Story of a Big Player from Gangnam

Gun-Ho read an economic newspaper every day and surfed on the Internet in his office-tel in Yeongdeungpo District (“Yeongdeungpo”).

“Since I made a lot of money by investing in real estate in China, let’s do that in Korea too. Let’s start by researching the real estate market in Korea.”

Gun-Ho wanted to buy a condo located in Gangnam.

At that time, TowerPalace in Dogok Town was the most popular condo, and RaemianFirstige in Banpo Town was under construction.

“Sh*t! They are too expensive!”

Gun-Ho thought he wanted to buy a condo in Gangnam and run a small business, or get a job just like he did when he was in China. However, the condo price was not affordable.

“I won’t be able to buy even one condo with the money I made from China!”

Gun-Ho was disappointed.

“When I was living in a OneRoomTel in Dujeong Town, Cheonan City, I was jealous of people living in a new condo there. The condo price of Gangnam is five times of that condo in Dujeong Town. The housing price polarization is so extreme! Should I get a loan to buy it? Who’s going to pay for the interest then? I don’t even have a job.”

Gun-Ho had no idea what to do.

He was sure that the price of a condo in Gangnam will increase, but he couldn’t afford to buy one. That made him sigh. He started searching on the Internet again.

“What is this? They are photos of the current Apgujeong Town and the same town 60 years ago where there was a pear tree farm. It’s a black-and-white photo. Who uploaded this kind of comparison photos?”

There was a description of the photos below it.

[Oh my goodness, father. You should have bought the land there at that time.]

Gun-Ho chuckled.

“There still has to be a land like that. We just don’t know which one. If it is easy to find out, everyone will be rich.”

Gun-Ho bought an economic newspaper every day from the convenience store downstairs in his office-tel building. One day, he saw an advertisement there.

[Lecture for auction, you need a skill for auction.]

“There is a private institution for auction. I’ve always wanted to learn it. Maybe I should take the course. Oh, there is a profile of the instructor.”

Gun-Ho read the instructor’s profile.

[He started with only 20 million won and within three years he purchased a building. Bruce Kang is the legend in the auction field. He has the hand of Midas]

“Did he really start with 20 million won and bought a building with the proceeds? What kind of name is it? He has probably been in the U.S., huh? The course fee is 400,000 won per month. Let’s try it. The institution is not far from here; it’s in Yongsan District.”

Gun-Ho registered for the auction course.

Gun-Ho didn’t buy a car yet.

Since he used to ride an Audi in China, he didn’t want to get any car less than that. He used public transportation to go to the private institution in Yongsan District.

“The course starts at 2 PM which is not the usual commuting time for work, so the bus is almost empty.”

There were many housewives and old retired men in the auction class.

The instructor, Bruce Kang came out and started talking about his success.

“I started with 20 million won and bought a villa at an auction. I loaned the amount short from a bank. After acquiring the villa, I repaired and renovated it a bit before putting it back on the market. Once it was sold, I purchased another real estate at an auction with the proceeds. After repeating this process ten times, I finally had significant seed money.”

Someone raised a question.

“Since you repeatedly purchased and sold the real property several times in a short time, shouldn’t transfer tax be a problem?”

“If you worry about transfer tax, you can’t do an auction. There is a way you can avoid transfer tax though.”

“What if a tenant or a creditor refuses to vacate the property?”

The instructor chuckled and said,

“That’s not a problem at all. There is a way to handle it. I will tell you all about it.”

Bruce Kang continued his story about acquiring a building with the proceeds he made out of purchasing and selling a villa repeatedly. He said the price of the building was now exceeding 10 billion won. Gun-Ho looked around.

“The housewives and retired old men were all drooling over his story.”

Finally, the auction class started after Bruce Kang’s introduction.

Another instructor came out and started the class. He brought a copy of a real estate registration and explained about the different sections in the registration: ‘Gab Gu’ and ‘Eul Gu’.

“You can request to receive a copy of a real estate registration from a website of Supreme Court, so you can do it at home.”

“Can anyone do that? It doesn’t have to be the owner of the real property to request it?”

“Of course.”

Gun-Ho thought that he would get a copy of the real estate registration of the townhouse apartment where his parents were living. The instructor continued to explain something about a real estate registration.

“Okay, look at here. This section here is called ‘Gab Gu.’ It shows the ownership of the real property. You can see who actually owns this real property.”

“If there is a loan from a bank, it will show on the ‘Eul Gu’ then.”

“That’s right. Any changes in the rights, other than the ownership right will be recorded in this section. If you loan money from a bank and used this real estate property as a security for the loan, or your credit card company seized the real property because you defaulted in your payment, then those facts will be shown in this ‘Eul Gu’ section.”

Gun-Ho gradually learned about real estate.

“I didn’t know anything about it when I invested in China. I was just lucky.”

Gun-Ho felt a sense of relief.

When Gun-Ho came back home, he opened the Supreme Court website to request a copy of the real estate registration of his parents’ townhouse apartment.

“What is it? Download and install a security program?”

“Okay, I did. It’s now asking the name of the owner.”

Gun-Ho called his father and asked the owner’s name.

“The owner’s name? Why do you need his name?”

“I just need it.”

“Let me look at the lease agreement. Hold on.”

Gun-Ho’s father gave the owner’s name to Gun-Ho.

Once Gun-Ho entered the owner’s name, it allowed Gun-Ho to print out a copy of the real estate registration.

“Hmm, the owner’s name is the same as the name on the registration. It’s convenient.”

Gun-Ho took a close look at the registration.

“What is this? The owner loaned 30 million won from Shinhan Bank and he has another loan of 10 million won from a credit union.”

Gun-Ho started analyzing the real estate registration.

“If this townhouse is sold by auction, can my dad take his security deposit back? I believe he told me that the security deposit was 20 million won. I guess he can get it back since that townhouse is worth 100 million won according to my mom. I believe I heard that the area would be redeveloped soon, but no one talks about it anymore. Is it canceled?”

Gun-Ho took out a cigarette and started smoking.

“Should I buy a condo for my parents? I can use 100 million won out of 1,100 million won I have. Then they don’t have to pay the monthly rent. I can buy a condo under my name.”

Gun-Ho closed his eyes and thought for a second, and then opened his eyes again.

“No, it’s not the time for it. I can do it later. They are fine with the apartment for now.”

Gun-Ho made a call to his mother.

“Mom, are you okay with the apartment you are living in right now?”

“This apartment? I wish this was my own apartment.”

“Just wait for a few years, mom.”

“You became mature, my boy. Thank you for saying it. Haha.”