Ten years ago, I bought a sea-view house for 300,000 yuan, but now I can't sell it for 80,000 yuan

Source | InSight

Author | Green light

It has plummeted by 200,000 in ten years, and those who have bought it regret it

After 13 years, the 27-year-old Qing Deng unexpectedly remembered a "secret" that everyone in the family kept silent: his father had spent 300,000 yuan to buy a sea-view house in Rushan Silver Beach.

Rushan is a county-level city under Weihai in Shandong, and Silver Beach is a national 4A scenic spot located in Rushan, which is also more widely known as "Ghost City Silver Beach". Around the turn of the millennium, there was a real estate development boom here, and the stretching coastline was densely packed with more than 200 sea-view housing complexes. With this, there is also the unique sales model of Silver Beach: tourist bus buying group.

House has always been a "life event" for Chinese. Why did my father spend all his savings to buy a house in Silver Beach? More than 10 years have passed, what is Silver Beach like today? Last summer, Qing Deng and his parents set out from their hometown in Hunan Province to visit Silver Beach for the first time. They also want to take this opportunity to sell their house.

It's just that the reality in front of them is very cruel. Although real estate has long since bid farewell to the era of only rising and not falling, the sea-view house bought for 300,000 yuan can only be sold for 80,000 yuan, which is still magical.

This "sea view house" that can't be lived in or sold has trapped their family for a lifetime.

1

In Silver Beach

There are more real estate agents than ordinary residents

Can you buy a sea-view house for less than 100,000 yuan? What happened to Rushan Silver Beach, which was once a smash hit but is now known as a ghost town?

An eye-catching title caught my eye and made me stop sliding my fingers up and down, not because of the attractive price in front, but because of the location in the back, Rushan Silver Beach.

After being stunned for two seconds, I hurriedly ran out of the bedroom, raised my mobile phone to my parents who were watching TV, and asked in disbelief: "If I remember correctly, did our family buy a house in Rushan Silver Beach?"

The mother's reaction was unexpectedly calm, her eyes didn't move, she still stared at the TV, and pouted disdainfully: "Yes, your father had to go with the buying group to buy it when he was 10 years old, saying that 'stay in the interior for a lifetime, and you have to try the life of the sea', and the result is? Isn't it just that he was deceived?"

My father was a little embarrassed by what he said, and even a little annoyed. The two of them quarreled over a house that had long since disappeared from memory, but I couldn't help but start to fantasize: open the window to the sea and the blue sky, and bask in the sun when you go out, this is the life that I, an inland person, dream of. What I wanted to say rushed out without going through my brain.

"Let's go to Silver Beach for the summer vacation. ”

Ocean view of Silver Beach at night

The purpose of this trip is not just a leisurely getaway. My father stuffed a big red notebook into the suitcase, and when he saw that I had been staring, he coughed lightly twice and explained, "You can see that everything is gone, and you can find an opportunity to sell the house without worry."

I did a lot of homework along the way, and the Internet described Silver Beach as a ghost town, with one or two households lit up at night, no people on the road, and more houses than people... I was mentally prepared for the desolation, but the moment I got out of the car, I was truly stunned.

There was no space in the parking lot, and many cars with foreign license plates were slowly looking for a place before finally pulling on the side of the road, and the market not far away was even more crowded, with several people carrying large bags standing in front of each stall. What about the ghost towns?

The father next to him couldn't help but laugh out loud when he saw these people in front of him: "There are so many people!

However, Silver Beach seems to have been born to slap us in the face.

I soon found out that there are more real estate agents here than ordinary people. No matter where you are, you can see the stores and real estate sales information of "XX Housing Agency" and "XX Real Estate", the street side of the road, the store in the community, the stop sign of the bus stop, the body of the "Old Man Le", and even the clothes of people chatting on the beach.

Originally, we made up our minds that no matter how little money we had and no matter how much we lost money, we couldn't let this house continue to be in our hands. It's just that in the face of so many competitors, the originally excited father immediately calmed down, and he smacked his lips: "Yo, why do so many people want to sell?"

2

Where the houses of the Silver Beach,

They are all called sea view rooms

Our family of three found many real estate agents in a panic, and slowly figured out their "routines".

In my common sense, it must be a sea view room if you can see the sea directly from the window. But in Silver Beach, no matter which property you buy, congratulations, you've got a sea view home.

Whether it is standing on tiptoe, or stretching out the mobile phone lens far away, no matter how tricky the angle and posture, as long as you can see a trace of the sea on the balcony, then this house is a "first-line sea view room" in the mouth of the intermediary;

What if the houses are all in the last rows of the community, and the distance to the sea is so far that you can't see the sea at all?

