Romanian Real Estate market – Spring 2009

“Nothing lasts forever, even cold November rain”

It is not night, but the sky is grey, dark. The rain is heavy, in the beginning you didn’t pay too much attention to it, but now you are probably surprised by its duration and strength. No matter what car you drive, this environment stresses you, makes you feel uncomfortable, insecure. You are afraid to stop, you search for the right place, driving for hours. Even when you get tired, you keep on, decided not to stop until you will find a place inspiring you trust, so as to stop, relax and refresh yourself. You hear on the radio that the rain is so heavy all around the world, there is not any chance for you to escape…
Now let me replace a couple of words. Let us assume that the car is the amount you have available, this trip is the investment you want to make, the driving is your thoughts, heavy rain is the economic environment, the world crisis we all live in. The radio can be the media, trying to scare you as much as possible. Although you have the money, you don’t proceed in an investment; you are skeptical, careful, full of worries and thoughts.
While driving under these circumstances, you see many offers, proposals and requests. You notice hitchhikers, some of them pretty girls. You choose to avoid small dark parking lots, being afraid of a potential thief there. Filthy motels with very few lights and a half destroyed sign, are out of the question. You are surprised to see wet guys carrying a banner, proposing to change direction “make a detour, avoid the rain NOW”. You see also some small, clean places, inspiring you trust, although not fabulous. And from time to time, you see areas with bright lights at their big parking, gas stations and restaurants, everything you really ask for, but maybe you will bypass them, waiting to find a better, bigger complex later on.
Thinking if and where to invest, you see offers coming from strange people, others “packed” with the presence of a beautiful lady (“ready for all”). You will be proposed to invest in obviously wrong areas, or you will meet companies which will present themselves as the cheapest, but they don’t inspire trust. A good offer may come even from someone who is not “that fancy”. You may also come up with a big opportunity, but there are chances that you will ignore it, “waiting for a better one to come”…
Of course you have the chance not to stop anywhere. But you will end up without gas, or you will just finish your drive exhausted (at least), swearing because you didn’t stop earlier at either those small clean places, or the bigger complexes. You can also avoid investing for some years, but probably then you will be upset for losing the big opportunities that existed during the difficult period.
You used to complain that you “came late in Romania, all the opportunities are gone by now”. Now the times are difficult and you may be stressed by all the voices you hear. But don’t let them influence you, they will not compensate you if you will be out of the game again. If you have available sources to invest, I suggest to you to search for someone to trust, a person who will respect you, treat you good, consult you honestly and help you find what you really want: A real value, an opportunity. Not the cheapest one! The best for your investment strategy, so as to secure your success in the future.
The market will continue going down in 2009. But from time to time, a good opportunity will come up. I suggest not to bypass it, waiting for the next one. The serious investors have a 3 – 5 years horizon for their investments and they have already started asking us for offers. Maybe they will not find what they want today, but sooner or later they will.
Most probably in two years the bad periods “with heavy rain” will shift again to “clear skies”. “Nothing lasts forever, even cold November rain”. The ones, who remember these old lyrics, will be probably the ones that we will take our hats to in the near future…