Business, Family, and Personal Philanthropy in Peru, China, and the United States
Real Estate: Canton, Hong Kong, Peru, and the U.S.
Wong-VargasI like real estate very much, but in this country it's difficult to pass the test. As I told you, in Canton real estate was different, and in Hong Kong it also was different. In Canton they have a Chinese tea house named How Sum. I learned from my godmother. Early in the morning you go there, and in one section they are all what you call real estate salespersons. In another section are the buyers. The buyer comes over and says he is looking for a house or whatever. The word is passed around, and they ask each other, "Do you have a three-bedroom home?" and so on. It was fun.
I was always with my godmother, so when the deal would go through they would give the commission to me, to my godmother, and of course to the group to which we belonged. So you always had something, not only your own but you got a piece of all the commissions of your group. Amah was the one with the money who was the investor in there.
Nathan
So you shared the commissions with your own group?
Wong-Vargas
Yes. It was a group of six at that time, and then four. My Amah was the main one, and she always cared about me and made sure I got my commission. So I had to go every morning, and it was fun. Hong Kong was different. You don't have to learn to be in real estate there. You don't have to take any exam at all.
Nathan
No tea house in Hong Kong?
Wong-Vargas
Maybe there were a few tea houses for some purpose and also for real estate, but we didn't go there. We went to a kind of office with salespersons and buyers. I don't know about now. You also didn't need a license to do it. Hong Kong is much bigger, and they have ads in the newspapers, etc. It was much more organized in Hong Kong, and you had to go to a lawyer to do the paperwork, but in Canton you didn't have to. Amah or the salesperson did everything. As long as you had your original ownership documents and two people to verify that it was yours, then you could sell it.
Nathan
This was all before the revolution?
Wong-Vargas
Oh, yes, much before.
Nathan
Do you have any sense of whether there is any buying and selling of property now in China?
Wong-Vargas
No, I don't, but I'd like to find out. I'd also like to find out about Hong Kong.
In Peru there is a real estate office, but, again the salespersons don't have to pass an examination like here. If you have money and some knowledge about it, you just rent an office and put up a sign. You do have to have a license from city hall for wherever you belong: San Isidro, Miraflores, or whatever. Then you have a secretary and a telephone, and you put ads in newspapers for whoever wants to buy or sell to come to you. They call, you show the property, they like it and buy it, you earn a commission, and that's it. It's much easier.
Here you have to be a broker in order to have an office and have your sales people with you.
Nathan
Would you ever be interested in becoming a broker here?
Wong-Vargas
In the future, maybe. I understand you have to have a four-year college degree to be a broker. I know somebody who is not, but the gentleman is very old now, and maybe it was different before. Now they require more knowledge and a college degree because there are so many brokers. I have a college degree, so I think I could do it, but first of all I'd like to be a sales person. Let me see if I can pass the examination first. Then, in the future, maybe yes. My ambition is not that high, to be a broker. I'd just like to buy something and rebuild it, redecorate it, and then sell it. If I get the opportunity to be a broker, that would be very nice, but I would rather have more time to travel, and I'd like to have a restaurant, yes. That I'd really like.
Nathan
First the restaurant, then the property to refurbish?
Wong-Vargas
No, first I would like to buy a property and then refurbish it for the restaurant. Also, maybe buy some other property to refurbish and sell it. If I have an opportunity in this area, I'd like to open a good restaurant. My daughter Lita says, "No, San Francisco is better." I know San Francisco is much better, that's true, but it has so many good restaurants, and also the property is much more expensive. Berkeley also has good restaurants, but I don't see any good Peruvian seafood here. I'd like to have not Peruvian food only but seafood--international. It has to be international seafood but with daily specialties from Peru. Of course, it would also have to have very good steak and chicken, because maybe some people don't like seafood.
Courtesy of The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-6000; http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/
http://content.cdlib.org/view?docId=hb609nb3x2&brand=oac4
Title: Business, family and personal philanthropy in Peru, China, and the United States : oral history transcript / Isabel Wong-Vargas
By: Wong-Vargas, Isabel, 1922-, Interviewee, Nathan, Harriet, Interviewer
Date: 1993
Contributing Institution: The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-6000; http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/
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