Overview
This guide will help you get the ‘Nerd’ Achievement with a minimum of fuss or expense at ANY point during the game. Multiple methods are included and work with all current DLC packs. Last major update 04/2021. Added the Multiple Savefile method
Introduction
Selling to Chang Choi is not the easiest thing to do, especially with a certain Donald Trump Dolan Trusk’s appetite for the same sort of property. The game has been updated a few times since this guide was initially written, but Chang seems to remain ever the discerning buyer.
If you do not have any of the houses listed in the guide, please go directly to the Alternative Savefile method. This guide is here to help you sell to the elusive Mr. Choi and gain that ‘Nerd’ Achievement once and for all!
Abandoned House Method
Buy the “Abandoned House”.
- Clear all boxes / rubbish from house.
- Kill the cockroach infestation.
- Demolish all internal walls that the game allows you to (some bathroom walls will remain).
Doing this prior to cleaning means you have less cleaning to do. - Sell all fittings and furnishings in the house EXCEPT the Green Mantis Bed (you do not need to sell light fixtures or external doors).
- Clean all external & internal walls, floors & ceiling (windows do not require cleaning).
Please note you do not need to purchase ANY of the fixtures that the minimap shows in red (radiators, etc).
1x Corner Desk – place near the Green Mantis Bed
1 x Venne Horizontal Bookcase – place near the bed
1 x Bookcase Lim – place near the bed
1 x Shaped Foam for Children Cube
1 x Foam Bridge Mold for Children
IMPORTANT – Upon attempting this, Chang was not ALWAYS at the top of my buyer’s list when I began the auction but he purchased the house nevertheless.
In this screenshot, he happened to be at the top of the list, but as you can see, the house is still in pretty rough shape.
Hopefully if you’ve followed the directions correctly, you get the following screen! ~
Burned House Method
This method is a lot slower than using the Abandoned House and is only suggested if for some reason you’re particularly attached to the Abandoned House. It is extremely difficult to clear all of the dirt / ash away and only suggested if you have the “See All Dirt on Minimap” perk. Using the Burned House was suggested by senjiscorum12.
As you can see from the minimap, there is a lot of dirt and ash to clean up.
Buy the “Burned House”.
- Clear all boxes / rubbish from house.
- Demolish all internal walls that the game allows you to (some bathroom walls will remain).
Doing this prior to cleaning means you have less cleaning to do. - Dispose of all outlets that have fallen to the floor due to demolition.
- Sell all fittings and furnishings in the house EXCEPT the Burned Mantis Bed (you do not need to sell light fixtures or external doors).
- Clean all external & internal walls, floors & ceiling (windows do not require cleaning). Be very thorough with this, you will sometimes find detritus or dirt far off in the yard.
You can see some sneaky hidden dirt here in the middle of the yard.
Please note you do not need to purchase ANY of the fixtures that the minimap shows in red (radiators, etc).
1x Corner Desk – place near the Burned Mantis Bed
1 x Venne Horizontal Bookcase – place near the bed
1 x Bookcase Lim – place near the bed
1 x Shaped Foam for Children Cube
1 x Foam Bridge Mold for Children
IMPORTANT – Upon attempting this, Chang was not ALWAYS at the top of my buyer’s list when I began the auction but he purchased the house nevertheless.
As you can see in this screenshot, he is actually the lowest. He did win the auction nevertheless, as seen here:
Hopefully if you’ve followed the directions correctly, you get the following screen! ~
Camping Bungalow Method
Using the Camping Bungalow was suggested by Vimintic.
Buy the “Camping Bungalow”.
- Clear all boxes / rubbish from house.
- Demolish all internal walls that the game allows you to, selling fixtures as needed.
Doing this prior to cleaning means you have less cleaning to do. - Sell all fittings and furnishings in the house EXCEPT the bed (you do not need to sell light fixtures or external doors).
- Clean all external & internal walls, floors & ceiling (windows do not require cleaning).
Please note you do not need to purchase ANY of the fixtures that the minimap shows in red (radiators, etc).
1 x Corner Desk – place near the bed
1 x Venne Horizontal Bookcase – place near the bed
1 x Bookcase Lim – place near the bed
1 x Shaped Foam for Children Cube
1 x Foam Bridge Mold for Children
IMPORTANT – Upon attempting this, Chang was not ALWAYS at the top of my buyer’s list when I began the auction but he purchased the house nevertheless.
In this screenshot, he happened to be at the top of the list, but as you can see, the house is still in pretty rough shape.
Hopefully if you’ve followed the directions correctly, you get the following screen! ~
Multiple Savefile Method
Since House Flipper has released the option to play over multiple savefiles, this is the easiest method if you do not have any of the houses listed in the guide.
I have listed the exact method I used without skipping anything in order to guarantee success, but you may be able to skip adding certain items or choose different skill points. If something else works for you, please let me know!
Start a new profile.
- Clear garbage/boxes away from the door on First Office
Complete all of the jobs listed below to 100%.
- Complete job for Sara Lewis – “Ex-boyfriend stole the radiator from my house”
CLEANING POINT: Good Mop - Complete job for Caroline Smith – “Cleaning the garage”
CLEANING POINT: 25% Faster Cleaning - Complete job for Amanda Johnson – “Amaranth Walls”
Buy 1 large Amaranth paint can to start – it takes 1 large can + part of 1 small can to paint the kitchen – you do not have to paint both colours in order to complete the job. Remember: Sell the second paint can before you complete the job.
