From Collapse to a Real-Estate Empire: The Arbitrage Story That Saved Ilana

“That night in Tel Aviv was my last in Israel, at least for now. I had a plane ticket for that morning, 1,000 euros in cash in my bag, and the video from my 17-year-old daughter that I promised to watch every evening: ‘Mom, I’m proud of you. Come back to us a winner.’” Ilana Cohen, co-founder of “Ogen Global” real-estate investments

“It all started when I was standing on the balcony of a cheap hotel in Bucharest, staring at rain that hadn’t stopped for three days,” Ilana tells me in a small café on Dizengoff Street, the day before she goes back to Romania. “I felt like an economic refugee. Two weeks earlier the bank had told me it was foreclosing on my apartment in Bat Yam. The family business had collapsed and left me with debts of more than a million shekels.”

Her espresso had already gone cold, but the fire in her eyes burned bright as she told me her amazing story.

The point where everything changed

“Noa, my daughter, was the one who made me take a break. ‘Mom, let’s go to Romania for two weeks, just to breathe a bit.’ We used the last of my credit line: 7,000 shekels.”

A smile began to spread across her face as she reached the turning point of the story.

“The apartment we rented on Airbnb was a horror. A mattress that felt like a waterbed, mold in the shower, and a kitchen that looked like it hadn’t been cleaned since Ceaușescu’s days.” She laughed. “When I called to complain, the owner said he would refund 20% of the amount. We were so angry we decided to leave.”

Ilana’s luck began to change when she met Victor, a 57-year-old local taxi driver.

She gestures with her hands and imitates the heavy Romanian accent: “‘Lady, see that building? Young guys rent apartments there at rock-bottom prices, paint a few walls, buy furniture from IKEA, take nice photos, and rent them to tourists for twice the price!’”

Her moment of silence was dramatic.

“At that moment I felt as if an invisible hand had shaken me. I looked around at this city I’ve known since childhood. I was born in Romania, and my parents immigrated when I was a very small child. Suddenly I didn’t see a foreign city, but a playground of opportunities.”

According to a 2023 McKinsey Global Institute study, the real-estate “arbitrage” model, exploiting the price gap between long-term and short-term rentals, has become a growth engine for small-scale real-estate entrepreneurship in major Eastern European cities.

From One Apartment Battle to a Tiny Empire

Noa went back to Israel, but Ilana stayed. With 5,000 euros she managed to raise from her sister, she found a studio apartment in a terrible state in the historic Lipscani neighborhood.

“The owner, Petru, thought I was crazy when I offered to renovate a rented apartment at my own expense. The place was a dump: leaking pipes, peeling wallpaper, a smell of wet dog. But the location… walking distance from the Old Town, the river, all the attractions.”

With a sly smile she pulls out her phone and shows me “before and after” photos that leave my jaw hanging.

“A month of nonstop work. I brought in professionals for the electrics and plumbing, painted myself, bought and hauled furniture. I slept on an air mattress on the floor during the renovation.”

The “after” photo shows a modern, clean, inviting studio, with clever design touches that hide the modest renovation budget.

“The first month was crazy. I paid Petru 300 euros in rent and made almost 700 euros from guests. By the second month it was already 850.”

The empire expands

Ilana shows me the app on her phone: five rented apartments, all rated 4.8 stars or higher, monthly income of thousands of euros.

“Some days I walk around Bucharest with a smile I can’t wipe off my face, with a bunch of keys to five apartments, going from apartment to apartment to check everything is OK, and I pinch myself. The woman who just 36 months ago was crying into her pillow, afraid of being evicted from her apartment, now runs a little real-estate empire of her own.”

She rolls up her shirt sleeve and shows me a small new tattoo: a phoenix with the date she first landed in Romania.

“My first tattoo, at 52. To remind myself that you can always start over.”

It’s not all rosy

Her face clouds over. “Don’t get me wrong, it’s no bed of roses. There were guests who left the apartment wrecked, and an elderly neighbor who complained to the municipality that there was a ‘brothel’ in the building because she saw different people coming and going.”

She tells me about the night she woke up at two in the morning, while she was actually in Israel, to a panicked call from a French tourist couple whose key had broken off in the lock; about the complicated Romanian bureaucracy; and about the empty stretches in winter when tourism dries up.

According to data from the European Holiday Home Association (EHHA), 72% of hosts report at least one incident of significant damage to the apartment in their first year of operation, and 31% consider giving up the business at that stage.

Real-estate arbitrage according to Ilana

“So what does it take to repeat your success?” I asked.

She counts on her fingers: “Sharp eyes to spot opportunities. Thorough market research: I spent two weeks going through hundreds of Airbnb apartments, checking prices, occupancy and locations. The courage to deal with uncertainty. The ability to see potential in run-down properties. An understanding of the local laws, and that’s critical!” She points at me for emphasis.

“And above all… presence. You can’t run this remotely. Either you’re there, or you have a local partner you trust a hundred percent.”

She falls silent for a moment and looks at her watch.

“In 14 hours I’m in Bucharest, I have to take delivery of furniture for the new apartment. This time it’s the sixth apartment, and also the first one I’m buying, not just renting.”

As we part, she tells me: “Come and visit. I’ll host you in one of my apartments. And who knows, maybe you’ll fall in love with the business model and join me?”

Is rental arbitrage your opportunity?

I stay behind with my cold coffee, wondering: how many of my readers are looking out the window right now, imagining themselves in Ilana’s shoes? How many are thinking about their last trip abroad and wondering whether they missed a similar opportunity?

The advantages are clear:

• Potential for especially high returns in major cities and tourist areas.
• Fast entry into the international property market without needing a lot of equity to buy.
• Operational and management flexibility.

But from my experience accompanying many investors, I have to warn you about the challenges:

1 A regulatory maze. Research the local laws carefully! Many cities restrict short-term rentals, require special licenses, or even ban the practice entirely. Paris, Berlin and Barcelona, for example, have strict restrictions. The fines? They can be dramatic.

2 Remote management is a real challenge. Think about checking in guests at odd hours, urgent faults in the apartment, cleaning between guests. Will you hire a local management company? That will cut your profitability significantly.

3 Unstable cash flow. With a regular lease you get a fixed amount every month; with short-term rentals, occupancy changes with the seasons, local events and competition. Have you budgeted for the “lean” months?

4 Relations with the property owners. Make sure your lease explicitly allows subletting! I’ve seen investors who had to pay heavy fines, or were even evicted in disgrace, after it came out that they were renting out the property in breach of the lease.

A 2024 study by HEC Paris found that 43% of real-estate arbitrage entrepreneurs fail in their first two years, mainly because they ignore local regulation and underestimate operating costs.

After many years of accompanying real-estate investors abroad, my conclusion is this: rental arbitrage can be an excellent strategy for those who do their homework. It takes thorough research, careful planning, knowledge of the local market and regulation, and above all, a physical presence or a reliable local partner.

Ilana succeeded because she spotted an opportunity, knew the language and the culture, and was willing to move and run the business up close.

Rental arbitrage abroad isn’t magic. It’s hard work. It’s obstacles. It’s sleepless nights. But for people like Ilana, it can be the way to start from zero and build something meaningful.