If it is a real sea view house, then it is the biggest gimmick in the intermediary, as long as it is the summer vacation, there will definitely be no shortage of sellers. Even if the house type is strange and the wall skin is so wet that a large area has fallen, such a good scenery, such an excellent location, and such a "standard" first-line sea view room... It's hard to find, so increase the price.

They relied on this easy-to-sell house for a year.

The hotel we stayed in Silver Beach had water leaks and mold, and the hotel owner said that because of the proximity to the sea and the humid air, the houses in Silver Beach had this problem

It was at this time that we found out that the original sea-view houses that could be bought for 30,000 or 50,000 yuan had only top-floor attics that had not been renovated in remote communities and even had sloping roofs, or they were second-hand houses purchased by intermediaries from unjust buyers like us. Those who just watched short videos and news and wanted to buy a house in Silver Beach at a low price never succeeded.

3

300,000 buy, 80,000 sell

There are two options for going to a real estate agent to list a house, one is to put the keys and book of the house at the agent, and then sell it when there is a buyer. The other is that the agent buys the house directly with the full amount at a low price, and it has nothing to do with the seller later. And most sellers will choose the latter, including our family, after all, who knows if the house has been left on the house and can still be sold?

"I took a look, and I can only give you 80,000 yuan for this house. ”

As soon as my mother heard the offer, she couldn't sit still, and her voice raised a lot: "How can it be so low! We haven't lived in this house for a day, it's brand new! When we bought it, the price was more than 300,000 yuan, and your price is too little." ”

The agent didn't care at all when he heard the rebuttal, as if he was used to it. "Sister, let me tell you the truth, which of the houses in my hands I bought when the price was high?" he took a sip of tea and continued to explain unhurriedly, "Your geographical location is average, and it has been a long time, and it is still a blank, and we have to decorate it before we can sell it." You also know here in Silver Beach, we can't sell it for a few dollars, we also have to eat, and it's good to earn a fraction. ”

After listening to the intermediary's words, our hearts were already cold. My father wanted to try haggling again, but the agent didn't seem to be short of one of our clients. He lifted his chin, and I looked in the direction he had indicated, and there were rows of folders on the black cabinet, with the community and household numbers written on them, and it turned out that these were all customer resources that he had in his hands. Indeed, there is no shortage of us.

When she went out, the more she thought about it, the more angry she became, and she complained about her father several times in a row. "Didn't I always think that I could come to retirement for a vacation in the future?" my father whispered to himself.

Hearing this, the mother was furious, and all the complaints turned into questions at this moment: "What about the old-age hospital, what kind of hospital is there here, what should you do if you get sick if you don't consider medical treatment for the elderly? Vacation? Have you come once after you bought it? I called you to come, you said it was too far away in summer, and it was too cold in winter, if it wasn't for the child to come this time, are you going to put it here for the rest of your life and put ashes on us!"

There are only a few people in the Thumb Square in the center of Silver Beach

Mother's words are true. Because the occupancy rate is not up to standard, the pipes are not maintained, and the pipes are seriously aging, most of the residential areas in Silver Beach have no heating, and it is really difficult to survive without heating in the winter in the north. The traffic is also not convenient, there is no local airport, there is no high-speed rail, only a dilapidated railway station, we can only choose to drive this trip, starting from our hometown in Hunan, taking turns to drive for two whole days, and the three of them are exhausted when they arrive.

I listened to my mother's reprimand, and my eyes involuntarily drifted to the surrounding dark buildings with few lights, all of which looked desolate, and I was very puzzled: "Why do you want 300,000 here?"

We are not a rich family, 300,000 yuan is not a small amount for us, even at the current salary level, the three of us together have to save for a year or two, let alone 13 years ago. It is conceivable that the 300,000 yuan spent all the savings they had accumulated, and even used their mother's dowry money back then.

In 2010, 300,000 yuan was enough to buy a large flat in our hometown, a third-tier city in Hunan. Even in Changsha, the provincial capital, the house price that year was only more than 3,000 per square meter. However, my father chose to spend it in the remote county town of Silver Beach, which is 1,700 kilometers away.

In 2023, 80,000 yuan, the price of only one toilet in his hometown, but he can buy a house worth 300,000 yuan and 80 square meters in Silver Beach "proudly". Such a gap makes me can't help but feel silently sad.

4

Tourist buying group scams

Speaking of buying a house in Silver Beach back then, not only was it not considered to be deceived, but it was like a fresh trend.

