Job Discussion Forums

[grahamb]

Aye, you could end up buying a pig in a poke.

[canadashirleyblue]

Houses also have ongoing costs that aren't always predictable.

If you put your money in investments and they go down you can sell or wait but you don't have to do anything.

If the value of the house goes down there are other costs involved. For example, when I had to sell the house for a LOT less than I had paid for it the main problem was that interest rates had doubled. Most people budget for an increase but rarely are people expecting to pay double. There are other expenses involved in keeping a house going which the owner has limited control or even prior knowledge of - tax. heating, electricity, repairs. Someone else decides how much you will pay for these and if there is a big increase too bad for you.

I have come to the conclusion that whichever you buy you need to pay cash.

[Bebsi]

[canadashirleyblue]

No. I'm a teacher. Are you an economist?

I do have the cash though. And I'm not sending it to Romania.

You'll be pleased to know that I am going to buy more than one property with it.

[scot47]

The world is full of people who say."Give me your money and you will be rich" Common sense tells us that we do not get rich by giving our money away - even to Irish lawyers who are experts in Balkan Real Estate !

[Bebsi]

The world is full of people who say."Give me your money and you will be rich"



My God, Scot, how can you??????????????? How can you reveal my secret, now no-one will give me any money.

*BIG HUFF OF INDIGNATION & STAMPING OF FEET*

I presume Shirley Blue, that you are being as tongue in cheek as I was?

I'm very happy you're buying property. Perhaps however, you should research Romania...you know, read some articles written by real-estate experts, economists, market analysts...the sort of people who would know something about it and who don't have any financial axes to grind.

I admit, I do have a financial axe to grind here, it helps my business if people invest in Romania; directly, if they do it through me obviously, and indirectly if they do it independently in that they still boost the country's economy and real-estate market.

One word of warning here re Romanian estate agents: they will still charge the purchaser (as well as the vendor) about 3% of the purchase price, a price that they have inflated because they act for the vendor. So, you pay a commission on the mnoney you get ripped off for. As investment consultants, on the other hand, we act exclusively for the purchaser/investor. We thus bargain the price down to real market value...considerably less than the asking price usually, especially in the case of bigger investments. So, you actually do get a far better investment, by employing consultants such as ourselves.

Incidentally, it's not just in Romania that estate agents charge both parties (which is highly unethical, as they cannot be acting in a purchaser's interest if selling on a vendor's behalf and trying to get him the best possible price, as is their brief, obviously) but in most Eastern European countries such as Bulgaria and Hungary, and indeed in some western countries such as France, I believe. It is illegal in Ireland and the UK to act for both parties to a transaction, and we would like to see that happen also in Romania.

We also know the local terrain, and know exactly where to invest, in what to invest, and how to do it.

Funnily enough, however, we DO charge a professional fee for our advice and services, dastardly cads that we are!!!! Guess nothing is for nothing in life.

Then again, since we started a year ago, most people who invested with us in that time have seen capital appreciation of up to 40% on their investments. We must be doing something right. I'm not an economist, Shirley Blue, but I am in a position to comment on a particular real-estate market.

And yes, it's true what Scot says, I am a lawyer by training and qualification, and hope soon to open an international practice in Romania.

As a lawyer, surely that should be a guarantee in itself for my honesty and integrity????

[canadashirleyblue]

Ah Bebsi! I should have known you were Irish! Such a gift! I think I'll be going for Screech though.
And my brother -in-law is a judge but I bet you end up richer.

[Bebsi]

Oh, I dunno, Shirley, some judges in Romania are pretty rich, but it all depends on whom they act for

All joking aside, we used to have probs with the some members of the Romanian judiciary...not all of them...but in the last few years, the EU has really cleaned up the act.

Generally speaking, lawyers who want to make money usually avoid becoming judges, as judges get paid a salary and are pretty much stuck with that. Lawyers make little enough in their early days, but usually retire well off. Many of my colleagues were living in poverty in their first few years of practice, are now doing OK, and will retire...at least some of them...pretty rich.

Judges on the other hand, get a pretty decent monthly salary...at least in Ireland, where quite some time ago they realised that paying judges well was in society's better interests, if you get my drift!! It's a steady salary, which is more attractive for some than the uncertainty of private practice, and you get a nice pension too. Not to mention the fact that like teaching, you get looooong summer hols most cases, and a short working week. After all, most days you're outta there by 4pm. OK, some paperwork to do, but it's a 40 hour week at most, while many lawyers work 80 hours.

