Chapter 124: The First Step to the Top
Chapter 124 The First Step to the Top
While Arthur flipped through the real estate directory in front of him, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the real estate agent leaning over to read something in Lionel’s ear.
Lionel was listening, then a look of shock appeared on his face, then he shook his head helplessly, and then spoke to Arthur with apologies, “Excuse me, Mr. Hastings. The six-bedroom suite in the Regency Crescent that I introduced you to earlier ……”
Arthur looked up and asked, “Is there anything wrong with that room?”
“No, no, no.” Lionel smiled and waved his hand, “How could I refer you to a room with problems? It’s just that our company has just gotten word that that suite was temporarily requisitioned by the government this morning. But if you wish to stay somewhere, I can still ask around for you if there are any more homes to be listed in Regency Crescent recently.”
“Temporary requisition?”
Arthur pondered for a moment, he had heard of the great name of Regent’s Crescent, and across the street from Regent’s Crescent was Regent’s Park, the reserve that the recently deceased former King George IV had set aside for himself during his tenure as Regent.
George IV originally intended to build a garden summer palace there for himself and other royals to play and enjoy, but before the building was fully completed, George IV had already succeeded to the throne as the king, and logically moved into Buckingham Palace to live.
As a result, the garden part of the summer palace was converted into a park, and the original part of the palace was converted into townhouses, which is now the Regency Crescent.
It was arguably one of the most sought-after areas in London in the last decade for the rich, so Arthur never considered placing his property there.
Although he had 1,500 pounds on hand, this amount of money was not really a great deal of money when put in front of the residents of Regent’s Crescent.
He knew in his heart that Rothschild was always giving him concessions, but concessions were also divided into sizes, if the stock news in front of him could barely be regarded as normal investment advice within the scope of the rules, then the property purchase now could almost be regarded as a blatant gift of money.
The difference between the two lies in the fact that occasionally hear a few stock insider information others can not catch the handle, but if the low price to eat into the high-priced lots of real estate is really likely to make things.
Moreover, although crossing a few years, but the hometown of the old saying Arthur is not so bad to forget – eat people soft mouth, take the hand short.
What things can do, what things can not do, Arthur heart clear.
Not waiting for Arthur to open his mouth, the Red Devil has already manipulated his familiar seductive tone, wanting to encourage Arthur’s greedy heart.
Agares rubbed his hands and laughed, “Arthur, what are you waiting for? Haven’t you ever seen Paradise Lost? Mammon camped the palace called ‘Pandimaninam’ for Satan. Now as the earthly Satan’s you, don’t hesitate either. Anyway, if you don’t take it someone else will, so why not accept this invitation from Mammon?”
Arthur glanced at the red devil, he had previously thought that this guy had recently turned his nature, but now it seemed that it was merely a case of the opportunity not yet arriving, and as soon as the opportunity was ripe, this devil began to impatiently calculate how to send him in again.
Arthur smiled and spoke up, “That’s okay Lionel, Regency Crescent wasn’t even on my radar in the first place. We could look at other detached houses and apartments, such as Bayswater by Hyde Park, or perhaps near Lancaster Gate, both of which I think would work very well.”
Arthur’s sentence was not a long one, but it revealed enough to cheer Lionel.
For the fact that Arthur did not address him as Mr. Rothschild, but called him directly by his first name, showed that his efforts had succeeded in bringing the two parties closer together.
And Arthur’s later words also showed that he politely refused this naked way of giving away money, and that he hoped to find a house that matched his own financial resources.
Lionel rather smoothly and similarly changed his address to Arthur as he smiled and asked, “Wow, Arthur, really! Those two areas are also very good choices. It doesn’t have the elegance of the Regent’s Crescent, but it’s better because it’s quiet, and you can look out over a beautiful view of Hyde Park after dinner. I know that you are also very famous in the field of scientific research, I’m sorry, I should have thought of it, scientists like you like a quiet and comfortable research environment.”
He leaned forward slightly and casually flipped through the property directory with his hand on it, and a single house for sale in Hyde Park soon surfaced in front of Arthur.
“How about you take a look at this one? A three storey detached house at 36 Lancaster Gate, Bayswater, London West 2.
