Living România · Field Stories
Real estate stories from Romania. 79 real cases, each with the moment it was decided.
Every week, lawyer Ilan Leibovitch writes two stories from his desk: Israeli investors and developers who bought, built, rented out and sold property abroad. Here are the stories from Romania. Partnerships that fell apart, contracts nobody read, marketers' promises, surprise taxes, and deals that worked because someone asked the right question in time. Each story is an article.
Ilan Leibovitch, Adv.A lawyer specialising in international real estate and a partner at Compass Group Romania. His column "Two International Real Estate Stories a Week" comes out every Saturday on LinkedIn (in Hebrew).
All stories
Story 7917.10.2026The Bank He Used to HaveFor ten years, buyers were his cheapest source of financing. The law didn't forbid taking money from them. It only decided where that money goes. "Look at row 14."Contracts, registration and guaranteesStory 7817.10.2026Six Lines on a Folded SheetThe law gives you the questions. The answers you have to ask the developer for, and write into the contract. Six lines, handwritten, on a sheet folded in four. Gil took it out of his jacket pocket in a café in Cluj, half an hour before the meeting with the developer, and spread it…Contracts, registration and guaranteesStory 7710.10.2026Sixty DaysClause 14 of the construction contract was three lines long. Most people skip it. It set out two things. First: five percent is withheld from every payment to the contractor, released only at the end. Second: if there's no progress on the works for…Development, building and financeStory 7626.9.2026The Land That Wasn't Entirely HisGuy came to me with a plot he wanted to buy, before any agreement had been signed and before a single shekel had been transferred. "I found a great plot in Cyprus. The price is right, the location is right, I want to start planning within a month." He had already agreed…Development, building and financeStory 7519.9.2026The Money He Paid Back Before He Had ToGuy's project, a residential complex in the Bucharest area, ran into the kind of delay that happens on almost every project: a main contractor who progressed more slowly than planned, and an infrastructure approval delayed by a few months at the local authority. Nothing dramatic in itself.…Contracts, registration and guaranteesStory 745.9.2026The Buyers I Knew Wouldn't Make It, and Sold To AnywayA few years ago, on a project I was leading in Romania, we were very close to the quarterly sales target. Very, very close. The sales team had worked hard, marketing had produced quality leads, and almost all the units in the first phase were already closed.…Contracts, registration and guaranteesStory 735.9.2026The Apartment I Loved, Not the Apartment the Market LovesIn three deals, in three different countries, exactly the same mistake repeated itself. Yoav first came to me about four years ago. A brand-new investor, with no experience in real estate abroad, a good salary and a strong desire to start "working for…Marketers, promises and trapsStory 7229.8.2026Forty Thousand Euros, and the Decision Was Made Without HimBeing absent from a meeting is not neutrality. It's a vote, just not yours. Oren is an operations manager at a software company, forty-seven, the kind who manages his finances in one tidy Excel sheet. In 2019 he bought a three-room apartment…Contracts, registration and guaranteesStory 7115.8.2026The Contractor Who Went to Another SiteEvery change in the ownership structure is not just a corporate event. It's a banking event. At 7:32 in the morning I received a screenshot. A balance in a corporate account in Romania, accurate to the cent. Below it, in a small line in English, a notice that outgoing transactions…Development, building and financeStory 708.8.2026The Gap Between the Contract and the Bank AccountThe agreed price is not the amount that reaches you. Between the two numbers sit three things, and none of them is mentioned in the presentation. Hadar sat across from me when I showed her the final number, and she said nothing for a long time.Taxes and getting money homeStory 6918.7.2026The Partnership That Became a Friendship, and the Friendship That Wrecked the PartnershipMark called me on a Friday evening, which already told me something. People don't call a lawyer on a Friday evening when everything's fine. "I don't know how to talk to him about this without it ruining everything," he said. His voice was quiet, but not…Partners, family and inheritanceStory 6811.7.2026The Time He Called Me Too LateAlon called me at an hour when he doesn't usually call anyone. "Ilan, I need you to check something for me. I have a problem with the contractor, and I think I can't pass it