Mind you, better salary than teaching, in most cases. And teaching jobs ARE easier to get than judging jobs. I can't imagine "Dave's Judging Forum, where judges get to swap ideas, stories and experiences". Tho any judge I've ever met, it has to be said, had great stories.

[canadashirleyblue]

Well Bebsi he does have some good stories. He also drinks a lot of Scotch and his phone number in not listed. I think the most lucrative part of being a judge is being a retired judge. You get the judges pension and then you can do "supply" judging. In Canada they send you into remote (and not so remote) places where they need a judge temporarily. They pay all the flights, food etc. My sister used to go along - just had to pay her food and got the flight on the air miles. With his pension and the "supply" money it was more than he made working full time. In Canada being a judge is a politcal patronage appointment. So you need to join the right party and keep giving them money. Alternatively you could try selling real estate in Romania.

[sheikh radlinrol]

I'm surprised there is a property market in Rumania. Spain is inundated with Rumanians willing to work for peanuts and do the crap jobs that the locals won't touch. The Rumanians in Spain remind me of the Iranians in Kuwait. If they come here for this, what the hell did they leave behind?
It does sound a fascinating place, though. A little Latin corner in Eastern Europe. Like all Latins the Rumanians seem more than proud of their homeland. There's a Rumanian bar near me that actually imports beer and pork for the local Rumanian diaspora. Does Bebsi recommend Rumanian beer as well as Rumanian property? If he does, I'll go and try a couple of litres. After all, you'd have to trust the opinion of an Irish lawyer who used to do TEFL.

[007]

[Bebsi]

[Bebsi]

Meant to say, yes we do indeed have some excellent beers here. They don't compare with Czech beers...nothing does...but Ursus and Timisoreana are my own favourites. Ursus recently introduced a new line, Ursus Stejar (Romanian for oak, as it is fermented in oak) which is 7% and very good.

Romania produces better wines than beers, and in the mid ranges, we have some regions that would give their French counterparts a serious run for their money. Recas, Mehedint, Dealu Mare and Murfatlar all give superb reds: cabernets, Feteasca Negras and Merlots. Jidvei, Tarnave and Vrancea all produce excellent whites: chardonnays, muscats and gewurztraminers, also a few good sauvignon blancs. There are many others, but these are the best and also, best known.

We are starting to take wine seriously here. Here in Romania, in the supermarkets you can buy a drinkable wine for about 2 euro, a good one for about 3 euro, a very good one for 5 euro and a truly memorable vintage for less than 10 euro.

Anyone wants a wine lesson, I will tell them more in a PM.

Anything you folks want to know about Romanian real-estate, food, wine or cars, ask Bebsi. But PLEASE, don't ask me anything about the audio-lingual method of teaching!! And if anyone asks how to enhance learning acquisition devices, I will thump them!!

Vlad (the Impaler) Tepes would have made a lousy EFL teacher, I have to admit...tho an excellent administrator.

[sheikh radlinrol]

Thanks for the info. Bebsi. I'll look forward to to trying the Romanian wine. Here in Spain it's difficult to get anything that isn't local. Not that the local wine isn't excellent. I've got a neighbour from Romania who parks his car next to mine and I'll ask him about your recommendations. How do you get on with the language there? I imagine Romanian to be relatively easy for someone whose L1 is English.

[Bebsi]

It's a Latin language SR, much easier than say, Bulgarian or Hungarian. That being said, while I can more or less read it, and understand quite a bit of what's being said, I find speaking it difficult. This is entirely down to my own laziness...Mrs. B. being Romanian, I tend to largely let her be my ears and mouth. But if I made an effort to learn to speak, it would come much easier than Slavic languages, I reckon.

What about Scot47, have you had problems with Bulgarian, Scot?

Spanish wines are actually excellent. I love the Riojas of course, but I'm also mighty fond of the rich red Navarra's, especially the Ochoas. From Rioja, Berberana '80 and Heredad de Baroja '70 are among the finest wines I've drunk, along with Monte Real 75. The La Manchas are also good, if you want a cheap highly drinkable wine.