just worried that my parents will give me a double beating when they find out about this. You'll have to put in a good word for me then..."

"...Now I regret why we had a 44-day winter break this semester. I should still be at home when my parents come back."

After Ah Rou finished speaking with a smile, she suddenly had a flash of inspiration, realized something, and frowned slightly as she asked:

"She just mentioned that the couple who sell this ranch are both in the pharmaceutical industry, right?"

“I remember a biology student posted on our MIT forum that the reason the school decided to give us a 44-day winter break this year might be related to an unknown new virus that is spreading quietly.”

"You mentioned that the couple suddenly lowered the price recently, rushing to sell the ranch and their Seattle property... Could it not be entirely due to the inheritance tax, but also related to potential risks to the global economy?"

"!???"

After listening to what Arou had to say.

Su Jierui raised his hand in an annoyance and gently tapped his sister's head. The head felt quite fluffy, like tapping a freshly baked loaf of bread.
"You're so smart, you can learn anything from a book in no time, how come you only remembered something so important now? I've already offered $350 million, did I ask for too much? What am I going to do if the seller agrees right away..."

What are you afraid of?

As soon as she finished speaking, Ariel Connor's face lit up with a warm smile. While on the phone, she raised her arm and made an OK sign!
The gesture was filled with an eagerness to "Deal! Done! Praise me!"

That was so exhilarating!

Su Jierui's face darkened, and he felt as if a thousand bison were galloping through his mind, his emotions becoming complicated.

His sister, Arou, took out her phone. The cold metal casing made her fingers twitch. She found the school forum, browsed through it, and after searching for keywords... she frowned slightly.

Arou's finger hovered above the screen, her expression like that of a confused squirrel:

"Huh? No, that post has been deleted? That's strange, I remember the account name, but I can't even find the personal account anymore..."

"..."

On January 5, 2020, neither Su Jierui nor Arou realized the seriousness of the problem.

One person was thinking—

"Could I have overpaid? What if Ah-Rou jinxed me and the housing market really crashed like in 2007 and 2008?! I don't want to become a cautionary tale used by my relatives to teach the next generation about the dangers of investing… No! The underground gold mine is the key! That doesn't matter then, buying the beaver ranch is the most important thing…"

The other thought—

"Strange...why was such a popular post suddenly deleted..."

Soon after, Ariel Connor returned in a flurry, her footsteps crunching through the snow, her voice filled with excitement:

"It's done! I persuaded the seller for a long time before she finally agreed, and she even let me reduce the transaction fee by $1... But those are minor matters. Congratulations on becoming the new owner of the beaver ranch!"

She opened her arms as if to embrace the frozen pasture:
"What a magnificent view! Isn't it? Look at this expansive vista! In the future, we'll build a luxury villa here, and every morning we'll wake up to a wonderful resort-like experience."

"Wait a moment, let's finalize the contract before the seller changes their mind."

“She’s probably just finished afternoon tea in France right now, and she’s in a good mood. She already signed an agency agreement with me last year, so we just need to sign the contract. After you transfer the $5 deposit to her, I’ll have her write a receipt for the payment!”

"How about setting the breach of contract compensation at 10% of the total transaction amount?"

"This way everyone feels more at ease. This price is just too cheap. I bet the seller will wake up one morning and slap their forehead, yelling, 'Oh my God, what have I done!'"

"Setting a 10% penalty for breach of contract is also to protect your interests, Mr. Su..."

Ariel Connor has covered all the sales tactics.

It's easy to guess what she really means: to strike while the iron is hot, to quickly finalize the deal, and then happily earn her commission.

The real estate agent had previously mentioned that Su Jierui would not need to pay the commission for this transaction, as the seller had agreed to cover it alone in order to attract buyers quickly.

So he only pressed on, saying:

"What if, I mean, I've paid the deposit, but my loan application isn't approved? Would I still have to compensate 10% of the transaction amount in that case?"

