"The moment I sold the house at a loss of 400,000 yuan, I was free"

Text | Chu Qiao

Edit | Excellence

In recent years, after experiencing a rollercoaster of ups and downs in housing prices, some people have begun to re-examine their values and lifestyle, trying to break free from the "shackles" they are bound to.

There are even many people who choose to sell their houses directly, intending to spend their lives renting.

Traditionally, a house is not just a place to live, but also a source of security and belonging, and even a symbol of wealth and status, so many people do not hesitate to spend generations of savings in order to own a house of their own.

Nowadays, more and more young people are choosing to "find a different way".

The protagonists of this issue of microscopy are these people who take the unusual path. Once, they were also a member of the army of home buyers, in order to buy the house of their dreams, they worked hard and did not dare to slack off, but after the house was in hand, they found that the beautiful life they originally longed for did not come as scheduled.

Some people are overwhelmed by the pressure of high mortgages, and some find that the quality of life has not improved substantially, but has sacrificed a lot of valuable things because of buying a house.

As a result, they decided to sell their non-circulating digital assets and rent a house to achieve relative financial freedom and diversification in their lives.

Here are the real stories about them:

The moment I sold my house, I was free

The moment he decided to sell the house, Qiu Man's heart was a little sad.

She paced alone in the small fifty-square-meter room, from the balcony where the light was blocked by steel bars, to the hallway that could only accommodate a dining table, to the north-facing kitchen. She wanted to take a closer look at every corner. Soon, it was no longer hers.

In 2018, Qiu Man bought this second-hand house in Tongzhou, Beijing, for 48,000 yuan per square meter. At that time, the housing prices in Tongzhou were rising at a time when the tide was rising, and the aura of the sub-center coupled with the lower price than the city was very cost-effective in the eyes of Qiu Man, who had a limited budget.

As a new Beijinger, like many "North Drifters", she also wants to have a home of her own. To this end, she took out all the savings she had accumulated over the years of work, borrowed some money from relatives and friends, and made a down payment of 800,000 yuan.

Figure | Juman purchased the community

Qiu Man's mother didn't agree with her buying a house at first, thinking that more than 2 million yuan could buy a villa in her hometown, but in Beijing, she could only buy a place with a big palm, and the location was still very remote. But Juman insisted, and her mother didn't say anything more.

However, after the house was bought, Juman did not live in it for a day. Her workplace is in the Northwest Fourth Ring Road, and her house is in the East Sixth Ring Road, and it takes more than three hours to commute every day.

Therefore, after a simple renovation, Qiu Man rented out the house, because the location was not dominant, and the rent was only more than 2,000 per month.

In order to repay the monthly mortgage of seven or eight thousand yuan, Qiu Man maximized his savings. Her monthly salary is only more than 10,000 yuan, and after paying off the mortgage and paying the necessary living expenses, there is not much left.

In order to save money, she moved from a hotel apartment to a shared house near the company, and every day she queued up with more than a dozen people to wash and go to the toilet.

The joy of buying a house was quickly overstretched by a life that was stretched thin. She didn't dare to travel, she didn't dare to eat and drink indiscriminately, and she couldn't buy and buy at will. Thinking that such days would last for decades, Qiu Man was very unwilling.

Gradually, she realized that buying a house for her was nothing more than a sense of self-deception and satisfaction, completing a major life event that must be completed like getting married and having children, and the capital to show off that she had a house in Beijing when chatting in front of people. Other than that, it seems like nothing.

What's more, since she bought the house, the price of the house has been falling. Originally, Qiu Man didn't expect to appreciate, but the price of successive dives still broke through her psychological defense.

In 2023, the transaction price of the second-hand house in Qiu Man's community has fallen below 40,000 yuan per square meter, and an owner in the same community even sold a 60-square-meter two-bedroom apartment at a price of 2.1 million yuan, with a unit price of only 35,000 yuan.

Figure | Ju Mantong State House outside the street outside the complex

Juman didn't want to "run along" anymore. After five years of "ascetic" life, her endurance reached the limit. In the end, she sold the "hot potato" that she had been "raising" for several years at a price of 400,000.

Although it hurts like cutting meat, in the long run, Qiu Man is still relieved: he no longer has to worry about the fluctuation of housing prices, he no longer has to work for the bank, he can pay high mortgages and interest, and he can rent a better house, go wherever he wants, and buy whatever he wants.

