100 suits, 100 pairs of shoes and “3.000.000 Euro” = 102.000 Euro lost…

Part 1

(to read part 2, click here)

"Boy, you can take your white Dacia Logan and drive until the land. We will come by our Porsche monster. Hopefully you will not arrive more than 30 minutes later than us, we will not wait you forever". We entered in our cars. It was 2005 and I was driving a brand new… Dacia Logan. My client chose to enter in the car of his friend, a Porsche Cayenne. The driver was a successful at that time Greek businessman in Romania. Before to leave, I also learned my lesson by my client, my… "teacher": "This car costs 105.000 Euro"… "These clothes cost 3.000 Euro"… "These shoes cost 700 Euro", "he showed me some photos of a woman, she costs more than 1.000 Euro"…

Working all day, I already knew the city better than others. I had to wait for them 10 minutes until to arrive to the final destination, in the Northern part of the city, at the expensive residential areas. The "old guy" (as they were calling him) stepped down from the car. Then my… "teacher"appeared. He was supposed to be the investor. Coming from Northern Greece, he was behaving like a small "god".  Last but not least, their Greek friend, whom I could easily compare to a Romanian smecher dressed in very expensive clothes.

"The experts" had decided already

The prices in the area were high. Let us say 1.000 – 1.500 Euro / sq.m. This property was offered for 550, as the owner needed to sell it really fast. My "teacher" had told me 20 – 30 times that he had money and he was searching for opportunities, so I presented to him the case. He asked the advice of "the old guy" and the "Greek smecher", as they were "the experts", as he informed me.

I tried to explain to them the property, showing to them maps, sketches and the rest of the documents. It was not the right way to deal with my "teacher"… "It is very expensive" stated the "old guy". "Not only expensive, but ridiculous" added the "Greek smecher". "You know, the price here was 50 – 100 dollars / sq.m.". "When was this?" I dared to ask. "Not even 10 years ago". "You mean few years after the Communism". "Yes, so what?" (said the "Greek smecher" and additional help appeared) "You are young… some years ago we could buy anything we like here for nothing, for peanuts. And to brokers like you, we were giving them just a tip".

It was clear… "the experts" had already decided…

"This broker has doubled or tripled the price"

"Yes, it is true, it is very expensive. Why did you bring us here?", my "teacher" asked. "It is almost square, all utilities suitable for a development are at the property's limits, the urbanistic parameters are excellent, the price is half than the market and this area is already rising, it has excellent potential for the years to come" I tried to defend myself. "No, no. Who are you to know this? You are just a broker. I don't think that it worths more than 200 – 250 euro / sq.m. And I am generous now". Then he thought better… "But wait a second… someone like ME comes here, in this poor country and they offer to him so expensive properties? I think they should be thankful just for talking to ME. 100 – 150 Euro is more than enough. Start with 80 Euro per sq.m. and we will go up during negotiations". "100 – 150? You pay a lot… you know, if I speak with the owner, I will arrange for you to buy it with less than 50, but this broker has doubled or tripled the price" said the "Greek smecher" and then he turned to me and said "buddy, no offence, but this is the truth".

(No, my "teacher" was gentle, he did not say that he volunteered to receive the property in order the owner to avoid the property taxes, he was willing to pay something too).

Tomorrow:

• "If you could pay all these for me, I would also love you"
  "I will teach you how the real professional earns money from a project"
  The excellent investment…