HANDYMAN POINT: 20% Faster Mounting
NEGOTIATION POINT: 10% Extra Payment for the Job
PAINTING POINT: You won’t waste paint on an already painted wall
PAINTING POINT: Paint 2 walls at the same time - Complete job for Jack Grahan – “Radiators.”
HANDYMAN POINT: 50% Faster Mounting
NEGOTIATION POINT: 25% Extra Payment for the Job - Complete job: Matt Marlow: “Baby on the Way”
1 large paint can is sufficient to paint the baby’s room
- Buy CAMPING BUNGALOW and go to it
- Move office here
- Return to FIRST OFFICE
- Clear all boxes & rubbish from the house
- Sell everything EXCEPT for the bed and external door
I sold all of the fixtures including lights, the internal door, installations and vents simply for the extra money. - Clean all internal and external walls
CLEANING POINT: Ultra Hyper Mop 2018
Please note you do not need to purchase ANY of the fixtures that the minimap shows in red (radiators, etc).
1 x Pets Wooden Desk place near the bed
2 x Nico light-coloured bookcase with doors place near the bed
1 x Children’s pool Underwater Secrets
1 x Children’s stool
1 x Shaped Foam for Children Cube
1 x Foam Bridge Mold for Children
1 x Explorator children’s tent
IMPORTANT – Upon attempting this, Chang was not ALWAYS at the top of my buyer’s list when I began the auction but he purchased the house nevertheless. He happened to be at the top of the list here but you know how it goes.
As you can see here, Chang has pretty low expectations – he just wanted a place to sleep.
Frequently Asked Questions
I’ve sold all of the houses listed here! What should I do?
You now have two options!
- use the Alternative Savefile method
- wait until you’ve sold all of the houses in-game at least once. You get the option to purchase the houses again!
You can get the achievement at that point or you can try to get the achievement with a different house that is not listed here. (If you do manage to get the achievement with a different house on the same savefile, let us know!)
Your guide didn’t work for me. What should I do?
- Check the troubleshooting steps further on in the guide. ↓↓↓
- See who is beating Chang Choi out + add/ subtract items based on their likes and dislikes.
(If it’s Dolan Trusk, many people in the comments have added different options for toys that work to scare him off). - Try with a different property. Try until all of the properties listed here have been attempted.
- Level up your cleaning/demolition skills (if applicable) and try these steps again.
- DM me. I haven’t had anyone make it this far without getting the achievement. We will figure it out and add it to the guide!
Troubleshooting
Having trouble getting the achievement? Check the following things out:
- HOUSE FULLY CLEAN: Chang likes a clean house, have you removed all dirt internally & externally? These houses are notorious for having dirt just under the eaves.
I recommend having the feature that shows all dirt on the minimap & having the maximum upgrade for your mop. - NO LOO FOR YOU: Dolan Trusk does not like bathrooms! Make sure that you’ve removed all of the recommended furnishings and fixtures in the house (including bathtubs, sinks, toilets, etc). Miyuuchelle also suggested wrecking part of the bathroom wall in the Burned House to move Chang to the top.
- BED CLOSE TO BOOKSHELVES & DESK: Is the bed close enough to the bookshelves & desk? Chang should say something like “Studying and sleeping are very important!” if you trigger this requirement*.
- CORRECT TOYS: Certain toys do not seem to affect Dolan Trusk no matter how many you add – sticking to the ones listed here seems to work well.
- ADD A BUNNY/CUBE: If you have followed all of the instructions and Dolan Trusk still wins the auction, try placing a Bunny in the house (Suggested by azraeldragonfyre) or more cubes (SelfAwareTsundere had this work for them in the abandoned house.)
- STANDING ROOM ONLY: Make sure you’ve deleted all chairs! As Leapordnight suggested: “DO NOT GIVE HIM A DESK CHAIR. For whatever reason, Dolan Trump loves nothing more than a chair. Chang, on the other hand, doesn’t mind standing.”
- ANGER THE DON: Make sure that you get a negative reaction from Dolan Trusk about the toys placed in the home before going to auction. If you haven’t had a negative reaction, add more toys.
- MIX IT UP: Try adding the furniture slowly or in a different order than the one listed above. For some reason this seems to work when certain buyers stubbornly cling to the top of the buying list. If you add anything extra and have success after failure with this guide, please leave a comment with what you did differently (including the house that you used to get the achievement).
* This may not always be the case but it’s an easy way to tell you’re on the right track if it does show up.
Thank You!
This is the first guide I’ve written, so I hope it is clear enough to follow. There are plenty of other wonderful guides for the rest of the achievements but Chang was elusive so I wrote one just for him.
If you have an alternative method or a suggestion that you’d like to see added to the guide, please leave a detailed comment below. I’m happy to add to the guide & credit any contributors.
If the guide worked for you: Please leave a comment or thumbs-up, I’m grateful for your feedback!
If the guide didn’t work for you: Check out the FAQ and troubleshooting sections. If it does work after an amendment, please leave a detailed comment so I can update the troubleshooting section. 🙂