In 2010, it was the "golden time" when Yintan real estate was in full swing for three or four years, and a large number of people came here from Tiannan and Haibei to buy real estate and dream that Yintan could become the "second Hainan".

When these people who bought houses returned to their hometowns, they copied the words of real estate agents and conveyed to the people around them how beautiful Silver Beach is, how good the investment prospects are, and how suitable it is for retirement. If something is just advertised, most people may still have doubts, but if the people around you talk about it vividly, I believe it is not so difficult.

My father was like this back then, many colleagues and relatives around him bought one or even more suites in Silver Beach, plus he received a few flyers when he had nothing to do, and in the past few years, the words "Rushan Silver Beach" have quietly invaded his brain.

In the evening, the sandy beaches of Silver Beach are empty

It didn't take long for the heart to turn into action. As soon as summer arrived, several buses from the city came to the house, claiming that "they went to Silver Beach for free, and they all included food and play", drove directly into the community, and pulled their father into the pit. My father lit a cigarette and said that when he got on the bus, he saw that they were all people with familiar faces, and his guard was half down. In addition, the tour guide is very good, shushing the cold and asking for warmth, and giving a small gift at every turn, so I don't know when he has entered a state of trust that delivers wholeheartedly.

The last trace of uncertainty disappeared the moment I got out of the car and saw the sea. The scenery in front of me is exactly the same as on the leaflet, and the house behind me has also been built, and there is no possibility of unfinished. Everything is as true as the people around me and the real estate agent say.

Although there are no supporting measures such as schools, hospitals, and parks, it is still on the way. The father unconsciously believed in the big pie drawn by the intermediary, and felt that this series of promises would be fulfilled in the future, just like the scenery in front of him. Therefore, when the house viewing group took everyone away from a community, my father was impatient, and he didn't even call home to discuss, and directly took out his passbook to buy the dream house.

Although later, the people who bought a house in Silver Beach with their father all regretted it.

Uncle Luo and our family are about the same, they have been friends of our father for many years, and the two of them also bought a community. In the original plan, they were supposed to take their families together for a vacation to Silver Beach every summer. But except for the second year after buying the house, Uncle Luo went to decorate it once, and the remaining ten years were the same as his father, and he never went there again, and rarely talked about it. At this time, the two old friends reached a tacit agreement - pretending that they had never been to Silver Beach, never bought a house, and never been fooled.

My father said that before we came to Silver Beach this time, Uncle Luo also specially explained that if our house was sold, he would also help hang his house. It's just that Uncle Luo was also reluctant to sell the fracture after learning about the price of the house. These two houses stand side by side, and it seems that they will continue to "accompany" each other, waiting endlessly for the owner who will not come over in Silver Beach.

is different from the indecisiveness of his father and Uncle Luo, there are still a few people who have bought houses in Silver Beach, who gritted their teeth and decided to sell them when they cut the price in half from the intermediary in the early years. When my mother mentioned their names, I was familiar with them, but I didn't expect them to be so bold and decisive. Her mother said that she also heard about their decision to sell the house and discussed it with her father, but when she thought of "less than half the price", she could only shake her head and sigh.

Thinking about it now, my mother couldn't help but feel sad: "I knew that I would have gritted my teeth and sold it at the beginning, a few years ago it was 150,000, and now it is only half of 150,000, tsk, how could it fall so hard!"

"Then why don't you sell it at this price? Who knows if it's half of 80,000 in a few years. I tried to convert it according to the proportion, but what I got was a slap in the eye from my mother: "Crow's mouth! How can it be 40,000 yuan! Look at the houses hanging on the road now, which one is this price? Now 80,000 yuan is the lowest price." ”

I didn't answer, but I couldn't help but think to myself, everyone seemed to think the same way a few years ago.

5

What kind of people,

Would choose to stay in Silver Beach

I thought that the people who bought houses in Silver Beach must be just like our family, and they were deceived. But one day, I suddenly found that there were also people who took the initiative to live.

Next door to our house, there lived an old man, when he opened the door to meet, his eyes widened, and he exclaimed: "You belong to this household? ”

When asked, I found out that he had lived in Silver Beach for nearly ten years, and spent spring, summer, autumn and winter here. "You're living here, and you've never been back? "I wondered.

The uncle was happy and told me that he had found out the three highs before coming to Silver Beach, but after living in Silver Beach for a few years, the indicators returned to normal. "I go to the beach every day, talk to people, play cards, and it's all right. Especially my fatty liver, I thought it would be a few years to live, and now I'm still alive and well, but Silver Beach saved my life, where am I not here?"