on."Contracts, registration and guaranteesStory 6711.7.2026The Price That Was Supposed to Stay FixedRoy sent me a screenshot of an email, without another word. Just one subject line: "Price update due to rising raw material costs." Below it, a short message from the developer: the project had run into exceptional cost increases, and a price adjustment was "unavoidable."Contracts, registration and guaranteesStory 664.7.2026The Spec That Wasn't Worth What He ThoughtRoy called me after his sales agent sent him an email he didn't know how to answer. "Ilan, I need you to help me think. Not legally. Business-wise."Contracts, registration and guaranteesStory 6527.6.2026My Ideas Were Too GoodAvi is a man with taste. You can't take that away from him. He came to me in the middle of a project in Romania, not for legal advice, but because he was in an argument and wanted an outsider to tell him he was right. "Ilan, I have a whole team…Marketers, promises and trapsStory 6413.6.2026The Bucharest Bargain"Ilan, I found an apartment a third below market price. I just need you to go over the contract. Quickly, before someone else snaps it up." That's how my first conversation with Yossi began.Marketers, promises and trapsStory 636.6.2026"I've Done Three Projects in Israel. How Different Can Building in Romania Be?"Guy sat across from me with the confidence of a man who has already won once. "Ilan, I've done three projects in Israel. I built, I sold, I made a nice profit. Now I want to go abroad. How different can building in Limassol be from Ra'anana?"Development, building and financeStory 6230.5.2026The Land Was Only the BeginningHe called me from the restaurant. Not from an office, not from the building site, from the restaurant where he was sitting with his partners after they had signed for the land. "Ilan, we bought it. Now we need to start selling."Development, building and financeStory 6130.5.2026The Market PriceI've known David for a few years. He's not a careless man. Quite the opposite: he researches, compares, checks. When he decided to invest in Bucharest, he did it after six months of thinking. He read articles, talked to people who had already done it, visited…Marketers, promises and trapsStory 6023.5.2026He Knew How to Build. He Knew How to Sell. He Didn’t Know One Small Thing, and It Cost Him a YearRoy had built projects in Israel for ten years before he decided to go to Romania. He wasn’t the type to jump into the water without checking the depth. Experience, composure, the confidence of someone who had done this many times and come out fine.…Development, building and financeStory 5916.5.2026The Permit That Never CameErez called me in the morning. He didn’t ask for advice. He didn’t ask a question. He said one sentence: “Ilan, it’s been a year and a half. There’s still no permit. And I have ten buyers waiting.”Development, building and financeStory 589.5.2026The Contractor Who Started Slowly and Stopped FastI remember it well. Yaron called me at half past six in the evening – not with a question, but a statement. “Ilan, I think my contractor is in trouble.” I knew that “I think”. It isn’t “I think”. It’s “I know, but I’m not ready to say it out loud yet.”Development, building and financeStory 579.5.2026The Brother Who Lives in TorontoThe call came on a Sunday at eight in the morning. “Ilan, I’ve found something amazing in Bucharest. Three rooms, third floor, a developing neighbourhood. The seller is a woman in her seventies who inherited the property from her parents. She wants to close fast. The price…Partners, family and inheritanceStory 5611.4.2026The Phone Rang at Two in the MorningHe called me from Bucharest. His voice was too quiet – the kind of quiet that comes after a person has already shouted everything he had to shout, and has realised that even the shouting didn’t help.Partners, family and inheritanceStory 5511.4.2026Promises and Returns: When the Numbers Don’t Tell the Whole StoryDaniel phoned me early one morning. Not a question. Not a request for advice. One ring, and then a sentence: “I think I’ve made a big mistake.”Contracts, registration and guaranteesStory 5428.2.2026The Phone Rang at MidnightIt wasn’t a call I was expecting. An unknown number. 