1st of December 2005: When I lost the… “chance of my life”

Part 7

• to read part 1, click here
• to read part 2, click here
• to read part 3, click here
• to read part 4, click here
• to read part 5, click here
• to read part 6, click here

 The "Metropolitan Bucharest" project, intravillant and extravillant issues
      I can not recall it very clear, if the project was already announced, or if there were just pieces of it known by that time. I think it was public. I refer to the project of "Metropolitan Bucharest". There was a map released, with several villages (and agricultural lands) around the city, which were supposed to form the "Bucharest of 2050". Adding 10 – 15 kilometers to each direction, the city was supposed to reach a diameter of 50 km from north to west and about 45 from east to west. I still have this map… it was also marking the population density factor and several factors, like utilities available etc. At that time, the "catch" was the following: "Buy lands around the city, in the next years the Municipality will provide the utilities and you will be able to build. Also, new public roads will be constructed and a new, brighter day will rise for all people".
      This had come just few months after the new law of July 2005, which gave the right to people to convert their extravillant terrains into intravillant. I had nothing against it, actually i admit  that myself and an endless number of my clients had very big profits out of this. But soon this led to a wrong approach of business: People focused only on the status of the land, not on the utilities. Very few were taking into consideration that a major agricultural area which has become intravillant is still not buildable, unless utilities (worth millions) are constructed until the borders of the property. But… "who cares, Ilia? Sell now and let the next worry, if he doesn't also sell to the next one too", as a collaborating agent had proposed to me…

A great idea transformed the market into an aggressive opportunistic one…
      (I can not present myself as "innocent" here, I also invested and proposed investments like these, but I never bought or participated in a transaction with something very far from utilities and not located on a very important location too. For me this was the key issue for the future of an investment.
      So… a great idea and perception for the years to come… appeared in the market. And in the place of "now, not even tomorrow"… people did not take into consideration that it takes decades to really develop a city… they were talking and behaving as if all issues were arranged already…)
      The combination of these two news, "Metropolitan Bucharest" plan and the change of extravillant status, completely shifted the market, directing it to the highest level of opportunism. Lands were changing prices every day, people were earning double or triple their investment in few weeks or months, everyone had entered in this "rally". This was why we could not find anymore lands with prices under 1 euro / sq.m. We could not? Well, these two ladies were ready to present to me "a fantastic opportunity, the biggest chance of your life so as to be rich".

The "chance of my life" – a stylish, happy company departs to North…
      I can not say that I am dressed good or bad. It is a matter of taste. I also respect all the outfits that someone may choose. But this was beyond my limits… One of the two ladies appeared that cold sunny morning wearing a… robe de chambre, instead of coat. Something colorful, with endless small boxes, approximately 10 X 10 centimeters each. These boxes had many different colors, red, blue, purple, green, black, pink, creating all together a very "interesting" stylistic approach. Needless to mention that this "masterpiece" had a huge brand sticked somewhere on. She was so proud wearing it, so I did not bother myself hurting her by commenting.
      We met at the parking of McDonalds, at Calea Buzesti, very close to Piata Victoriei. "Let us go by our car" they proposed after we had a short coffee discussion inside. "No, we go by mine, I insisted". Just in case, I had with me a colleague of mine too, ready to help in translation, if necessary. "Will you finally tell me where do we head to, so as to know where this super chance awaits me? You always tell me the area, but not exactly the location". "Not a super chance, the chance of your life, mister". They agreed to reveal our destination. I opened the "Map of future Metropolitan Bucharest" and found it there. It was located at the limits of the new "Metropolitan" capital, belonging today to another prefecture, but it was announced that it would be connected to Bucharest too. "The price will be less even less than 0,5 euro / sq.m. but you must hurry, the opportunity is big and already in the area there are many people who sell with 2-3 euro / sq.m. Next year it will be for sure 10 – 15 and in 2007 people will ask 25 – 30".
      (Yeah, "for sure" I thought). "How can you be so sure about this? Do you sign a contract for this prediction?" "Ofcourse not, but it is for sure, didn't you hear … (name of journalist) last night? The prices will triple in the next 3 years". They were so nice, "shinning" from happiness I could say… I was smiling too, but my colleague was not. "Not because you ruin my free day, mister. But because I don't trust them". "And who said that I trust them myself?"
      So, a Dacia Logan having four passengers was moving out of Bucharest, in a very good atmosphere…

(to be continued)