Chinese Woman Turns Old ‘Nail House’ Building Into Millions in Profit

Property owner Yang held onto the decrepit building in Shenzhen’s Longhua District for as long as seven years before finally deciding to let the Chinese government destroy it.

The building was scheduled for demolition back in 2010 after Chinese government designated the area for railway station usage, according to That’s Shenzen. Fortunately for Yang, the value of the properties within the area significantly rose over the years as real estate agents estimated a 50,000-55,000 yuan ($7,587-$8,345) price per square meter.

Reportedly, Yang’s compensation would have been worth about 6.5 million yuan ($986,343) had she sold the property seven years earlier, given the average 6,548 yuan ($993) per square meter price tag back then. Now, Yang revealed that the local government had given her a whopping 16 million yuan ($2,427,921) for her property, which covers about 1,000 square meters.

The area where Yang’s rundown building used to sit will now be utilized as part of the Shenzhen North Railway Station’s new expansion.

Yang originally intended to build a residential building out of her property but was never finished its construction. While she was able to lease her building back in 1993, her certification eventually expired and “various reasons” led her to abandon in completely.

Meanwhile, China is no stranger when it comes to tearing down buildings only to put up brand new ones shortly afterwards; in fact, China was able to build a fully-functional house in less than 24 hours.