My trips in autumn…

(Let’s see what others believe for Romania…)

 
      Hello from Timisoara (or Cluj, depends on when you read these lines!). Last evening I attended a very interesting party with “Cuban’ theme, organized by the major Austrian law firm Wolf Theiss. I didn’t really expect it to be so good. Appropriate finger food, very nice music and (the most important) very relaxing atmosphere and environment. The party’s location, the 13^th floor’s terrace of “Generali” office building (Calea Buzesti – Gheorghe Polizu intersection) was a wise choice, allowing to everyone to enjoy the splendid view of Bucharest from the top. (Thank you Ciprian, for inviting me…)
       I didn’t stay too much there, I guess I was one of the first ones who left, just when people around me starting dancing salsa etc. My… dancer’s past didn’t ring to me any bell this time, as I wanted to be ready for today’s two flights. But before leaving, between interesting discussions with some of the opinion and market leaders of Bucharest today, I “stole” 5 minutes for myself. You know… usually we work non stop, filling our day with all sorts of activities, and we don’t really save some time to think about important decisions. So, between discussions for the market, potential new collaborations and possibilities for introductions, I stood aside, looking at Bucharest from above….

Lots of trips during autumn…
       There, at 40 meters height, my mind traveled to the programme I have for autumn… I thought about sharing it with you, in case we may meet up in one of the destinations… It is quite heavy, as I want to be very active, to search and take advantage of all opportunities and to know (from the market makers and the international opinion leaders) what to expect for Europe and Romania throughout the next years…

London, Milan and Athens for the Fund…
       Then it is London, Milan and Athens, where I will present properties and projects to International Investors. I have prepared a portfolio of very good opportunities in Romania, most of them in the Commercial – Retail segment, but some good acquisitions too. This will also be the second phase of my work for the small Real Estate Fund I try to create, with AAA developments and properties having a yield of 10,5 – 12% (and a Return of Investment about 25% or more).

At EXPO REAL in October
        In the beginning of October my company MORE Real Estate Services will have a stand at EXPO REAL, Munich. This is a very important Commercial Exhibition, the no. 1 for German speaking countries. It is the third consecutive year that we will be there with a stand, most probably one of the very few brokerage companies in Romania and the Balkans which do so. We will be there sharing the stand with another major Romanian company (Proiect Bucuresti), but for this we will talk more another time…
        (I proposed to some more Romanian companies to join us and go all together with one stand. I wonder if they will accept my proposal or not… Each of us comes from a different market segment, so no competition between us. It would be good to join our forces, save costs and present a better image for Romania. But ofcourse I can not force anyone to accept a proposal like this. We will see…)

GRI and Mapic in November
        November is a month which is marked by MAPIC. The no.1 Retail and Commercial Exhibition is held at Cannes and all the top players, developers, retailers, consultants will be there. I will be there too, having a more concrete plan, better organization and more clear targets than last year. Usually MAPIC gives to people the direction of following 12 months, showing to them what is expected to happen in the year to come. In 2008, either we liked the reality or not, the message was clear: Prices will go down, the market will be very weak, Eastern Europe will suffer. I will be curious to receive and understand this year’s message too…
        Some weeks before I will fly to Warsaw, to participate at GRI SEE (Global Real Estate Institute, South Eastern Europe Edition). One very important networking event, which allows you to meet the decision makers of almost all the major companies in this part of Europe. Last year in Bucharest I learned a lot, plus I met people with who I started business with. The discussions there are unofficial, no panels, not even… tables! Just people sitting on chairs, exchanging opinions and saying difficult truths, which usually they never say in public.

More to learn, more to share…
        So, if everything will be ok, I am expecting to learn a lot in the upcoming period. Sometimes the best way to learn about a country, is to hear people who don’t live there, who are more objective and they have a wider overview, not influenced by the daily problems we live in. So, I hope that in the following 100 days I will be able to learn more, to confirm or revise my predictions for the year to come, to seal new deals and meet more people with added value. As you can guess, a big part of all these will be presented to you too, here in this blog.
         And if we see each other in one of all these events… don’t hesitate to say “hi”!