One man spoke from a corner office on Wall Street in the formal language of investment theory:
“It’s far better to buy a wonderful business at a fair price than a fair business at a wonderful price.”
— Charlie Munger
The other spoke from the dusty front lines of South Korea’s development boom in the plain language of a seasoned builder:
“Chairman, if you want to sell it for a high price someday, you have to be willing to buy it at a high price today. Cheap properties are usually cheap for a reason.”
— President, Subsidiary Construction Company
Decades after that boardroom meeting, when I first came across Munger’s words, I didn’t think about New York hedge funds. I was taken straight back to a high-stakes decision in Daejeon—and the realization that both men were pointing to the exact same truth.
Looking Beyond Today’s Price
Back then, I was responsible for acquiring regional office sites for one of South Korea’s fastest-growing educational companies. My job took me across the country—Busan, Daegu, Gwangju, Daejeon—scouting dozens of locations to find spaces capable of supporting our rapid expansion. In Busan alone, I made nearly ten trips to inspect 30 to 40 candidate properties.
Over time, I developed a personal guiding principle: When buying land, look first at the day you will eventually sell it.
Nobody taught me that rule; it simply felt like the only logical way to evaluate a long-term asset. Instead of asking whether a plot looked affordable today, I tried to picture what the surrounding district would look like ten or twenty years down the road.
That mindset led me straight to one specific plot in Daejeon.
An Expensive Lot in Dunsan-dong
At the time, our company needed a versatile hub to host a new branch office, educational facilities, and child-care space for our teachers.
I found the ideal location in Dunsan-dong, a newly rising central district in Western Daejeon. Apartment complexes were shooting up in every direction, and major capital was quietly pouring in. The site sat right on the main avenue, just one block from what would become the premier Galleria Department Store. To give a sense of the momentum, the broker introduced the site by pointing out that the lot right next door was owned by Chan Ho Park, Korea’s legendary Major League Baseball pitcher.
It was a 300-pyeong lot (roughly 10,000 square feet / 1,000 square meters)—exactly what we needed.
“This is the spot,” I thought. But there was a major catch: the price.
At roughly 10 million KRW per pyeong—totaling around 3 billion KRW—it was significantly more expensive than any other candidate site on our list.
“Great Locations Never Feel Cheap”
I returned to headquarters determined to secure the land. Prime properties rarely wait for slow corporate bureaucracy, and I knew that if we took the usual two to three weeks for a formal investment review committee, another buyer would snap it up.
Seeing my urgency, our CEO suggested a shortcut: prepare a one-page summary and seek verbal authorization directly from the Chairman.
When we presented the proposal, the Chairman listened silently, reviewed the figures, and voiced the objection I had feared:
“Isn’t it too expensive?”
Heavy silence fell over the room.
That was when the president of our construction subsidiary—a man who had spent his career evaluating real estate from the ground up—stepped in and spoke with quiet conviction:
“Chairman, great locations never feel cheap. If you want to sell it for a high price someday, you have to buy it at a high price today. Cheap things are usually cheap for a reason.”
The mood in the room shifted instantly. The Chairman realized that saving money on an awkward plot in the suburbs was a false economy, whereas securing prime location set the baseline for the company’s long-term enterprise value.
We received verbal approval on the spot. I headed straight back to Daejeon and signed the preliminary contract before the sun went down.
Munger’s Truth, Proven on the Ground
Decades have passed since that afternoon. Today, Dunsan-dong stands as the undisputed commercial heart of Daejeon. While nearby older districts have struggled with commercial vacancies, our 300-pyeong site has held its commanding presence, with main-street land values soaring nearly tenfold to around 100 million KRW per pyeong.
Looking back at Munger’s famous maxim, I realize he wasn’t introducing a brand-new concept. Long before I opened an investment book, I had already seen that principle play out in a Korean boardroom.
Real asset management isn’t about pinching pennies on the purchase price. It comes down to the vision to spot fundamental quality before the market fully catches on—and the courage to pay up for it when you do.