22:47. Usually I don’t answer. But something made me pick up. “Tell me,” said the voice on the other end, “does it make sense that the developer is selling the same apartment for 149 thousand when I paid 165 thousand – plus another 12 for furniture?”Marketers, promises and trapsStory 537.2.2026When a Project in Bucharest Taught Me That Real Estate in Europe Isn’t Real Estate in IsraelIt was a Wednesday afternoon when WhatsApp beeped. A message from Amir, an Israeli real-estate developer we had supported on his way into the Romanian market. “I’m in trouble. Big trouble. We need to talk now.”Development, building and financeStory 527.2.2026When Your Money Is “Too Clean to Be Real”: The New Reality for Israeli Investors in International Real Estate“Are you sure this money is legal?” That question came from a bank branch manager in Bucharest, after three of my clients – all successful Israeli entrepreneurs with completely legitimate businesses – tried to transfer funds to buy a residential project…Taxes and getting money homeStory 5117.1.2026When Your Contractor in Texas Stops Answering: What’s Really Going On Behind the Scenes?Remember that moment? Three in the morning, you’re lying awake in bed, the phone next to your head. The last email you got from the contractor in Portland was two weeks ago. The project is supposed to be ready in a month, and you don’t even know if the renovations…Development, building and financeStory 5010.1.2026I Warned Him About an Israeli Jurisdiction Clause, and He Didn’t ListenAbout three years ago, a client sat across from me – an experienced Israeli real-estate developer who, together with a partner, had bought a residential building in Bucharest. He came to me after they had already closed the deal; now he wanted to draw up a proper partnership agreement between himself and his partner.Contracts, registration and guaranteesStory 4920.12.2025The “Nordis Law”: From Broken Trust to Re-Pricing Risk – How Romania Is Changing the Rules of the Real-Estate GameThe “Nordis Law” (Legea 207/2025), which came into force last week, wasn’t born in a vacuum. It is the direct product of a rolling crisis of trust in Romania’s off-plan market, which has deepened in recent years following cases of stalled projects,…Development, building and financeStory 4820.12.2025When Romanian Quiet Turned into a Long-Distance NightmareDan walked into my office with an expression I’ve seen many times: a mix of frustration, exhaustion and resolve. He put his bag on the table and said: “I need to sell the apartment in Romania. Now.”Development, building and financeStory 4713.12.2025Between Two Worlds: The Developer’s Dilemma“I can’t sleep at night,” Roni told me as he sat down across from me in the office. “I have 48 apartments under construction in Bucharest, five months to handover, and I needed to make a decision yesterday.”Development, building and financeStory 4613.12.2025The €120,000 Mistake I Almost Made in Romania (and How One Phone Call Saved My Investment)Uri called me at 11 at night. “Ilan, I can’t sleep. I have to decide, and my head is exploding.” I’d known Uri for years. A successful software engineer from Tel Aviv, 42, married with two kids. He had decided to invest 120 thousand euros…Development, building and financeStory 4529.11.2025The Developer Who Wanted to Conquer Athens – and Ended Up with a 42 m² ApartmentThere are moments in my career when I see the whole film before the client has even pressed Play. That’s exactly how it started a few months ago, when an experienced, smart Israeli developer with dozens of real-estate deals in Israel behind him landed in Athens for the first time.Marketers, promises and trapsStory 4429.11.2025Airbnb Income Is About to Be Exposed: What’s Coming, and What Overseas Real-Estate Investors Must Understand NowThere are moments in the real-estate market when, no matter how much experience you have, something shifts beneath the surface, and whoever doesn’t notice in time finds out the hard way. Smart investors know how to spot those moments in advance.Management, tenants and rentalsStory 4322.11.2025The Winds Are Changing: Why the Romania of 2025 Is Not the Romania of 2005“But Ilan, do you remember what happened with that land in Romania?” Amir looked at me with worried eyes, holding a glossy brochure for an apartment project in Bucharest. “My father lost 70 thousand euros there in 2004. To this day he…Development, building and financeStory 4215.11.2025Are You Crazy, or Just an Idiot?That’s exactly what Avi said to me at our first meeting. No “hello”, no “nice to meet you”. Straight to the point: “Renting apartments on Airbnb is like playing Russian roulette with your money.”Management, tenants and rentalsStory 4111.10.2025“The Invisible Partnership”: How a Real-Estate Developer Builds Trust with His InvestorsIt happened in Bucharest, on one of those days of thin rain that can’t decide whether it wants to be a storm or just grey weather. Daniel, an Israeli developer with a solid track record, stood on the balcony of his first building abroad and looked down at the site below.Partners, family and inheritanceStory 4013.9.2025Why most buyers won't pay a penny more – and some will pay tens of thousandsArik put a binder full of architectural plans on my desk. Eyes shining with excitement, but also with that worry line I know so well – the line of an Israeli developer on the verge of a big move.Partners, family and inheritanceStory 3913.9.2025Where is it best to invest – Greece? Portugal? Bucharest?This question follows me into almost every consultation. It fills Facebook groups, rolls around the forums, gets asked at conferences. And it's always the same script: within two minutes, everyone becomes an expert in international real estate.Development, building and financeStory 386.9.2025“Trust me, bro”? Not abroad: what developers must understand before investing overseasIn Israel we have a special culture. A word and a handshake, “trust me, bro” – and it almost always really works. But when you try to import that culture to Bucharest, Athens or Sofia, it can cost you hundreds of thousands of euros.Development, building and financeStory 376.9.2025The company that ate the profits – Yossi's story in RomaniaSometimes the difference between a good investment and a frustrating one lies not in the property itself, but in the structure you choose to put around it. Three years ago, Yossi sat in a café in Tel Aviv with a local investment adviser. The offer sounded almost too good to be true:Taxes and getting money homeStory 3623.8.2025They sent me a photo. In the photo – a floor. Then came the billThe phone rang just as I arrived at a meeting with investors on Ibn Gabirol Street. On the screen – a Romanian number, one of the contractors working with me on the residential project I had started supporting eight months earlier on the outskirts of Bucharest.Development, building and financeStory 3523.8.2025When the apartment speaks a language they never taught you in real-estate schoolHe wasn't new to the game. Danny (not his real name), an Israeli businessman in his 40s, had already invested in apartments in Israel – but over the years, as the market started to feel crowded and he felt his money could work harder, he looked abroad.Management, tenants and rentalsStory 349.8.2025Daniel's story from Bucharest: when vision refuses to bow to realityReal-estate developers all over the world know the problem: the client wants to see what he's buying. He wants to touch it, feel it, imagine himself in the property. And what happens when it's an investment overseas, in a property that doesn't exist yet? Most developers accept…Development, building and financeStory 339.8.2025When ‘sector’ means nothing: the map nobody tells you about when you buy property in BucharestI want to tell you a short story about investing in Bucharest. Not a story about returns, or about an amazing apartment at a bargain price. A story about a map. And about why it can be your marketing death trap. Because, you see, a property investor…Marketers, promises and trapsStory 3219.7.2025Bucharest leaps ahead: the next boom in global real estate starts here – and Trump just fired the starting gun!The global property market is buzzing, but this week a real earthquake shook the real-estate capitals: Trump Tower in Bucharest. This isn't just another news item, it's a statement. It's a wake-up call. It's the official announcement that Bucharest, the capital of Romania, has gone…Management, tenants and rentalsStory 3119.7.2025If it isn't in the contract, it doesn't exist: a story from real life, and a wake-up call for international property investorsForget everything you thought you knew about investing in property abroad. Here's a simple truth, one that cuts to the bone and can change the course of your investments from end to end. If you're an international property investor, you might want to listen carefully…Contracts, registration and guaranteesStory 3012.7.2025The secret behind the impossible flip in Bucharest: when the bank said ‘no’, it meant ‘yes’ (in a big way)International real-estate developers, fasten your seatbelts – this story is going to shake up your business world and make you pick up the phone to at least two colleagues. Because what happened in Bucharest is nothing short of a masterclass in the art of development, proving…Taxes and getting money homeStory 295.7.2025Could it be? The key to profit lies in a cultural gap“I'm just frustrated!” Moshe's voice boomed through the office; the gleaming glass walls in Petah Tikva couldn't contain his despair. “Our project in Bucharest, you see, just isn't moving. The local sales team, lovely people,…Contracts, registration and guaranteesStory 285.7.2025The Romanian lesson: how I saved an investor from mistakes that could cost thousands of eurosSome stories need to be told. Stories that teach, that sharpen, that give a glimpse behind the scenes of international investment. This is the story of an Israeli real-estate developer whose dreams of a property empire in Bucharest nearly shattered…Management, tenants and rentalsStory 2728.6.2025The