Q: If you had 100.000 euro, what would you invest it in: gold, silver, the stock market, real estate, your own business?  IP: Certainly not in silver or gold. In my opinion, the price is high. It might go up but I don't find it comfortable to buy something when it's reached a historical price. I'd rather let someone smarter than I get rich from such investments.  The stock market is an option, but not with a larger capital than 20-30% of the total amount you have. Real estate is an option as well but you need a strategy, you shouldn't buy "anything".  The [...]

    Q: To the point: what can a real estate agent do for me? What should he do in order to earn his commission? Below, you have an answer I gave to someone else concerning this topic: ·         To know his/her field of expertise very well ·         To be able to explain the advantages and disadvantages of every property (not just to take you there, open the door and let you see it, like some kind of taxi driver) ·         To put in contact [...]

    Q: I want to buy an apartment in Iasi. What should I know before buying it since I grew up in the country and don’t really know? IP: I wrote an entire book about this! Tens of answers regarding all the aspects that you should know before buying a property. I apologize but I can’t reproduce everything here! A few advices: – The lowest price is not always the best – Take into account the cost of the renovations – Buy what you need, not what others tell you is best (FOR THEM) to buy – Be patient, it’s going to take some time before you find something that matches [...]

    Q: A question for Mr. Papageorgiadis: why do real estate agencies present the price for BUILT square meter and not for the useful surface? In the notary’s grid we are presented with the useful surface. IP: When a developer sells an apartment, he sells the built surface. The client does not only buy the apartment, he becomes co-owner of the land and the conjoint spaces. When he buys an old apartment, he buys just the useful surface (and, in some cases, the part of the land that belongs to him). Many agents don’t pay attention to these distinctions and do not explain [...]

  Q: Real Estate is Good, a nice message, a commendable initiative, investing your time to better the image of an entire industry. But it doesn’t seem to be enough, what should we do to involve the final consumer, the agent’s client? A recent study from the UK shows that the image problem of this profession is present in Great Britain as well, real estate agents being one of the least respected professions. What can we do to change the mentality at this level, the client’s? IP: I can mention many ways in which mentalities can be changed but the most efficient one would [...]