Ariel Connor gave a vague answer:

"As long as your credit is good, and your down payment and guarantor are also fine, then the loan will definitely be disbursed smoothly."

“I have never encountered a situation where a bank doesn’t want to make money. They always ask me to help them find high-quality, large clients like you.”

"At worst, you can switch to another bank. The interest rate will be slightly higher. It's like buying Coke at the supermarket; there's always a few cents difference between Pepsi and Coca-Cola, but they quench your thirst the same way. Once interest rates start to drop, your repayment rate will also decrease..."

Su Jierui worried that this was also a test, and immediately shook his head, saying:

“I can only accept market interest rates. Many of those who were wiped out by the subprime crisis are still homeless on the streets. I don’t want my future to turn me from a rancher into a homeless person. I absolutely cannot repeat the mistakes they made.”

With only one final step away from earning approximately $6.5 in commissions, Ariel Connor was certainly not going to let the sure thing slip away.

She looked around and winked, hinting that:

“Buying land is not like borrowing money to do business. It is considered low-risk by banks. This beaver ranch itself is always valuable.”

"If you're willing to cooperate, I can get some big shots at the bank I know to help you out; maybe you won't even need a guarantor."

"But this might incur some additional fees, mainly to help you create a perfect income statement to pass the bank's risk control review. Around $5000 should be enough..."

Su Jierui and Arou roughly understood what he meant: they wanted to use an agent to create a fake income statement to facilitate applying for a bank loan.

Before his sister could warn him of the risks involved, Su Jierui immediately shook his head vigorously and declined his manager's suggestion.

It's worth noting that more than 2 tons of gold are buried beneath parts of the beaver ranch!
He certainly didn't want any flaws in the purchase process, giving any malicious "robbers" an excuse to attack him.

If gold is unearthed in the future, and someone says, "Your loan application materials are all fake, the contract is invalid!", then things will get really interesting.

Compared to the potentially huge risks, Su Jerry would rather risk being scolded and ask his grandparents or parents to vouch for the beaver ranch acquisition. Su Jerry's refusal caused a barely perceptible hint of disappointment to flash across Ariel Connor's face, because she could have taken about half of the $5000 reward to cover the expenses of her vacation with her husband in the Bahamas, which was now gone.

But she quickly composed herself. This buyer, Su Jerry, who was willing to pay $350 million and had reliable family assets as potential support, was already the best client she had encountered recently.

"Of course, Mr. Su, caution is always the right thing to do."

Ariel Connor quickly put on a professional smile and continued:

"Then, let's proceed according to the standard procedure."

"Regarding your concerns about loan failure, we can stipulate in the supplementary terms that if the buyer fails to obtain approval from the bank, and it is not due to the buyer providing false information or credit issues, then the buyer will not be required to pay a penalty of 10% of the transaction amount, and neither party will be held liable. Does this sound acceptable to you?"

"As for the $5 deposit, I really can't give you any guarantees. If this deal falls through, I won't earn any commission. I want this deal to go through even more than you do. Believe me, I will definitely do everything I can to help you..."

This supplementary clause is clearly much fairer.

Su Jierui's expression softened, and he nodded:
“That’s reasonable. As for the deposit… if there are any problems, we can negotiate with the seller. Even if it’s just a partial refund, that’s fine.”

It wasn't that he was easy to talk to; he was just worried that his demands would be too harsh and make the seller so angry that they wouldn't want to sell anymore.

"Great!"

Ariel Connor moved swiftly, taking out a standard home purchase intention contract template she had prepared beforehand from her briefcase. She hurried to the wall, ignoring the cold stone bricks, and bent down to quickly fill in the specific information on site.

I also communicate with Su Jierui from time to time to understand information such as the buyer and seller information, property address, transaction amount, deposit amount, supplementary terms, and closing date.

The first contract signed is just a letter of intent to purchase the property. When it comes time to sign the formal purchase contract, a lawyer will definitely need to be present to help oversee the process.

