Investing in Romania, is it a good idea?

[kevin]

Hi everyone,
I was just wondering if anyone had the heads up on what the outlook is for investing in Romanian property?
Are there any areas to target or steer clear of and are you aware of any budget airlines that fly out there?
It seems the developers haven't been over in force and saturated the market yet, would I be right?
Also, how long on average does it take for a sale to go through?

Thank you very much.

[reece]

Hi Kevin,
Apparently it can be done but it can also be done badly. Be very careful. rules change all the time and bureaucracy is a nightmare. No budget airlines so no cheap flights. I have heard of people buying a piece of land then finding out that the land they own is a triangle of that land and much smaller, or it belongs to someone else.
Don't trust anyone and if you speak English the price will double.
See you again

[kevin]

Hey,
Thanks for that info sefaela, it's very much appreciated.

I have heard of similar stories about land ownership in other countries, I am very surprised about the budget airlines though.

Thanks again.

[Paddy Chan]

Kevin, did you ever find out more information on investing in Romania?

[Goldberg Global]

Hi I think you are mistaken because of where you are located in the world, there is already budget airlines flying in and out of romania, the companies name is blue air. I know that as I have bought tickets!!!

BLUE AIR TRANSPORT AERIAN
Aeroportul International Bucuresti Baneasa
Sos. Bucuresti-Ploiesti nr. 40
Bucuresti, ROMANIA
marketing@blue-air.ro

Think Blue Air

I have very good contacts in Romania, through friends and family connections.

Investment opportunites sure, if you know where and how to look. Financing is expensive there so use your own money. Be in touch if you want help. thanks Darren

darren@goldbergglobal.com

[chrisnolen]

Hi

Regarding investment opportunities i can tell you than Romanian and foreign investors are putting their money into sea side real estate projects, especially tourist frequented locations.

Experts say that 200t is a good year for industrial spaces,as this market has only begun to grow.

Also if you are interested in fast returns another option is to buy apartment buildings before the project is finished and then sell it to future owners. This type of business is available for medium size investors with budgets around 500.000 euros.

If you would like more information about real estate prospects this year you can ontact me at
eliza_mentor@yahoo.com

[maria.david]

Hi kevin,
I'm not much of a specialist. I can tell you about my experiance with Romania: I bought a flat in Bucharest and I'm buying one at the moment in Transylvania. Both deals required 10% deposit until completion ( for the one in Bucharest I have to pay another 15% in one year, as the completion is later on). I am looking at the moment at Cluj, I've heard only good things about it and it is forecast to do great!
If I can help you with anything, please let me know.
Have you invested at all in romania?

[sun321]

My experience in investing in a former communist country has been limited to Latvia. The latvian property market has been booming since joining the EU. Prices for apartments are now ridiculous for a number of reasons. A lot of people have bought apartments in state owned buildings, there apartments are now maybe worth maybe 150,000 EUR market price for a 2 room apartment, however one can only insure these apartments for contents insurance as the building is owned by the local govt authority, what happens when the building burns down ? The local authorities that own these buildings cant even maintain them properly let alone compensate everyone market price for their apartments but still people keep paying these stupid prices. Secondly a lot of the apartment blocks built in the communist era during 60's, 1970's were only built to last 25 years they are pre-fab concrete structures a lot of them have concrete cancer you can see the steel re-inforcing exposed to the elements and rusting away but still people spend thousands on internal renovations thinking these buildings will last forever. No one thinks long term in these countries its live fast, look good and make a quick buck and its all built on false economies, a lot of the inflated property pricing in latvia has been blamed on money launders, these are not realistic prices as most people here make 15-20% of a western european salary, so renting a property out once you have bought it, is difficult as well. I would assume Romania would have similair problems except I think things there are still a bit more behind the baltic states so that means more red-tape and booby traps await the uneducated or naive buyer.

[andreim73]

Dear sun321 (I hope this is not your name…or?)

Why are you misleading the readers of this forum? Before investing in Lavia, had you made any enquiry? Or you invested because of any nice lady around? I know very well how it works…sorry, I don’t want to be rude, but I am Romanian and I travelled all over Europe. I lived also in other countries as well as Italy, Czech Republic, etc.

I have also a large flat completed renovated in an “old communist” block as you say, built in 1978…due to the fact Romania has encountered several earthquakes over time, all the buildings are strong and full of concrete & steel.

I also have villas and other flat in Brasov.

Don’t forget there are tens of new developments, built by well known international companies. I wouldn’t insist too much here…if you are interested, check the following website…triplew.intnet.ro

Cheers
Andrei

[sun321]

Originally Posted by andreim73

Dear sun321 (I hope this is not your name…or?)

Why are you misleading the readers of this forum? Before investing in Lavia, had you made any enquiry? Or you invested because of any nice lady around? I know very well how it works…sorry, I don’t want to be rude, but I am Romanian and I travelled all over Europe. I lived also in other countries as well as Italy, Czech Republic, etc.

I have also a large flat completed renovated in an “old communist” block as you say, built in 1978…due to the fact Romania has encountered several earthquakes over time, all the buildings are strong and full of concrete & steel.

I also have villas and other flat in Brasov.

Don’t forget there are tens of new developments, built by well known international companies. I wouldn’t insist too much here…if you are interested, check the following website…triplew.intnet.ro

Cheers
Andrei

I'm not misleading anyone all the things mentioned in my previous post were facts. New developments are something different ofcourse, but here in latvia it has also been reported in the news papers that apartments in soviet era buildings are depreciating in value, some say they will depreciate by as much as 20%. So my advice is buy apartments in new developments. I do not own an apartment in a soviet building I bought one in a pre-war building these buildings have a lot more character and were built to last. The soviet era buildings are horrible looking and potentially dangerous the only reason they havnt been demolished is because the government does not have the money to build free housing to replace these existing apartment blocks. By the way I knew all about latvia before I invested, my family has 400 years of history here.