Well, I have to admit that I felt like I was away for years from Romania. In Cannes I have totally forgotten everything about here, as I had focused on my main target. Thank God, the situation remains exactly the same, same problems, same sweet people doing the same sweet things (others may use a different way to describe these “sweet things”). The news from USA is really bad, but from the other side they are also full of messages and lessons for whoever wants to hear. And here in this country, it is not bad at all sometimes to try and learn from what happens around. What do I mean? Well, many [...]
Lessons from MIPIM (regarding Romania)
• The “passion for Romania” is still very strong. Too many investors interested, too many projects “on the way”, too many nice ideas still coming up. The only difference comparing to the past is that the investors nowadays are more conservative, they have heard many stories about the country and they will move only when something really good comes up to their attention. • The companies which are already players in the market are very aggressive and they just ask to find the right property in a normal price. They simply don’t pay what each crazy person may ask, but they proceed [...]
Back from Cannes… part 1
Well I have to admit I did not manage to keep my promise to you and provide you updates about Cannes and MIPIM exhibition. Waking up at 06.30 in daily basis, working hard all day with endless meetings in my company’s stand and many things to do after, I didn’t manage to let you know in daily basis what amazing things happened there… In this moment, exactly now that I am writing these lines, I want to tell you that I really feel very privileged. I traveled from Nice next to a really nice gentleman, German doctor from Leipzig, who is 60, looks like 45 and knows… Greek language! Now I am at [...]
Lessons from MIPIM (in General)
• With oil in 105 dollars and the experts to predict for the upcoming years prices up to 150 – 200 dollars, there is no turning back in world real estate market: The Arabs and the Russians together with the Ukranians (alphabetical order) will continue to capture larger and larger market shares in the world market. Their projects become more and more impressive as the years are passing, the companies who dominate these markets are really huge, their ideas are innovative and this pace is expected to continue for some more years, until the “lust” for properties in these countries will cease. • The [...]
Rainy Cannes – Sunny Hearts
The lady of Lufthansa in Bucharest airport was pretty rude, although I am client of the company since she was in the high school. Did I care? No… The old lady next to me on the plane to Düsseldorf was snoring non stop and the plane was quite small. Did I care? Not at all, I got the chance to read without stress Financial Times, The Guardian and other newspapers… We arrived in Düsseldorf really late and I just managed to enter in the bus, transferring me to the plane. I found my brother Greg (who was coming from Thessaloniki) in the plane, after we were worried for some minutes. Did [...]
Answering your questions
“Why do I find only very big prices inside Bucharest? Why everyone is crazy?” Lazlo K., Budapest – Isn’t normal? What do you expect? When so many people were searching for the same type of properties the previous years (central properties in Bucharest, so as to feel safe), almost everything was sold. What is left today? Properties with legal problems, small openings, or extremely big prices (and there are also some owners who try to sell a land with legal problems in the price of the one which has clear documents. Their approach is “I am not stupid to let him make money on my back. One [...]
Good morning from Athens: “Is the interest for Romania strong?”
After travelling in the night by train, I am today here in Athens. As I usually do, I came here for just some 14 hours. I will have… 11 meetings, all of them in the center of the city (Syntagma – Constitution Square) and all for one reason: Romania. Many times I hear the question about the interest of the people for Bucharest and Romania and if this remains strong. Well… there are around 200 meetings waiting me, in Romania, Greece, Italy, Germany, England etc, and I also receive so many emails from all over the world. I see in people’s eyes the question “is it too late?”, but after I [...]
Q: How did 2012 start for the residential market in Iasi?
Dan Mihoci: The real estate market is headed towards normalcy, without “sentimental” pretentions of the seller or unfounded requests from buyers with an evident need for consultancy, for both buyers and sellers. Despite the bad weather and the economic and political instability, the real estate market is an interesting chapter for everyone.
Q: In 2011, the year started with a high level of interest but few transactions. How did the market evolve ... 
Bear Stearns case: A lesson for many Romanians
As I insist, Romania is not at any danger. This is because the banking system is very well protected and still it is not so influent in the real economy, capturing just a small part (the loans comparing to Romania’s GDP are 5 times lower than the European average). On the other hand, the news about Bear Stearns bank was really shocking. JP Morgan bought it by paying just 2 dollars / stock, while just 6 months ago the price of the stock was 173! This shows that many times in business even the ones who are considered as really strong (and we talk about the fifth biggest investment bank in USA) [...]