“But Ilan, do you remember what happened with those lands in Romania?” Amir looked at me with worried eyes, holding in his hand a glossy brochure of an apartment project in Bucharest. “My father lost 70 thousand euros there in 2004. To this day he can't hear the word ‘Romania’ without his blood pressure going up.”
We sat in my office, and the coffee slowly cooled on the table. I knew that look. Amir was not the first and certainly won't be the last to come to me with this fear.
“Tell me,” I asked him, “what exactly did your father buy back then?”
“Agricultural land. About 50 dunams near some village. They told him it was going to be gold, that Romania was joining the European Union and everything would only go up. They promised him that within two years the land would be worth three times as much.”
“And what happened?”
“What happened?” Amir sighed. “The land stayed land. There was no zoning plan, no building approval. He discovered there was some local law that prevented him from selling at all without special approvals. And then it turned out the documents weren't entirely in order. In the end he sold at a 60% loss just to be done with it.”
“I remember that period,” I said. “2003-2008. Hundreds of Israelis bought agricultural land in Romania. It was really an epidemic. Dubious Israeli companies were selling dreams, not real properties.”
“So why do you think this time is different?” Amir asked, the skepticism clear in his voice.
I slid his brochure across the table and took out documents of my own. “Because what you're holding here is not agricultural land in the middle of nowhere. Look at the differences.”
“First, this is a finished apartment in a project that already exists, in the capital city Bucharest, in a popular district. Not land, not promises, not ‘to come in the future.’ A physical apartment that you can fly out and see tomorrow.”
“Second,” I continued, “Romania today has been a full member of the European Union for almost 18 years. The legal system has stabilized. Registration at the land registry office is computerized and orderly. There is a clear legal continuity.”
Amir began to listen more attentively.
“Third, and most important - look at the legal difference. In the early 2000s, foreigners could not buy agricultural land in Romania at all. True, you could set up a wholly owned company, but that was exactly part of the problem - Israeli companies set up only on paper, without a real office, without a local presence, and above all without understanding the local laws. And the agricultural lands? They were subject to draconian restrictions on change of designation, on sale, on everything.”
“And today?” Amir asked.
“Today the situation is entirely different. True, Israelis still cannot purchase the land itself - that remains limited to Romanians for now. But when you buy an apartment, you acquire the apartment itself in full ownership, and the proportionate share of the land remains with the developing company or in trust. That sounds scary, doesn't it?”
Amir nodded with apprehension.
“So that's what I'm here for,” I smiled. “We developed sophisticated legal mechanisms that protect the Israeli buyer. There are long-term usage agreements, protected contractual rights, and above all - working only with recognized and reliable developing companies that won't disappear on you overnight. The difference between that and buying agricultural land through a fictitious company? Heaven and earth.”
“But how do I know the ownership is clean?” he asked.
“That's exactly why you need legal guidance. We check the ownership history, make sure there are no attachments or liens, examine the building permit, translate all the documents and make sure the registration is in order. In the 2000s, no one did this. People bought on the basis of presentations in Hebrew at a hotel.”
I took out another file. “Look, here is a client of mine who bought an apartment in Bucharest three years ago, near Herastrau Park. He rents it to young people who work in high-tech, gets a 7% net yield, and the value has also risen by 25% since. Why? Because we bought right, in the right location, with the right management.”
Amir leaned back. “So you're saying my fear is unjustified?”
“No, your fear is completely justified - if you make the same mistakes your father made. But if you make an informed investment, with professional guidance, in a real property and not in promises, then you're investing in an entirely different country. The Romania of 2025 is a growing economy with an expanding middle class, a flourishing high-tech sector, and rental yields that in Israel we can only dream of.”
He looked at the brochure again, this time with different eyes.
“Tell me something, Ilan. Why aren't you yourself afraid of Romania?”
I smiled. “Because I don't invest in memories from 2005. I invest in the market of 2025, with the tools of 2025. And the difference? It is enormous.”
The Romania of 2025 is not the Romania of 2005. Dubious agricultural lands have become finished apartments in major cities, an unstable country has become a member of the European Union for 18 years now, and the real difference lies in the professional guidance that turns the legal challenges into a protected and rewarding opportunity.
Because history does not repeat itself - but mistakes do.
Stories are based on real situations, with identifying details changed. Not legal advice.
Translated from the Hebrew original. עברית