plane took off, but the project was groundedIn international real estate, where every project is a shaky house of cards, everything can go wrong at dizzying speed. You think you're in control, that you have the knowledge, the experience and the connections. And then, boom. Reality slaps you in the face,…Development, building and financeStory 2621.6.2025Across the line of fire: what an Israeli developer learned in the eye of the storm – and what it means for your next dealThese last few days, with tension rising in Israel and around the world, throw us back into a reality where the unexpected is the only thing you can expect. Geopolitical events, even ones happening on the other side of the globe,…Development, building and financeStory 2514.6.2025What to buy: a two-room apartment off-plan, or two studios near the university?Sometimes I find myself sitting across from a client, left speechless by the arguments he makes. Some have studied, researched and gone deep, and their arguments are well founded; others don't understand the first thing and make baseless arguments bordering on ignorance.Management, tenants and rentalsStory 247.6.2025When the jurisdiction clause becomes the hero: a story every investor in property abroad should knowI don't usually appear in court. In recent years our firm has stopped taking litigation cases: since we specialise in supporting developers and investors abroad, we decided to put our effort, learning and expertise into those fields.…Contracts, registration and guaranteesStory 2331.5.2025Hundreds of leads, zero deals: the surprising lesson from the Romanian property fairTwice a year, a real-estate fair is held at the Palace of the Parliament in Bucharest. Shai and I had visited it together several times, so when Shai started planning the new building on the plot he had bought a few months earlier…Development, building and financeStory 2224.5.2025The price of indecision: the story of an Israeli developer abroadMoti is an experienced developer. He has built quite a few buildings in Israel, and during the big wave of purchases in Romania in the first decade of the century he and his brother bought several plots. I supported them through the purchases back then, and I saw…Development, building and financeStory 213.5.2025Protecting investor money in international real estate: who guarantees your buyers' money?“The contract is only 10% of the story. A deep understanding of the gap between Israeli legal culture and the local one is the other 90% that makes a project succeed.” – Prof. David Levy, international law expert, Harvard UniversityContracts, registration and guaranteesStory 203.5.2025From 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…Management, tenants and rentalsStory 1926.4.2025The Learning Investor vs. the Social-Media Investor: Two Parallel Worlds in Real-Estate Investment AbroadFor almost 20 years I’ve been accompanying investors who want to invest abroad, and more than once I’ve written here about the differences between types of investors. Today, too, I want to focus on the difference between learning investors and social-media investors.Marketers, promises and trapsStory 1819.4.2025Is Investing in International Real Estate Really Throwing Money Away?This week I read a report on remarks by Yaakov Atrakchi, CEO and founder of the real-estate company Aura, at a real-estate conference, saying that people who buy property abroad are likely to “lose their money”. These remarks raise an important debate and touch a sensitive point…Development, building and financeStory 1719.4.2025The Myth of “Passive Income”, ShatteredEvery investor guide and/or property marketer tells you that if you invest in real estate, passive income is guaranteed. You just need to buy the apartment in Dimona or Lisbon and the money will simply flow into your bank account. Really?… You should read…Management, tenants and rentalsStory 1629.3.2025Empty Promises: Noam’s Ordeal on the Way to His Dream Apartment in RomaniaLet’s start at the end this time. After a tough negotiation in which the buyer gave in to every one of the seller’s demands, two months later the sellers still hadn’t managed to produce all the documents and approvals needed for the sale, and the buyer, our client,…Marketers, promises and trapsStory 151.3.2025Invested in Real Estate and the Management Company Swallowed Your Profits? There’s a SolutionI fly quite a lot, and over time I’ve learned that I hear the best stories, and sometimes the most surreal ones, on flights. The person sitting next to you, or someone who recognizes your face from social media, will tell you their problems, and when they find out…Management, tenants and rentalsStory 1415.2.2025Real-Estate Romance: Is a Cheap Investment the Right Move?I’m sitting in the