Hot Potato

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!"

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.