Actor Kim Ji-hoon Purchases Trimage Pre-sale Rights in Seongdong-gu, Seoul for 150 Million KRW
Current Market Price Over 4 Billion KRW... "Best Investment of My Life"
Actor Kim Ji-hoon (43) has attracted attention by revealing that he purchased a pre-sale right for one of the ultra-luxury apartments in Seongdong-gu, Seoul, called ‘Trimage’ for only 150 million KRW. On the 23rd, Kim Ji-hoon appeared on the web entertainment show ‘Eat Breakfast and Go,’ hosted by broadcaster Jang Sung-kyu on the YouTube channel ‘Fun Things Are Coming Up,’ where he shared the background of how he was able to buy Trimage at a relatively low price. The show is based on the concept of Jang Sung-kyu dropping by guests’ homes to have various conversations.
A panoramic view of Trimage Apartment in Seongdong-gu, Seoul. [Image source: Naver Map Street View capture]
In the video titled ‘Actor Kim Ji-hoon, who lives in the most expensive apartment in Seongsu, ambushed,’ Jang Sung-kyu mentioned Kim Ji-hoon’s home, ‘Seongsu Trimage,’ saying, “Apartments around here are 11 billion KRW, 9.5 billion KRW, averaging 10.3 billion KRW,” and added, “The apartment we’re visiting today is the one I’ve wanted to see the most. It’s the flower of Seongsu-dong.” When he asked Kim Ji-hoon, “Isn’t this place about 100 million KRW per pyeong (3.3㎡)?” Kim Ji-hoon replied, “I bought this house for 150 million KRW.”
Kim Ji-hoon explained, “I entered this house through the initial pre-sale,” adding, “Surprisingly, there was a long period of unsold units back then. It was said that such apartments would be built through redevelopment, but the pre-sale was canceled several times before that.” He continued, “The developer said that if I paid only 10% of the contract price at that time, I could sign the contract. The middle payment was covered by a bank loan, and since the move-in was three years later, I thought I would make some profit, so I hurriedly secured funds and signed the contract first.”
In fact, Seongsu Trimage, which started pre-sales in 2014, faced a combination of high pre-sale prices and a real estate market downturn, resulting in 40% (163 units) of the total units remaining unsold as of 2016. The pre-sale price ranged from 32 million to 48 million KRW per 3.3㎡ (per pyeong), marking the highest price in Gangbuk at the time, with housing types ranging from 25㎡ to 216㎡ and prices from 350 million KRW to 4.2 billion KRW.
However, it began gaining popularity as famous celebrities such as Super Junior’s Choi Si-won, Kim Hee-chul, Leeteuk, Eunhyuk, Donghae, Girls’ Generation’s Sunny, and JYJ’s Kim Jae-joong moved in. Kim Ji-hoon purchased a 126.66㎡ (38 pyeong) unit in 2015, with the pre-sale price estimated at 1.5 billion KRW at that time.
Kim Ji-hoon said, “When it was time to move in, I really had no money at all. So I forced myself to gather money from here and there. This house is all debt,” adding, “After 20 years as an actor, two things remain: this house and the loan on this house. But it has become the best investment I’ve ever made in my life.”
According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport’s real transaction price disclosure system, on the 13th of last month, an 84.8111㎡ type unit in Seongsu Trimage was traded for 3.15 billion KRW, which was 50 million KRW higher than the previous highest price. As of the 24th, units of 126.66㎡ that Kim Ji-hoon moved into are listed for sale at prices ranging from 3.2 billion to 4.5 billion KRW.
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