Q: Good day. Can I buy a house in the country through the “Prima Casa” program? Thank you. IP: If it’s your first home, then I think it’s possible. But for a second home, holiday home etc. no, because this type of houses are not included in the program. This is “first home”, not “first guaranty” and the state is supporting people that are buying a home for the first time, not offering them a first state guaranty to buy anything they want.  – the question was asked during the q&a session organized by imobiliare.ro -  [...]

  Q: I want to buy a home with foreign income … Can I do that in Romania? IP: In the past it was quite simple but it isn’t anymore. There are a few banks present in Romania that have representatives in other countries. They were more flexible to give credits to Romanians living in other countries, in order for them to buy a property in Romania. Now the situation is different. Together with the crisis, banks have become more careful as far as credit portfolios go. That is why I suggest you first identify if there are banks in the country where you live that are also present [...]

  Q: Mr. Ilias, the apartment I want to buy will have me paying a credit for 30 years. It is very possible that by the end of this period, the apartment will have “expired”. How can I know the life span of a building and if it is not new when I buy it, how many years it has left? IP: Firstly, this is a risk you take when you buy an old apartment. Experts say that the life cycle of a building is around 40 years, so you can imagine that many of them are already “expired”. I wrote a lot about this subject on my blog, if you contact me and give me your email, I can send [...]