Just talking about medical care and transportation, the uncle couldn't stop complaining. He sometimes imagined that if something happened one day, he would call 120, and only the health of the nearby town could receive it, and the rudimentary medical equipment could be said to be "one foot in the coffin". The only large hospital, although it looks similar to a tertiary hospital in a big city, has not yet opened.

The traffic is just as bad. In Silver Beach, all bus stops are named after neighborhoods, and each neighborhood, regardless of size or distance, will have a stop. But there are few shifts, only one or two hours a day, and the last train is at five o'clock in the afternoon.

The public notice board downstairs of the hotel will indicate the market hours and bus routes. Because there are so few supermarkets, locals are more accustomed to rushing to the market in the morning to buy daily necessities than going to the supermarket

If it is understandable that people come to retire for the elderly, then what do the young people who live here want to do for a long time? I met a beautiful girl of the same age as me in the community, and I couldn't help but ask: "Aren't you just here for a vacation? Are you okay with your job? Can you stand staying here all the year round?"

She smiled and wrenched my fingers: "What about me, I am not married and infertile in this life, I don't have to go to work to write novels, I like quiet places, I will be able to write and think about the sea, and I have a house in the city at home to prevent serious illness." After five reasons, she clenched her fists and grinned, "Where else is there such a suitable place for me?"

She showed me photos of her house, a veritable first-row sea view house, which was bought for 150,000 yuan at the beginning of the year. Speaking of this, she sighed: "I was in a hurry to buy it, so I didn't bargain much. Now that I've been here for a long time, I know their routine, and I regret it to death! I already knew that I would cut and bargain more, and wouldn't the rest of the money be fragrant to eat oysters? ”

From the girl's mouth, I learned that there are many young people like her who live in rented houses in Silver Beach, and the number is almost more than that of the elderly. Either they're freelancers, or they've got some money in their hands and come here to lie down. Come here for low housing prices and a quiet environment with no people.

In the urban area of Rushan, which is 20 kilometers away from Silver Beach, this is the most prosperous street

It's just that in most of the more livable communities, if you ask "is there a house you can rent", the agent usually won't deal with it. I was a little puzzled: "Aren't there a lot of people who sell houses? Isn't it okay to rent if you can't sell them?"

The girl was angry, "That's what I thought at first! I asked the agent if there were any houses for rent, and I asked all the one-bedroom and one-bedroom sea-view housing communities along the coastline. Who knows, all the agents are like a unified voice, saying 'only sell, not rent'!" she gritted her teeth and continued, "Big liar! I decided to buy a house because of these words, but when I bought and communicated with my neighbors, I learned that many people clearly said that they could rent when they hung up their houses, but the agents didn't say anything!"

Hearing such a truth, I opened my mouth and did not speak. At first, we also had the idea of renting out the house, although we may not be able to earn back the money to buy a house in our lifetime, but we can return on our original cost. Now I know that even though many people want to rent, the agent will never tell them that there is a room to rent, and even though many people want to hire a tenant, the agent will never tell them that someone wants to rent.

It turned out that the most difficult level turned out to be the big demon king of the real estate agency.

6

epilogue

I asked the girl for the contact information of another agent, and the family of three met the agent according to the address. The agent beckoned us to sit down for a cup of tea with a smile on her face, and when we finished introducing the house, she still smiled, didn't say anything, stretched out ten fingers, and put them in front of us in a daze.

"I think we have a good relationship and are sympathetic. Now, that's the maximum amount I can give you. ”

The three of us looked at each other awkwardly a few times, tacitly picked up the paper cup and took a sip of tea, and did not answer again.

In the end, in the face of these ten fingers, we still didn't sell them ruthlessly. After all, what was 300,000 yuan back then has become 100,000 yuan now? Even if we don't take inflation into account, we really can't convince ourselves of this amount alone. We can only hope that one day, this place can become the second Hainan as promised by the buying group, so that we will not lose too much. But the answer seems to have been written.

The father looked embarrassed, scratched his head, and proposed in a tangled way: "Otherwise, we will come here every summer for the summer vacation." ”

My mother and I didn't reply, just looked at the endless sea, in a daze.

Maybe it's because of the long distance, the high cost of gas and road, maybe it's because of the endless disappointment in the face of the house, maybe it's because "out of sight and out of mind", we don't point it out, but we all know in our hearts that in two or three years, no, we may forget this agreement next year.

We won't come to Rushan Silver Beach again, this house will still trap our family like this for the rest of our life.