Yesterday, the city's first lottery-based self-owned commodity housing project, Jinyu Huixingyuan, began home selection. The No. 1 winner, Wang Axing (right), and his wife chose a three-bedroom unit in Building 1.

At 7:24 a.m. yesterday, Yue Xiaofei, wearing a dress, tried to push open the closed glass door of the Olympic Tennis Center and greeted the security guard inside: "We're here to select a home. My husband is Wang Axing."

"They are the first winning family!" Although everyone present was already a lucky winner, exclamations still arose from the crowd.

Starting yesterday, the city launched the home selection process for its first batch of self-owned housing, with 1,882 units to be chosen by winners. Beginning at 9 a.m., the first winner, Wang Axing, took only 3 minutes to select a three-bedroom unit. Of the 630 households notified to attend yesterday, all three-bedroom units in the Jinyu Huixingyuan project were booked.

Careful Selection of the Most Satisfactory Home

At 7:20 a.m., the circular corridor inside the tennis center had been cleaned thoroughly. The VIP room, usually reserved for China Open VIP members, was open, and a display board tens of meters long showcased various details of the first self-owned housing project.

"Mark the location of the high-voltage lines more clearly," said project manager Chen Yuqian, making a final inspection of the entire process.

At 8:40 a.m., the first batch of winning families was led into the pre-selection area. Here they would review various documents and blueprints of Jinyu Huixingyuan again, and developer staff would then confirm the buyers' identification on site. As soon as Wang Axing stepped into the pre-selection area, he was surrounded by reporters who had been waiting.

At that moment, his wife, Yue Xiaofei, quietly found Chen Yuqian: "I heard that Building 6 has the best views, and that units with north-south-east exposure are better than north-south-west, is that true?"

Yue Xiaofei is the "boss" at home. From online application to following the lottery results, she handled everything from start to finish. In recent days, to choose a suitable home, almost all relatives had offered advice. In the end, the couple wanted to choose a three-bedroom unit in Building 1 with north-south-west exposure.

As more and more selectors gathered to consult, Chen Yuqian stepped over the barrier to the display board and answered: "In front of Building 1 is an existing 6-story old building, while the underground area around Building 6 is a garage..."

How are underground parking spaces rented? What does fire water tank mean? Hearing others' questions one after another, Yue Xiaofei wavered.

"I heard Building 6 is better," Yue Xiaofei said as Wang Axing finally escaped the media encirclement.

"We've been choosing for so long, let's just go with this," Wang Axing said.

At 9 a.m., the couple filled out the confirmation form and entered the next stage: home selection.

In the next circular corridor, there was also a row of display boards. At the bottom of the boards were grids representing each unit, with small notes pinned to them. Wang Axing selected a home and signed the note, followed by another round of signature confirmations. The couple planned to use a combined loan, with a down payment of 604,200 yuan.

Those Who Forgo Selection Can Participate in Other Project Lotteries

"How come the three-bedroom units are being snapped up so fast?" At 2 p.m., Aunt Wang, who arrived at the self-owned housing selection site earlier than scheduled, found that almost all three-bedroom units were gone.

Within 35 minutes of the start of selection, 15 three-bedroom units in Building 6 had been chosen. At that time, 4 of the top 10 families in the lottery were late, but according to the subsequent replacement principle, this did not delay other families' selections.

Last night, the developer said that all three-bedroom units in the project had been selected, and that today and tomorrow, selectors could only choose two-bedroom and one-bedroom units.

Some netizens, based on the on-site sales control table, estimated that about 100 of the 630 households notified that day had not arrived or had not selected a home. The developer stated that according to the selection rules, only those who sign to forgo selection on site or who fail to arrive by the deadline can be considered as having given up.

The reporter learned that since the list of winning families was released on Monday, the developer had notified winners multiple times by phone and text message. As of Wednesday, those who had not responded by phone or text were sent another EMS express notice indicating the selection time. If they still did not appear by the evening of the 30th, they would be deemed to have given up. Those who give up can participate in lotteries for other self-owned housing projects in the future.