Investment in a new apartment is one of the most important moments in the economic life of each and every one of us. Statistics say that we usually buy 1 – 3 dwellings during our life, so every mistake counts. When the subject is an apartment in a new project, then even more questions rise. Except all the rest, a very important parameter is how your future home has been designed, as part of a residential project. If the developer’s architect had let his “artistic” side guide the design, this can cost you a lot more than you can imagine… Your developer’s architect: Efficient or not? There are [...]
[relevant-to-adsense]“Greeks made all possible mistakes, but Germanywas the one who benefited the most out of them”
Last week I gave an interview to Deutsche Welle, the leading German newswire since several decades, one of the most important and serious media in Europe. To be more precise, to the Romanian Service of Deutsche Welle and the their well known correspondent Laurentiu Diaconu-Colintineanu. Deutsche Welle is represented in Romania by www.hotnews.ro, the leading Romanian news site and every Friday you can listen to their show “Bucuresti Punkt Bonn” (Bucharest.Bonn). A preview by this show was uploaded to the site last Friday, being taken care of by Sorana Mihailescu. It included my interview together [...]
[relevant-to-adsense]A Romanian musician by Croisette, the Georgian Labor code and more…
Memories from Cannes, MIPIM 2010, part 1 A Romanian musician on Croisette Boulevard… It was Wednesday night when I was walking with my brother Grigoris and some good friends of ours on Croisette boulevard. Two years ago a Romanian colleague of mine noticed that almost all the musicians performing at Croisette are… Romanians (and usually from Brasov!) That night I was in my… talkative mood, so when I spotted a musician close to Dior shop, I headed to him. It proved out that the musician was in mood for talks too. “Buna seara, ce faceti, domnule?” I [...]
[relevant-to-adsense]MIPIM 2010. Lesson no.3The European map of Real Estate investments:Where is Romania located nowadays?
On Thursday morning I did not follow my brother to the exhibition. I finished my breakfast and I went up to the 4th floor, to my room, at Splendid hotel. “Ilia, imagine how big the crisis is… a simple man like you managed to find a room there, without paying a very high price for it” my friends Giannis had told me. He was right, but I should also take advantage of this small luck too. I opened the window and filled my lugs breathing fresh air. The sun had started his trip to the sky and the port of Cannes was looking amazing. With a wonderful sea as background, hundreds of yachts were tied by [...]
[relevant-to-adsense]Tips about buying new apartments:6. Your developer’s “mothers in law”: His relations with his bank and why they may affect you
Investment in a new apartment is one of the most important moments in the economic life of each and every one of us. Statistics say that we usually buy 1 – 3 dwellings during our life, so every mistake counts. When the subject is an apartment in a new project, then many questions rise. It is true that new apartments are better than the older ones, but when you invest in a new dwelling, things are much more complicated. Instead of talking to just one person, you will… network and meet many. All of them are connected to the seller, the developer of the project where your new apartment is located [...]
[relevant-to-adsense]When Braila reminded me London…
(All time Classics, 13.02.2008) “MISTER ILIAS” (the tone of her voice was really loud, I felt for a second as if I am a very important person) “these are the lands I was telling you about” “These? What do you mean these? Where do you see these?” “Look right and left, here you can see the areas where you can start buying properties”… When I was young, I was told many times that I have the “eyes of the hawk” and I was really proud of it. That day I realized that it was just a compliment to a young kid… I turned my head right, I could barely see 5 meters inside the road. I turn my head left…. [...]
[relevant-to-adsense]MIPIM 2010, Lesson no. 2:Investor’s attention is focused on Poland. Why it looks better than Romania today
The “investment clock” of CEE countries As many major European investors explain, the previous Real Estate expansion on the Central Eastern Europe (CEE) was clockwise: It started from Poland and then Czech Republic followed. Slovakia and Hungary were the next ones to join the party. Every phase of this “Real Estate invasion” lasted for several years, as the “clock” was moving as well. Before the investors to enter in a new market, they had previously made sure that they had established a solid basis on the previous country. Eventually in 2004 – 2006 Romania’s and Bulgaria’s turn arrived as well. Several [...]
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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 ... 
Peter Frank: “By the year end we will start feeling that things are not getting worse”
Peter Frank used to be the host of the only English speaking TV business programme in Romania, “The Frank Show” on The Money Channel. With a vast international experience in banking and media, he is someone who can approach Romania from a different point of view. For this reason, I asked him to share his thoughts with all of us regarding Romania, its economic potential and ofcourse its Real Estate market. Having a vast experience around the world, what level of maturity do you identify in Romanian economy nowadays? Romania remains, in many ways, an economy that has yet to mature. The mechanics [...]
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