From legendary short seller to god of American capital

Chapter 351: Preparing for the Pre-sale of Real Estate in Boston

Chapter 351 Returning to Boston to Prepare for the Pre-sale of Real Estate

July 28th was a Thursday. Larry, along with Dunbar and two new friends, Tiger and Snake, took the train back to Boston.

Larry has three things to do during his trip back to Boston.

First, the court will reopen the Huang Meitang case on August 1, and the judge is highly likely to deliver a verdict.

Secondly, I should also move out of the lease—I've been paying rent to Mr. Winthrop, but I haven't been back to live there in a long time—although Larry doesn't care about the $12 a month rent now, it's not good to keep paying money for nothing—

Third, I received a call from Mr. Kennedy two days prior.

Kennedy's tone on the phone betrayed his dissatisfaction. Mainly because Henry Ford was again applying for research funding.

"That guy's going to make some kind of electric starter for cars? He says it can replace the hand crank—Larry, don't you think this guy's going too far? All he thinks about is R&D, he doesn't even consider whether the cars will actually sell!"

Larry gripped the phone, a smile on his face, but his tone was hesitant and puzzled. "Oh, really? Mr. Ford values ​​technology that much—well, I'll go back to Boston right away! I'll talk to him about it."

Henry Ford was now fully embracing the strategy of delay, not in a hurry to sell cars, and focusing all his time on research and development. This was increasingly infuriating and impatient with Kennedy.

Therefore, this return was absolutely necessary. Some things needed to be settled! Of course, if Kennedy again requested to withdraw his shares, Larry decided to refuse—...

If Ford can withstand the pressure, why should we be in a hurry?

At 3:30 p.m., the group of four walked out of Boston Central Station.

As usual, Larry went to the 717-Eleven convenience store at the train station first to greet Mr. K. Before Larry could even speak, he heard a loud, cheerful voice, "Welcome to the convenience store! How can I help you?"

Larry looked closer and saw it was a young waiter he recognized, loudly greeting customers at the door.

Clearly, the spirit of serving customers with a smile has been fully implemented by the store staff.

After the waiter recognized the boss, his smile widened, and he quickly led Larry to a private room at the back of the shop.

"Mr. K instructed that you should rest here after your arrival. I'll go find him to see you now!"

Larry nodded. It turned out that Mr. K had rented a small cubicle next to the convenience store to use as a VIP lounge.

After the group of four entered the private room, the waiter hurriedly brought them tea and coffee.

The convenience store at the train station is 717's flagship store, and it now has a very high foot traffic. It has also been renovated and upgraded, and it looks much better now.

Tiger and Snake, the two bodyguards, were already very familiar with Larry. They sat in the bedroom near the door, drinking water and looking at the customers in the convenience store, marveling that they had never seen such a popular grocery store.

Ten minutes later, Mr. K rushed over.

"Boss, you're finally back!" Mr. K said with a smile, wiping the sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief. "If you hadn't come back, I would have gone to New York to look for you."

"Is there any news from the Chinese community?"

"No! It's your Garden of Light." Mr. K said, taking a cup of tea and gulping it down without caring whose it was, before continuing, "That fellow named Vanderlip—he certainly has some ability. The model room is already mostly set up. As per your instructions, he's even equipped it with cast iron radiators and a full set of furniture. It'll be completed soon—"

Larry nodded slightly. "He's relatively reliable in his work?"

"Not bad! The key is that bossy attitude—you know, building houses can't be done gently. Otherwise, the construction workers won't do any work at all. That Vanderlip guy has a filthier mouth than me—"

He would yell at the workers, and he was very meticulous about the details of the renovation. But the workers were all afraid of him and worked very diligently,” Mr. K said with a smile.

Larry nodded and asked, "That's good. When will the show flat be fully completed? That way we can start pre-selling the apartments—"

Mr. K thought for a moment and said, "At most a week! Or maybe not even that. But how are you going to hold this pre-sale ceremony? Are you going to do it through connections, or pull strings?"

“Do both!” Larry stood up and said to Dunbar and his two bodyguards, “Let’s go! We’ll go to Back Bay and ask my landlord to resolve these issues.”

The four boarded a horse-drawn carriage and headed to the Back Bay area.

