This article was published on 13.01.2010 I think I have already told you that I have a friend who is a real “scanner”, crosschecking the market in daily basis, finding opportunities, comparing prices throughout the months etc. So, searching for another friend of mine, she sent to me several super offers for apartments to rent in ultracentral areas, at Piata Victoriei, Dorobanti etc. All the offers were very attractive, about 250 – 350 euro / month for a renovated furnished studio in these areas. (I had informed you since last year that, due to “Prima Casa”, the prices in top areas [...]
[relevant-to-adsense]“If he will die before me, I will attend his funeral, I can even have a speech”
(All time classic, 14.10.2010) “The best offers of the market” “MISTER ILIAS, I have for you the best offers of the market”. “Good, it is the first time I hear this, let me see what you got”. “This is a property in the centre of Bucharest (he says all the details) and I have it for the price of 6,5 million euro, owner’s price always”. “But the real one is not even half”. “It is not my fault, mister, this is what the owner wants”. “Ok, I understand his problem. But how can I propose to my clients a price like this, I don’t have stupid investors, I was never lucky and intelligent enough to [...]
[relevant-to-adsense]Hiring people (in Real Estate):Does it remain a “Mission Impossible”?
This article was published on 14.04.2010 Things have not changed a lot I can not claim that I noticed things changing a lot in the field of hiring personnel during the first quarter of 2010. I see so many people who don’t know (sometimes not even the basics) and they want to be hired asking so much, as if they knew. Some others know but they don’t seem determined to work, they would rather prefer to find a peaceful job, behind a laptop, with a good salary (“and we see what the future brings us”). I also saw several candidates who simply don’t respect their word. Either they did not appear at all, [...]
[relevant-to-adsense]“The market is going up, haven’t you noticed?”
This article was published on 29.07.2010 Real Estate summer stories July is about to expire soon and August is not expected to be a very “active” month for deals and transactions (ah… where are the good years of 2004 – 2007, when we had our best periods during summers…) More or less, we have read “the script” of this summer’s market. Things have remained unchanged. Prices are not the only ones having a downwards trend. The same happens with people’s mood, income and expectations for the future. this article was published on 29.07.2010 Let me share with you some of my experiences so far, [...]
[relevant-to-adsense]Bucharest in 1909:The city, the streets, people, habits
Filed Under: Uncategorized on Dec 05, 2010 @ 10:47 AM
Part 2 To read part 1, please press here. Can you believe that 100 years ago shoes and boots were a luxury which not every citizen living in Bucharest could afford to buy. They were wearing some “street shoes” and during cold weather a sort of cheap boots which were made by “street cobblers “. From here we have the expression “with stiff” which is something refined, something that not everyone else owns. The socks were also not so cheap, only those with “well fare” could afford to buy sock from a “store”, but most of common people were weaving their own sock at home or they were wearing [...]
[relevant-to-adsense]Bucharest in 1909:The city, the streets, people, habits
Filed Under: Uncategorized on Dec 04, 2010 @ 10:00 AM
Part 1 I received an e-mail from a friend with pictures and information about the old Bucharest and i would like to share it with you. Were the inhabitants of Bucharest from a century ago, our grandparents, other than we are? Were the city streets different? Sure they were, but no better and no worse than today – as we speak of two different eras. We will try to reconstruct something of the old atmosphere of Bucharest. 1909, the capital had seven times less inhabitants than it has now, respectively only 300,000 which is less than today’s population of the Constanța town. The city occupied [...]
[relevant-to-adsense]2 years of major Real Estate and economic crisis10 + 1 harsh lessons we learned
This article was published on 15.06.2010 It was just 2 years ago. The summer of 2008 was about to start and Romanians were ready to break again any possible record of consumption. Foreigners followed (if not surpassed them), creating together a totally artificial world. Noone was paying attention to the fact that the Real Estate market was already blocked since the autumn of 2007. After just few weeks the world (and Romania) woke up and learned about Lehman Brothers. That year’s September changed our life forever. We entered into a deep crisis, which most people had not predicted. But crisis [...]
[relevant-to-adsense]The biggest problems of Real Estate market: Mentality, no laws and the 2008’s artificial prices
This articles was published on 11.05.2010 My company continues operating in the market, despite the difficulties which all serious companies face. But as time goes by, it is getting clear that the biggest problem we have is not the… never ending world economic crisis. Neither the blocked local economy nor the endless mistakes of all the market players. Not even the huge “bubbles” that several local banks still try to hide in between their balance sheets, pretending that everything is ok. The biggest problems we face The time is passing by and the things get worse. Everyone blames the others, [...]
[relevant-to-adsense]
Few days ago, on Tuesday, I had presented to you an interview of Mr Gavin Ryan, an expert in Private Equity and Venture Capital Funds. As far as I understood from your feedback, this subject was really interesting for you, as the official information about this segment is really limited. This is why I decided to address to Mr Ryan again, summing some of your questions and adding some new ones. This domain is really interesting and I think that it worths to know ... 