Asked if she regretted selling the house, Qiu Man said: "Even if the house is not sold, I have to rent a house, first, it is too far to work, and second, the area is too small, and my family from my hometown is not enough to live." Now that the house has been sold, I have enough cash flow to control my life, my life is not so screwed, and my quality of life has improved. ”

Thinking about the energy to buy a house back then, Qiu Man felt a little silly, "A lot of things go both ways. While you own real estate, you are also occupied by real estate, such as time, energy, and money, and owning comes at a cost. ”

Qiu Man's friends also have the same stop-loss as her, such as Jiang Shan.

Jiang Shan bought a house a few years earlier than Qiu Man, but instead of buying it in Beijing, she chose the three northern counties not far from Beijing.

In the spring of 2015, Jiang Shan bought a house in Dachang, across the river from Tongzhou, for a total price of less than one million. At that time, it was the hottest time for houses in the three northern counties. Jiang Shan remembered that at that time, buying a house was to be numbered, and when the agent took her into the house selection hall, the house of more than 1,000 square meters was already crowded, which was more lively than watching a concert.

Jiang Shan, who saw this meeting for the first time, immediately paid the money and booked the room. However, she also checked out as quickly as she did when she bought a house, making a lightning-fast decision.

The house was off-plan, and there was no public transportation from the community to Beijing at that time. On the way back by taxi, the driver's words alerted her: "You bought a house in a place where birds don't?

It was because of this sentence that Jiang Shan returned the house the next day. The house she chose is a leading large developer in China, a high-quality community with hardcover delivery, No. 1 is hard to find, and many people can't buy it in line. So, with little effort, the developer agreed to her request to check out.

With the money from the sale of the house, Jiang Shan lived overseas and began to travel the world. And the person who bought the house at the same time as her has already been trapped in the house. The houses in the three northern counties are very cold after the heat, and they can't live in them or sell them, becoming veritable "chicken ribs".

Jiang Shan thanked herself for being decisive at that time, and also thanked the driver who was not very good at talking at the beginning. Now, nearly a decade later, that once hot neighborhood is still desolate.

When Jiang Shan was traveling around the world, Qianqian, who was born in the 90s, was also planning her life as a sojourn.

A way of living that has been redefined

The reason why Sissi has the idea of living is actually influenced by her parents.

Many years ago, when Sissi's parents had not yet retired, they already had plans to live all over the country after retirement:

"According to my father's logic, if we don't go out to play, or if we don't change cities, the family can have more money and save hundreds of thousands. But that's not the life he wants. He said that he was so old that he didn't want to have nothing for the rest of his life, and he didn't want to go anywhere. ”

Perhaps it was because her parents were more "trendy" that when Sissi decided to sell her house in Zhangjiakou, the two old men were very supportive.

In 2023, Sissi's parents will retire and officially start their sojourn career, and the first stop is Beijing, where Sissi lives.

At that time, Sissi was still working a 9-to-6 job. Although she loves to play, she had no idea of living before that.

"I hadn't thought about it before, but after Mom and Dad had this idea, I thought it was good, and I wanted to go with them. ”

For this reason, Sissi quit her full-time job and began to wander the world with her parents.

After leaving Beijing, the three of them moved to Jiangnan and now live in Suzhou for more than half a year.

Figure | Photos of Sissi living in Suzhou

"The resources of this city in the south, including the infrastructure, are particularly good. Vegetable markets, parks, gardens, and some benefits are very friendly to the elderly. For example, their bus card is 50% off, and then the subway or anything is very cheap, and the taxi is not expensive. Sissi said.

For the current sojourn life, the parents are very satisfied, and Sissi is also very happy. Now, she works as a freelancer, planning and copywriting, while also running her own small company. Time can be mastered by oneself, space can be switched freely, and the joy of life grows geometrically.

Figure | Photos of Sissi living in Suzhou

"You can rent in whichever city you want to live in, the rental market is much simpler than the buying market, and there are a large number of properties for you to choose from by downloading the APP. If you are tired of staying in a city, you can change to another city, China is so big, you don't have to worry about having nowhere to go. ”

The next place of residence, Sissi's parents chose Qingdao, Sissi was not sure if she would go with them, but she was determined to live in this matter.

Where the children are, there is home

Unlike Sissi's sale of houses, Xiaoyan, who was born in the 80s, sells houses entirely for the sake of her children.

In 2017, in order for his son to go to primary school, Xiao Yan sold the house where he had lived in Fangshan, Beijing for nearly ten years and bought a school district house in Haidian. It was also from this year that Xiao Yan's family began a long rental life.