Halfway through the journey, Larry called over Snake, "Mr. Cole, could you please investigate the construction site discreetly for me, mainly to see if they've done anything underhanded?"

"You mean you're worried they'll embezzle?" Rattlesnake Cole asked.

"We have considered that, but the main issue is whether there has been any cutting corners," Larry said seriously.

"Yes, sir! I'll go and find out right away."

The carriage stopped abruptly, and Rattlesnake Cole got off to gather information on his own.

Ten minutes later, the three arrived at the entrance of the apartment building at 42 Newbury Street in the Back Bay area. It was already 6 p.m.

At 10 o'clock, since it was summer, the sun was still high in the sky.

Larry went up and knocked on the door. A moment later, the door opened, and the maid, Carmel, looked surprised to see Larry. "Mr. Livingston, you're back? I almost forgot you were a tenant here."

Larry chuckled self-deprecatingly. "You're mistaken, ma'am! I'm Mrs. Winthrop's best tenant—I pay, but I don't live in the room!"

Carmel smiled and ushered Larry, Dunbar, and the others into the room. Once Larry stepped inside, his surprise was astonishing. A private family dinner was being held there.

Mr. and Mrs. Winthrop, their daughter, and Matthew were preparing to have dinner.

"Larry! You're back!"

"Mr. Livingston! You're back from New York? That's wonderful!"

"It's been so long! Come on, sit down and have dinner with us!"

The Winthrop family warmly invited Larry to join them for dinner. Larry accepted the invitation and sat down with them.

Mr. Dunbar then went out with Tiger to purchase gifts and gin for the three of them for dinner, following American etiquette, before returning to join them for the meal.

Dinner began, and Mrs. Winthrop raised her glass first to thank her long-distance tenant, Larry Livingston, before returning to her faithful apartment.

Mrs. Winthrop's remarks elicited a burst of cheerful laughter.

Larry smiled and waved his hand. "Madam! I'm planning to terminate my lease today. I'll be spending most of my time in New York from now on."

"Oh, what a pity! You are the best tenant, Mr. Livingston." Mrs. Winthrop deliberately sounded very regretful.

Mr. Winthrop raised his glass. "To Mr. Livingston's bright future, cheers!"

Everyone laughed and raised their glasses together, the clinking sounds filling the air.

After a cheerful opening, we soon moved on to private chat.

Larry earnestly introduced Mr. Winthrop to an apartment building project he was building, named Courtyard of Light, and explained his plans to sell apartments to high-end residents of Boston.

Upon hearing about Larry's real estate project, Mr. Winthrop's eyes widened in surprise. "My God! There's no precedent for your high-end apartment project in Boston! You're new to real estate investment, and you're already making such a big splash?"

Larry laughed and said, "Sir! We're going to do what no one else has done—we'll use a brand-new design and a futuristic architectural experience to make this Garden of Light one of Boston's landmarks—"

"But have you considered that the wealthy people in Boston might not need this apartment? They all have their own homes." Winthrop frowned slightly.

Larry chuckled and wagged his finger. "You mean those detached houses? No, no, sir. When they see my Garden of Light project, they'll love it. We have elevators, 20-hour hot water, heating in winter, and a complete range of amenities surrounding the apartment building. They can order food and call for housekeeping without leaving the building. It's like a hotel. This is something traditional housing couldn't offer!"

"Is it really that good?" Mr. Winslop asked, somewhat skeptical.

"It's really great!" Matthew chimed in with a laugh. "Larry and I went to Chicago. He commissioned a famous designer, and the designer came up with an apartment building design that's never been seen before."

Hearing this, Mr. Winthrop's daughter's eyes lit up. "Can I go take a look?"

She looked at Matthew, and although she was very reserved, you could see the smile and pleading in her eyes.

"Of course! I'll take you to see it," Matthew said, then turned to Larry and asked, "Is that thing you called a show flat finished?"

Larry laughed and replied, "Of course! My plan this time is to invite prominent figures to a business meeting in the model apartment—"

"What is a show flat?" Mr. Winslop asked hastily.

"These are rooms that were renovated and built to look exactly as they were when the apartment was actually delivered!" Larry explained his apartment building to everyone, and also explained what "fully furnished" and "pre-installed furniture" meant.

