Job Discussion Forums

[bje]

[biffinbridge]

ALM...go buy Streamline and enjoy.Went out with the dark ages didn't it?

[Bebsi]

Whaddya mean, bje, heavy bags of money? I am looking at some pretty light and flaccid-looking bags at the moment, piled up on the counter of my bank!!

Anyway, who says real-estate isn't full of cissies too...people talking about silly things like "environmental protection", "aesthetic appeal" and the like. What happened to the good old days when real men built real buildings...good solid edifices...edifi??...like Ceausescu did in Bucharest...you know, those lovely 60s blocks that dominate the city's skyline and define its character? Now, those buildings are full of real men, who drive Dacias...no sissy girlie French cars like Peugeots for them with things for real weaklings such as air-conditioning, CDs and seat belts. Oh, no!! And what about the People's Palace, second largest building in the world here in Bucho, a no-nonsense building where, to clear the ground, Mr. C simply turfed out 10,000 people who didn't like it...way to go.

And another great bloke was Vlad Tepes...Vlad the Impaler to you folks... who took no crap from anyone. No quiche, shrimp curry with coconut or cherry tomatoes on Bruscheti for Mr. V...no, sir, whole wild pigs, bear's balls, raw spuds by the plateful...that was his diet, and he built good solid castles and fortresses where no pretend-tough-guys got in...or if they did, they didn't get out. A stake up the erse...that was the way to deal with anyone who gave you any c-rap back in those days!!

As me mother used to say, God be wit' th' oul' days.

[bje]

[Bebsi]

We had a teacher in primary school who threw small batteries at offenders in the classroom, to either shut them up or get attention. Way to do it!!

We think everyone should buy an apartment in a communist block in Romania. Toughens you up, as you get used to basic living. None of that pansie stuff...AC, parking spaces, gardens, insulation, building standards...who needs them? And who needs space, for things like privacy (definitely only for wimps), washing machines, home theatre systems etc? Those small rooms simply draw families together, where men can watch their wives cooking, washing, ironing etc to make sure they do it right and do it fast.

And they look just right...what's more pleasing than to see a dozen blocks, all with hundreds of flats where a similar number of families get to live in harmony? If your neighbour's children scream, just give them a clip on the ear or a good kick up the erse. That'll shut them up.

Just in case anyone is starting to think I'm being serious, I should point out that we absolutely advise against buying anything in those dreadful buildings. Rooms are small, lifts often don't work, workmanship is shoddy, no fire regs apply, parking is non-existent and they often smell. They are also hideously ugly, and from each window you get views of...the next block!!

We advise holiday-home investors to avoid Bucharest of course, and go for really rustic areas like Transylvania, Moldavia and Bukovina...it depends on whether you want oodles of history, quaint villages or nature at its best. We don't recommend the Black Sea as yet to investors as services there leave a lot to be desired, and Bulgaria caters for that market much better than Romania does.

If you want a rental income and a long term investment for about 80-100k euro, the new, modern apartments in the suburbs are what to go for...they are usually done to a very high standard, with gardens, parking, more space etc.

Commercial, i.e. bigger investors are best advised to go for land on the outskirts of cities like Bucharest, Brasov, Constanta etc, to build housing to cater for the huge middle-class explosion that is coinciding with a boom in bank mortgage lending, and to develop shopping malls etc as support enterprises.

Incidentally, if anyone is wondering about crime in Romania, it is actually very low, contrary to reports in the lower-quality western media. Bucharest is probably a lot safer than London or Paris. Serial killers and child abductions are vurtually unheard of, murder is mostly gang related (and even then quite rare) and most offences involve petty theft. Even then, that can easily be avoided by just being careful. Outside the cities...let's say the police are bored out of their car seats!!

[oxi]

Bebsi,

U got any advice on buying in Sighisoara? Do you think it would be much of an investment? - I heard they're getting better at organising tourism there. I thought it was about the most beautiful place I saw in Romania.

Seeing as I don't have the BAE job or more than about 50p in my UK account I'm not talking about buying anytime soon.

[Bebsi]

Sighisoara is gorgeous...one of my favourite places anywhere. We actually do a lot of stuff around there.

It is not as developed as Sibiu...as yet, but they ARE starting to get their tourist act together at last.

For those who haven't heard of it, Sighisoara is a walled medieval town, the only still-inhabited as such in eastern Europe, and one of the world's most important sites from the perspective of medieval history. Vlad Tepes was born there in 1431.

Sibiu is bigger and is more of a 17th century city. European Culture Capital for 2007, and very beautiful indeed. Open air concerts, jazz festivals etc for anyone thinking of going in that direction.

If you want more info on Sighi...or Sibiu...PM me.

[Balzac]

I love these boards!

This thread starts with a fairly reasonable question:

[spiral78]

Bizarre from Beginning to End...

or, better yet, maybe it's Not Yet the End!

By the way, what happened to the AL he-man? Gotta read backwards....

[007]

[Bebsi]