{"id":446,"date":"2008-02-21T23:14:10","date_gmt":"2008-02-21T20:14:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/http:\/\/www.iliaspapageorgiadis.ro\/en\/?p=446"},"modified":"2014-03-12T16:41:28","modified_gmt":"2014-03-12T14:41:28","slug":"when-a-fan-of-indiana-jones-was-renting-apartments-for-himself","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.iliaspapageorgiadis.ro\/english\/2008\/02\/21\/when-a-fan-of-indiana-jones-was-renting-apartments-for-himself\/","title":{"rendered":"When a fan of Indiana Jones was renting apartments for himself"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was a cold October\u2019s night, back in 2005. Although I was walking on a main boulevard at a distance of few meters away from Piata Unirii (Unirii square, the center of the city), the lights around me were not strong. Today most of the \u201cmiserable\u201d sides of the city have been disappeared or at least covered, but even 2,5 years ago things were not like this.
\n<\/strong>I had a serious problem: My business was successful enough and I had to move from my tiny first office here to a larger one, able to host 8 employees (in less than 10 months I had to move again to a place with space for 30\u2026). Although I didn\u2019t have time to\u2026 breathe (as always), I was so proud of my small progress, that I didn\u2019t complain at all while watching all possible crap in Bucharest, because all the good ones \u201cwere rented one month ago, you were late, Mr. Greek\u201d.
\nIn the door of the block I was expected by\u00a0the real estate agent and my \u201cfriend\u201d who introduced me to her. She was (and still is) a typical case of a warm, positive woman with an age starting to be \u201cunidentified\u201d, keeping ofcourse the main characteristic that rules this business: Before\u2026 \u201cIt is exactly what you need\u201d. After\u2026 \u201cI am sorry, I didn\u2019t know, but anyway, this is it, you know better\u201d.<\/strong> He was (and still is) someone who came here in Bucharest from another city and started working as lawyer achieving good results in a quite young age. This gave him the necessary arrogance which is needed for all these lovely \u201croosters\u201d who behave like \u201cCaesar\u201d and also created to him the impression that even his presence is enough, \u201cthe task to be completed\u201d is not really important.\n<\/p>\n

\u2026<\/p>\n

The elevator stopped in the third floor. When the door opened, the owner waited us out of the apartment I was supposed to check and rent. A \u201cnice sweet old guy\u201d, smiling all the time, together with his (trying to smile) wife. I noticed that they were very clean in their simple way of dressing and they automatically gained my respect for this.
\nOnce upon a time there should have been a door there, but now the entrance of the apartment was closed by something made of wood, that could barely sustain the pressure of 3 fingers pushing it<\/strong>. Probably the environmental conscience of the owner ordered him to cut off the electricity (small moves that may save this planet one day). Although they opened to me the door, they were not entering inside! So, once more in my life I had to copy the attitude and character of one of my childhood heroes, Indiana Jones<\/strong> (http:\/\/www.indianajones.com\/site\/index.html<\/a>).
\nWith as much light as I could have from the small lamp of the corridor, I entered in the \u201cspacious, well located, recently decorated apartment with the attractive price because the owner is reasonable\u201d. I could barely see in front of me, but I noticed indeed some rooms. I searched for the balconies fast, spotted the natural light that this place was blessed to have, as it has view to the main boulevard. The \u201ckitchen\u201d was\u2026 fully equipped I could say, as there was installation for water there \u2013 nothing else, but it had natural light and view to the back of the block. The bathroom tested my fantasy, trying to guess which was the last time that someone dared to use it. After 27 \u201csuper apartments\u201d I had visited, I was immune\u2026
\n<\/strong>They informed me that the apartment had a surface of \u201c97 sq.m. useful\u201d. <\/strong>(As I don\u2019t record people, I can not prove this, because it was the last time I heard it. Later on, I guess after having been shrinked in the\u2026 washing machine, the apartment obtained a more flexible surface, of 85 sq.m.<\/strong>). I had to reply to the owner right away, because \u201ctomorrow morning he has someone else to rent it\u201d. With a deep breath and desire to expand fast my business, I answered positive, renewing the meeting for the next day, for the details of the contract. In the day light, the place didn\u2019t look bad at all, it was what I wanted as surface and location, just it needed an explosion so as to demolish everything and consolidate from the very beginning (as the owner accepted \u201cyes, you could say that maybe something here can be improved\u201d). The deal included my intention to invest in it and to deduct part of the investment from the monthly rental.
\n\u201cWhy didn\u2019t you go to a luxurious one?\u201d one may ask me. Because I was afraid to invest too much and I was always trying not to show off (in the country where showing off is the most approved trend by the majority of the society).\n<\/p>\n