The school district house is a typical "old and dilapidated house", and it is impossible to live in it at all. Xiao Yan rented a two-bedroom apartment near her son's school. The place where she lives is the intersection of Fengtai, Haidian and Shijingshan, and her son's school belongs to Haidian, and the house she rented is not far from the school, but it belongs to Fengtai.

Figure | Xiao Yan rents a community in Fengtai

The rented house is a residence from the 80s of the last century, and the furniture and decoration style are very old. When Xiao Yan's parents came over, they wanted to help them buy some things, but Xiao Yan refused.

If it's not your own house, you're not in the mood to decorate it, and you don't want to add new things. At first, I thought it was just a short time to live for a while, but I didn't expect this stay to be six years.

"My child will be in junior high school this fall, and I don't know where I will be assigned, so if I am nearby, I may still live here, and if I am far away, I will have to change to a rented house near the school. After graduating from junior high school, there will be high school, and then you will have to change places. In short, where the children are, we will rent them. Xiao Yan said.

Xiao Yan also thought about waiting for his son to graduate from elementary school and sell the school district house to buy another set. But the volatility of housing prices, the uncertainty of the real estate market, and the high amount of loans she will be burdened with make her hesitate.

If it weren't for the kids, I would have considered renting a house all the time. Buying a house is expected, buying a house, if there is no trend of appreciation, but it will fall, it is better to rent. What's wrong with a few million in your hand, right?

A colleague of mine, whose family is in the Sky Bridge, sold his house for more than 10 million, returned to his hometown, and now lives a very nourishing life. But we can't, the children have to go to school, and now a lot of things are tied to the house, household registration, education, so even if I rent a house, I have to keep a house as a guarantee.

Also for the sake of the children, Mr. Tan wants to keep the house.

In 2018, Mr. Tan bought a two-bedroom apartment of more than 80 square meters in Huilongguan, Changping, with a total price of more than 3.8 million yuan. Like Ju Man, Mr. Tan also bought at a high point, and the price has been falling since then.

However, the loan did not drop, and Mr. Tan had to use more than half of his salary to repay the mortgage every month.

At the beginning of 2021, Mr. Tan came up with the idea of returning to his hometown to start a business, and after discussing with his family, the family of six returned to Changsha.

In the center of Changsha, Mr. Tan rented a large three-bedroom apartment of more than 100 square meters at a price of more than 3,000 per month, and three generations of six people did not feel cramped to live in.

"Back here, the old man is very happy, after all, the family is here, and they are not very comfortable in Beijing. The place where I live is spacious, everyone's hearts are also open, and the relationship between mother and son, mother-in-law and daughter-in-law is better than before. If you go to work, you don't have to squeeze the subway every morning and evening, the commute is much easier, and the happiness index has also improved. ”

However, he has not sold the house in Beijing for the time being, and rented it out for more than 6,000 yuan.

"It's mostly for the sake of the kids. My wife and I are both in Beijing, and our two children's hukou are also in Beijing, and we may have to go back to take the college entrance examination in the future. ”

Talking about the choice of buying and renting a house, Mr. Tan said: "Life is a race track and a wilderness, although it is impossible to completely do it by yourself, but you still have to try as much as possible and live according to your own ideas." ”

postscript

In the context of the new era, some families choose to sell their homes as tenants, which is undoubtedly a deliberate decision. This choice does not mean abandoning the quest for stability and security.

In fact, they have achieved their goals in life in a more flexible way.

Between being dominated by the house and living freely, they chose to no longer be bound by the traditional concept of "buying a house to settle down", and boldly challenged a new living model.

In fact, in Western countries, renting is a very common state. According to statistics, in EU countries, 30% of the population is rented, of which Germany has the highest rent-to-rent ratio, reaching 57.9%.

In the capital, Berlin, the figure is as high as 82.6%. Many Germans have spent their entire lives renting, not because they can't afford it, but because they have a different view of it.

Perhaps in the near future, the transitional state of "renting" will gradually become the choice of more Chinese families, which will also bring new thinking and changes to the real estate market.

Whether buying or renting a house, everyone has the right to choose their own lifestyle. It's important to understand your real needs and make the most suitable decision.

The meaning of life lies in the diversity of experiences and feelings, and we respect every choice and everyone who loves life.

(At the request of the interviewee, some of the characters in the article have been changed.) ）