Comedian Heo Gyeong-hwan. [Yonhap]
Comedian Heo Gyeong-hwan. [Yonhap]

Comedian Heo Gyeong-hwan has shared the story of how he bought a home against everyone's advice — only to see its value surge and allow him to move somewhere better.

On Tuesday, Heo appeared on the YouTube channel "Aldalddalhan Chamgyeon" and recounted the episode.

"I really wanted to buy a house. Back then, getting a loan was easy. So I did not go through anyone — I was worried about being scammed," he said, explaining his decision.

"I just wandered around real estate agencies in the neighborhood where I wanted to live and walked into one where the owner looked trustworthy. I told him how much I had and that I wanted to buy a place," Heo said. "The older guys around me said, 'Why did you buy that?' and called me an idiot. I just told them, 'I don't know, I just wanted a home of my own.' And that house shot up in value within two or three years."

"I ended up moving to Geumho-dong and Oksu-dong. It was not real estate speculation — it was my home. That is why it worked out," he said. "The disappointment you feel when you act on other people's advice and it goes wrong is indescribable."

Fellow guest Muzy said, "Whether it's work or money, you can lose and end up in the red because of risk — but on the flip side, risk is necessary if you want to succeed."

Heo said his favorite four-character idiom was "hwaibudong" — meaning to stay on good terms with others while holding firm to your own convictions, rather than simply going along with the crowd. "That is how you live without regrets. When you follow others and fail, you just keep sinking lower and lower," he said.


choigo@heraldcorp.com