office looking out the window at the rain, going over my last trip with a client to Athens in my head. He insisted on going to meet the owner of a building he had been negotiating to buy for the past two months, even though it was clear…Development, building and financeStory 138.2.2025Your Inheritance Abroad: Is the Will You Wrote Enough?Inheritances and wills always bring interesting stories with them, and interesting cases for us lawyers (and yes, quite a few fees alongside them). Having accompanied investors abroad for several years now, I’ve come across quite a few…Partners, family and inheritanceStory 121.2.2025“My Father Was a Mysterious Real-Estate Man”Sitting across from me was a man in his late 50s with a worried look. I had known his father, a pleasant pensioner of Romanian origin whom I had accompanied in several deals buying and selling apartments in Romania, but we never became friends, and all…Partners, family and inheritanceStory 1111.1.2025When Friendship Costs You: A Real-Estate Agent Story with a TwistRemember Oren, the young guy who flew to a bachelor party in Bucharest and came back having bought an apartment? Remember I wrote here about the apartment Oren bought against our professional advice? So let’s tell the story, and maybe draw a lesson or two from it.Partners, family and inheritanceStory 104.1.2025Want to Invest in Real Estate Abroad? Read This First!Oren, a young, energetic guy, came to his first meeting with me after visiting the office’s website. He told me he had gone to a bachelor party in Bucharest, and under the hotel there was a real-estate agency. He was curious what he could do with the little…Management, tenants and rentalsStory 921.12.2024Smart Real-Estate Marketing: Turning Your Property into an International BrandOne of the questions every real-estate developer faces is how to market the project: choosing the target audience and the marketing message. But what do I do when I’m building an apartment block in Bucharest, Athens or Porto and want to sell the apartments…Partners, family and inheritanceStory 821.12.2024Bucharest Isn’t BeershebaMoshe, a former career officer, took early retirement and was looking for something to do. With his retirement money he bought an apartment in Beersheba, renovated it and rented it to students. A few months later another opportunity came up to buy a second apartment in the same building, and he took it…Development, building and financeStory 716.11.2024Global Inheritance: A Reality Check for Real-Estate Investors. How Do You Weather the Storm?Last summer I managed to take a short break from everything going on at home and slip away with the family to a Greek island. On the second day, in the afternoon, I was sitting by the hotel pool with a drink…Partners, family and inheritanceStory 66.7.2024Going It Alone, and FrustratedWhen I’m abroad I prefer to look for the places locals go rather than the tourist spots. The local neighborhood restaurant always beats a city-center restaurant cooking international food and serving…Taxes and getting money homeStory 511.5.2024What Happened to My Company?“How can it be that there’s no plot registered in our company’s name?” he asked, astonished. “I’m holding an up-to-date land registry extract. According to the details you gave me, a different company is listed as the owner,” I replied.Development, building and financeStory 4The Subdivision That Saved the DealI love the hours around sunset on a Friday afternoon. It feels as if the world has stopped and everyone is gathering with their families for Shabbat. I’m enjoying a cup of coffee and the weekend paper when a WhatsApp message from an unknown number pops up on my iPhone…Development, building and financeStory 3International Real-Estate Development Under FireMom, are you listening? Your son turned out to be a doctor after all. Yes, a real doctor in a front-line wartime ER, wearing a white coat and treating urgent international real-estate cases even in the middle of the night.Development, building and financeStory 2Experience Is the Name of the Game“You’re living in a movie, Dad,” my daughter tells me as we watch together and I predict the next move in Suits, the hit American series that recently topped three billion weekly viewing hours for seven weeks straight.Contracts, registration and guaranteesStory 1The Land That Wasn’t in His Name“I don’t understand why I can’t sell the apartment!” He was practically barking at me down the phone. “Remember when you bought it, I explained that the land attached to the apartment couldn’t be registered in your name because you’re not a local citizen…Development, building and finance
These stories are general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Yield percentages from the original column were removed.