When they heard that the apartment building was designed by a famous New York renovation company, everyone looked surprised.

"How much can you sell this house for?" Mrs. Winthrop asked.

Before Larry could answer, Mr. Winthrop frowned and said, "Wait! As far as I know, currently, the laws of all states in the United States do not recognize the sale of apartments to individuals, because the law only recognizes a building as belonging to one person or one company. It doesn't involve selling individual apartments by floor or room."

Mr. Winslop hit the nail on the head: current U.S. law does not recognize apartments as private property.

Larry replied with a laugh, "Our property structure is modeled after the Dakota condominiums—residents are nominally shareholders, but in reality, they own the property."

Mr. Winthrop thought for a moment, then nodded. "That's good—it has new building materials and a new architectural style, as well as new residential functions! The way you've described it makes me very interested. I have to see it for myself!"

"I need your help! I want to publish GG's ad in the Boston Globe, and I need you to use your connections to get plenty of high-society people to attend—the drinks will be free!"

Seeing Larry's eager gaze, Mr. Winthrop nodded emphatically, "No problem! I'll help you with this."

After dinner, Larry settled his rent with Mrs. Winthrop and decided to officially move out at the end of the month.

Larry then returned to his long-unseen room. Opening the apartment door and looking at this familiar yet strange place, he felt a sense of déjà vu—

Dunbar had already asked Tiger to book a room at the hotel. He accompanied Larry into the apartment, looked around at the beautiful furnishings, and said with a smile, "Larry! Your place is much better than mine—"

Larry greeted Dunbar with a smile, "Uncle Dunbar! Look, I have a lot of whiskey and cigars here—I even bought a special cigar humidor. But they're basically untouched. I'll be sending all of these to New York later."

"Okay! I'll arrange the truck." Dunbar nodded in agreement.

Larry lit him a cigar and told him to wait on the sofa while he went to his room to pack his personal belongings.

Because he hadn't been back for a long time, the furniture and beds were covered in a layer of dust; everything was dusty, and you could smell the dust. Larry walked to the desk, looked at the dusty Sherlock Holmes stories and two copies of The Great Madness, and couldn't help but sigh.

Larry stood in front of his desk and thought for a moment. Besides his own furniture, clothes, and documents in the safe, there was one thing he needed to trouble Dunbar to do: send some money to his parents.

Larry had been thinking about this for a while, constantly traveling and making money. He promised to go home often, but he never had the time to go back.

Larry regretted not leaving the money he had prepared when he last returned to Holliston. Plus, he's now pregnant and might give birth in the next few months—Larry felt he absolutely had to go back and leave some money for them.

With that in mind, Larry went to the safe and took out $1 in cash.

After taking out that money, there was still $1.5 in cash left in the safe, along with a Ford Motor Company stock holding agreement, property documents for Fifth Avenue in Manhattan and five shops, and the copy of "The Wealth of Nations" that Mr. Morgan had given him.

As Larry's gaze fell upon "The Wealth of Nations," he suddenly remembered the gift Morgan had given him—a gold coin supposedly from ancient Rome.

Instinctively, Larry pulled the gold coin from his shirt pocket. Looking at the scratches on the coin, Larry couldn't help but think again about the question he'd pondered many times—"Did Morgan give me this gold coin just as a reward?"

After thinking for a while, Larry silently closed the safe, took the $1 in cash, went back to the living room, and handed the money to Dunbar.

"Uncle Dunbar, I need a favor! I need you to go back to my parents and give them this money—"

Dunbar frowned as he held the money. "But how am I supposed to leave this money with them? Say you asked me to pass it on?"

Larry smiled and shook his head. "Of course not—I've come up with a great idea. We can give them the money legitimately and then support them to make their lives better and better—and this needs to be done by you! Because you're the most suitable."

"What idea?" Dunbar asked, frowning.

"A horse farm!!" Larry said with a laugh. "You said you wanted to invest in a horse farm in Holliston, and you had your eye on a large tract of wasteland on my parents' farm. This $10,000 is a deposit and advance payment. He can grow blueberries and build the horse farm at the same time; these are all advance payments for the partnership."

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