Lancaster Gate is far closer to your future office at 4 Whitehall Street than Greenwich, it’s south of Hyde Park, where you can take in the beauty of the Royal Gardens while standing in your home, and not far to the north is St. Mary’s Hospital, next to the business district of Paddington.
Or, if you prefer, you can visit the nearby Scotland Yard Paddington Police Station after dinner, and supervise the work of these subordinate police stations.
The house has all the right features to suit your needs. By the way, I forgot to introduce to you, this was originally the former residence of a baronet, but he had some investment problems, so he is anxious to sell this place. Outside the house is a small private garden, not too big, but elegant and clean, if you have the mood, you can do some flowers and plants outside.
A stone walkway through the garden leads to the first floor parlor, dining room and kitchen.
And up the spiral staircase, the second level has six bedrooms and three washrooms, with the six bedrooms configured as four large and two small.
When the original owner lived there, one of the four large bedrooms was for the owner’s own use, one was reserved for entertaining guests, and the other two were for his two children. As for the two small ones, they were reserved for his housemaid and cook.
As for the small attic on the third floor, it was the original owner’s private art studio and can be converted into a personal research laboratory if you wish.
I’ve been to see the house on the ground and it’s very well maintained, in typical Baroque style, and the original owner has put a lot of effort into the interior decoration, which is quite ornate.
I dare to assure you that if the owner had not been in a hurry to sell, you would never have been able to pick up such a bargain at £850.”
Arthur took a deep breath when he heard this.
After Lionel said that, it seemed like he couldn’t even buy it if he didn’t.
He braced one hand on the arm of the sofa, cupped his chin sideways and asked, “This place is worth 850 pounds?”
The real estate agent beside him wiped his sweat with a handkerchief, he thought Arthur was thinking the price was too expensive, he apologized, “Actually, 850 pounds is still a bit on the expensive side in this area, but we gave it this valuation considering its interior decoration.
To be honest, the owner of this place originally listed it at one thousand pounds, only to slowly reduce it to 850 pounds due to the fact that no one has asked for it for a long time. If you do decide to buy this house, I’ll talk to the owner again tomorrow, and there should be a chance that we can get the price down a bit more.”
Hearing this, Arthur finally explored the actual value of the house.
He immediately nodded his head and said, “You’ve already worked hard today, so I won’t bother you to go and bargain with the owner again, I’ll take this house. However, I only have 500 pounds left in my hand at the moment, I wonder if your company can provide home loan services?”
The real estate agent breathed a sigh of relief, a stone pressed in his heart finally fell to the ground, he enthusiastically took out the documents clipped in his armpit, and opened his mouth to ask: “Well then, Mr. Hastings, your loan demand is 350 pounds, and the current interest rate of our division’s home loan is 4.2%, if you …… “
Lionel heard this and waved his hand slightly at the housing agent.
When the housing agent man saw this gesture, he first froze, then as if he remembered something, he returned in a panic, “Oooooh, right. Mr. Hastings, it’s actually not very cost-effective for you to take out a loan with us. Since you are Mr. Rothschild’s friend, it is entirely possible for you to go to the Rothschild Bank for a special channel loan business, I will go over there right now and ask for you.”
At the end of his words, he hurriedly put away the documents and ran out of the trading hall in a hurry.
Seeing this, Lionel finally nodded with satisfaction.
He only saw him take out a pen from his jacket pocket, then drew out a piece of paper on the coffee table, and after writing and drawing on it, he smiled and pushed the piece of paper in front of Arthur.
“Arthur, with your reputation, getting a special loan from Rothschild is almost a non-issue. So, I’ll take it upon myself to calculate the interest rate of a ten-year loan for you, and you can just refer to this information for repayment.”
Arthur took the piece of paper and glanced at it, then looked up at Lionel, he smiled and asked, “350 pounds of principal, 10-year loan, monthly repayment of 3 pounds and 8 shillings, isn’t this loan interest rate too low?”
Lionel shook his head slightly when he heard this, and he leaned over with a smile.
“Arthur, you don’t understand. Things like loans depend on the credibility of the lender. In my opinion, your credibility is more solid than the British government’s, so it obviously makes sense for you to get a loan with a lower interest rate than British bonds. Rothschild rarely does high-risk business; we’re looking for thin, steady returns.”
(End of chapter)