America 1919

John asked, "Then how do we attract others to open shops like this here? We can't persuade them one by one, can we?"

Donnie looked at John and said with a smile, "I didn't expect you to ask that question!"

John knew Donnie was teasing him, but he didn't mind and said, "Now that I am a big shot in the West District, I naturally have to think about these issues!"n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Donnie was pleased that John had grown a bit of a brain and laughed, "If others don't do it, we can, since Nucky hasn't explicitly opposed our idea, it means he supports it. In fact, I believe he's already prepared for these houses not to yield rent in the short term."

Moreover, Nucky has strong capital and other sources of income. He can afford to leave those houses vacant, but others can't. So you need to focus on these places now and find a way to buy up all these houses. Once the West District starts to develop, the land and housing prices will surely skyrocket, and then Occidental City will truly be ours!"

The development of a region can be clearly indicated by its housing prices.

And such indicators are universal.

In future urban development zones, the prices of commercial and residential properties are not too high in the beginning stages, even far below those in the city center.

But once the development zone takes off, the housing prices here will generally exceed those in the city!

Plainly speaking, foot traffic is most important. As long as the West District can attract enough tourists, there will be no need for Donnie to worry about these vacant houses, others will proactively find ways!"

John said, "But then a lot of cash will be needed. Your cash is already set for investment in the radio company, do you have enough cash to do these things?"

Donnie felt a bit of a headache upon hearing this topic, as he had previously been satisfied with having more than six hundred thousand dollars in cash.

And now he was facing a cash shortage.

If Donnie really were a conventional businessman, he would certainly look for suitable partners or approach banks for loans at this time.

But who says Donnie is such a businessman!

"Tell those homeowners that we'll pay for their houses in installments, plus a bit of interest. If they don't agree... then ban those properties from conducting any business."

A property that cannot generate any profit is essentially an empty shell.

Those people have basically taken loans on their properties, and the interest rates during this period were much higher than in later times.

If they lose the rental income from leasing houses, according to the American spending habit of living paycheck to paycheck, it will immediately make them defendants against the bank. .net

So Donnie's method, although unscrupulous to the homeowners, at least spared them from becoming defendants.

The current Donnie had the power to ensure their properties wouldn't be rented out at all!

John broke into a smile upon hearing Donnie's method, saying, "Right, how come I didn't think of that!"

Donnie laughed and said, "And rest assured, soon we will have a large amount of capital coming in!"

John's smile brightened, "Could there be someone like Ponzi showing up again?"

Donnie gave a wry smile, "How could a person like Ponzi just appear out of nowhere?"

Undoubtedly, people playing Ponzi schemes can be found in any era, but historically speaking, they are rare in any specific time, especially those with Ponzi's level of influence.

"Then what's the solution?" John was straightforward; since he couldn't figure out Donnie's intentions, he simply asked.

"Which industry is the most profitable in Atlantic City?" Donnie still wanted to stimulate John's thinking.

"Gambling!" John said unreservedly.

Though the bars and boarding houses in Atlantic City also did good business and made money, the real moneymaker was still gambling!

Donnie nodded, "Right, it's gambling, but the current options for gambling in Atlantic City are limited to casino gambling, lottery numbers, and the occasional horse racing!"

Official lotteries didn't exist in America yet; there were only various illegal lotteries, and Atlantic City's numbers game had evolved into an early form of modern lottery.

"Don't mention the numbers game!" John said angrily.

Donnie looked helplessly at John, who was fond of playing the numbers game but had never won, even though Donnie had told him that the final results could be manipulated. Nevertheless, John always believed he might be the lucky one.

"But in reality, there are lots of things in the world to bet on, like right now, I can bet with you about what time you got up this morning!"

John laughed heartily, saying, "I get it, you want to let Atlantic City people bet every day on what time I get up, right?"

"Get lost!"

Donnie shouted angrily.

John turned away grumpily, "If it's not, then it's not. I am your brother, how can you treat me like this?"

"Come back!" Donnie said weakly.

John immediately replied cheerfully, "Are you going to apologize to me?"

Donnie gave up struggling and said, "The most exciting event in Atlantic City for the next few months will be the Miss America election. Once the event officially starts, you should find a casino in the West District that seemingly has no connection with us on the surface and open a betting pool."