\u2026<\/p>\n

Maybe it was the recent birthday that I had in August, when I became 30 years old (and the feeling of entering a new era in my life), maybe it was an inspiration or simply a good work, but you should see the same place after 2 months (I keep photos for my record). The only thing which remained the same was the\u2026 block where the apartment was located. <\/strong>Even now, when you pass from the boulevard, you will see it, the only balcony which is painted white, breaking the monarchy of grey around it. The total investment was around 30.000 euros, including the very nice furniture inside. We agreed to receive back around 8.000, split in 40 \u201cinstallments\u201d of 200. (Detail: We painted and fixed all the corridor of the floor, so as to look nice).
\nSome days before Christmas the son of the owner<\/strong>, who works in Europe, came back to his country and asked to see the place together with his wife<\/strong>. At the beginning when they entered, they said \u201cwe went to a wrong apartment\u201d as they could not recognize their own property. Later on, they needed half an hour to check even the slightest detail, trying to spot a problem. When this was not possible to happen, we gathered in the newly created conference room. They had a discussion in between for some minutes and then the son\u2019s wife addressed to me<\/strong> (I was smiling, expecting them to thank me for the excellent job I did in their apartment):
\n-\u201cYou have 2 choices: Either we increase the rent to double, or you stay only one year and not 5\u201d.<\/strong>
\n– \u201cExcuse me, what do you mean?\u201d
\n– \u201cListen, now the place looks very nice and the money you pay for rent is too little for the comfort of the apartment\u201d
\n– \u201cYes, but I paid it myself, based on our contract\u201d
\n– \u201cYes, but now the price is little as the place looks very good\u201d
\n– \u201cOk, then give me the money I paid and I leave\u201d
\n– \u201cNo, no, you can stay but with double rent\u201d
\nYou should see her face when I informed her that I never agreed anything with her and I don\u2019t know her. She hated me forever<\/strong>. I informed the father and the son that we had a contract for 5 years and if they are unable just to say a \u201cthank you\u201d for the work we did in their place, they can simply leave, as I was very busy. Wrong move\u2026\n<\/p>\n

\u2026<\/p>\n

Since then they really showed me the meaning of the word \u201cangry owner\u201d\u2026 They caused to me all possible problems you can imagine, asking money for almost anything was ever created in this planet. Did I give them? No, but the disturbance was really serious. In the same time, I discovered that my \u201cfriend\u201d <\/strong>(who I trusted to create the rental contract as I didn\u2019t think it could be so difficult) made a very serious mistake in it, giving the right to the owner<\/strong> (or to me, but I had no reason after the investment) to kick me out with 2 months notification.<\/strong> I had kept the apartment rented even when my company moved in 2006 in the (550 sq.m.) villa that we still rent today. I was sentimentally connected to the place.
\nIn 2007 I gave it for free to a friend, who needed to stay in it \u201cfor a couple of months\u201d. The result was that he behaved so badly and irresponsible that the owner started searching ways to terminate the contract. When he paid a lawyer (THAT pissed off he became), he discovered this term and kicked me out, paying me the rest of 8.000 euros. (My Greek friend\u2019s answer: \u201cSO WHAT?\u201d). Whose fault was it? Mine only.<\/strong>
\nMy lessons:
\n– Even for a rental contract, we use the serious lawyers we trust.
\n<\/strong>– Do not expect any owner to recognize your effort to refurbish his place.
\n– How is it possible to forget that WE NEVER FIGHT WITH THE WIFE OF AN OWNER<\/strong>? Even if we are right, when he will leave us, he will be with her for the rest of his life = we can NOT win.
\n– Unfortunately, in many cases here in Romania, politeness has been understood by the other side as \u201cweakness\u201d. We need to find a \u201cgolden solution\u201d which will allow us to remain polite as we were taught, but also to maintain our self respect at its maximum\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It was a cold October\u2019s night, back in 2005. Although I was walking on a main boulevard at a distance of few meters away from Piata Unirii (Unirii square, the center of the city), the lights around me were not strong. Today most of the \u201cmiserable\u201d sides of the city have been disappeared or at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":59454,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[204],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.iliaspapageorgiadis.ro\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/446"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.iliaspapageorgiadis.ro\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.iliaspapageorgiadis.ro\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.iliaspapageorgiadis.ro\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.iliaspapageorgiadis.ro\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=446"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.iliaspapageorgiadis.ro\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/446\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.iliaspapageorgiadis.ro\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59454"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.iliaspapageorgiadis.ro\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=446"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.iliaspapageorgiadis.ro\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=446"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.iliaspapageorgiadis.ro\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=446"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}