Arou watched quietly from the side, the cold wind making the tip of her nose slightly red.

She felt that Su Jerry had acted impulsively today, but the scenery of the beaver ranch was simply too amazing. This tranquil world, covered in silver, seemed to possess a magical power to lower one's rationality, causing her to swallow back the doubts that were on the tip of her tongue.

After all, there are risks in doing anything. Even if some unexpected things happen, buying a 1208-acre ranch for $350 million, which also includes a large amount of timber within the ranch area, is not too expensive.

"elder brother!"

She spoke softly, offering a different perspective:

"Read the contract carefully, especially the clauses regarding the ownership of existing buildings and facilities on the land, as well as the underground resource extraction rights, and whether they will be transferred along with the land."

She studied architecture and is quite sensitive to property rights and related interests.

Su Jierui gave his sister a reassuring look, these were also his key concerns, and then pointed to one of the clauses and said to his agent:

“Ms. Connor, I need to clarify something here. Land ownership includes all rights on and under the land, including but not limited to minerals and water resources, right? I need to confirm that.”

Ariel Connor answered affirmatively:

"Of course, the beaver ranch is a freehold property, and the mining rights are also included in this transaction. Everything on the land and underground belongs to the owner. If you require, we can attach a statement regarding the scope of the rights."

"Then please attach it for me... What if oil is discovered underground? I don't want to dig up a pyramid or prehistoric fossil and have to sue the museum."

Su Jierui, trying to play it safe, said it in a joking tone.

The next half hour.

The three of them stood outdoors in the cool breeze and sunshine, confirming the contract details one by one.

Ariel Connor sent the draft contract to the seller in France via email. The seller seemed eager to sell and quickly replied with confirmation, making almost no changes.

This efficiency makes one wonder if the seller is anxiously waiting for a message in their email; it seems they are genuinely in a hurry to sell.

Su Jierui carefully read through the document and signed it. The scratching sound of the pen tip gliding across the paper sounded especially tense at that moment.

Ariel Connor also turned on the phone recording function, and after communicating with the seller, she acted as their agent to complete the signing.

When the $5 deposit was temporarily transferred to the third-party escrow account specified in the contract via online banking, Su Jierui let out a long breath and felt his heart skip a beat as he looked at the successful transfer screen.

The frigid air formed a white mist in front of him. Looking at the vast pastures covered in ice and snow, and the tranquil sea not far away, Su Jerry felt an indescribable excitement welling up in his heart.

The beaver ranch he had been dreaming of for over a year was finally going to belong to the Su family!
Congratulations, Mr. Su!

Ariel Connor shook hands with him warmly. The transaction was huge, earning her over $6 in commissions in one go. How could she not be happy? Her smile was more than twice as genuine as before.

"From now until the final closing, I will do my best to assist you with the loan. Please prepare the documents required by the bank as soon as possible. My phone is on for you 24 hours a day. We can discuss other matters later."

"I will."

Su Jierui clenched his fist, feeling full of energy, and started thinking about where to make more money again.

The first pot of gold has been spent; now it's time to figure out how to make a second.

I was raised by my parents and never lacked food or clothing.

In addition, for various reasons, even though he knew he was special and possessed abilities "given by the gods" like in myths and legends, he only studied like an ordinary poor student, living a low-key and undisturbed life.

It is different now.

According to the broker, the transaction tax and transfer tax together amount to about 2%, which is $350 for a property worth 3.5 million. In addition, there is a 1% property tax, which would also require $7. Money is needed everywhere, so they have to start working hard to accumulate wealth.

This feeling is probably like playing a survival building game: you've just finished chopping down trees, only to find you don't have enough stone; after mining the stone, you're running out of iron ingots.

Ultimately, it's because the foundation isn't solid enough.

He took too big a step and accidentally pulled on his balls, giving him a severe headache...

……

(End of this chapter)