Chapter 1430 Hot Potato (1/2)

The bids grew higher and Li Du wanted to continue bidding. Just as he raised his hand to do so, the house-pickers looked at him. They had a feeling that he would do something drastic.

Li Du did not disappoint them. He said, ”400,000!”Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.

The faces of those heavy-weight house-pickers who had been interested in the manor darkened.

Compared to the value of the manor, Li Du felt that 400,000 was not considered a high bid at all, and neither would have 500,000. The estimated value of the manor was quite a few million. It was one of the most expensive estates in Santa Monica.

According to the unspoken guidelines of the property auction trade, the more highly valued a house was, the riskier it was to bid for it.

The risk one might have to bear with foreclosure houses was nothing more than a damaged electrical circuit or a former homeowner who refused to leave the house. For high-value houses, those risks were easily resolved.

The higher was the value of a house, the lower was the ratio of its value to the value of the electrical circuits. For example, a bungalow priced at 100,000 dollars would require a few tens of thousands for the electrical circuits to be fixed. The ratio would be, therefore, ten percent. To repair the electrical circuits of a million-dollar villa would cost perhaps 20,000 to 30,000 dollars, two to three percent of the price.

As for the risk that a former tenant would refuse to leave, it was easier to resolve. One just had to keep watch for a couple of days to see if anyone was living in the house. As long as someone stayed outside to observe for two days, it would be easy enough to confirm.

Lu Guan and Li Du had studied a manor like this before. It could be purchased for 800,000. After refurbishing, the manor could be sold for at least 900,000. A profit margin of 100,000 was high.

However, the strangest thing happened. When Li Du bid 400,000, there were some heavy-weights who shook their heads and backed out from the bidding war.

That astounded him. Could these people have thought that they would really be able to get a big manor of around 20,000 square feet for less than 400,000 dollars? How could that be possible?

Some people backed out, while some persisted. The price continued to rise.

Li Du was too lazy to spend more time there and hence, he immediately called for a bid of 500,000.

Compared to the actual value of the manor, that price was nothing. There was still room for some competitive bidding to go on. Li Du had almost wanted to go directly to bidding 700,000 previously.

Something strange happened, however. At 500,000, all the house-pickers backed off.

They were all analyzing Li Du and wore a similar expression on their faces – a look of mockery. They acted as though they were there to watch a show. Many had their arms folded across their chests, while others were smiling coldly. It was as though spending 500,000 on that house was considered a certain loss.

Li Du could not understand. He sensed the strangeness of the scene but could not fathom the reason for it.

The auctioneer was the only one who still acted normal. He shouted loudly, ”500,000, it's 500,000! My buddies, this is a serious bid. However, it's definitely worth it. So, is there anyone willing to bid higher? 510,000, anyone?”

”Alright, seems like this price is already at the threshold. So 500,000 once, 500,000 twice… is there anyone who wishes to interfere? Nobody? Then it's 500,000 twice, 500,000 twice, very well, 500,000! Deal!”

The sparse applause rang out, accompanied by some laughter. Many people looked at Li Du with mischievous and meaningful expressions.

Lu Guan walked towards him and said softly, ”Boss, something doesn't look right.”

Li Du rolled his eyes and said, ”I'm not blind. Of course, I know that something is not right. Go check out what happened.”

After the deal of the manor, the auction ended. The property agents had entered the place and were promoting their services, stuffing their business cards into people's hands, looking to represent others.

Before Lu Guan had found out what happened, someone walked up to them. It was Marcos, who had greeted Li Du previously. He said, ”Buddy, this is your first time attending a property auction, right?”

Li Du nodded. ”That's right, please kindly advise us.”