Celebrating at "Caru cu bere" - Alina, Petru, Alex
Celebrating at "Caru cu bere" - Alina, Petru, Alex

Meeting Alina at “Caru cu bere” to discuss home ownership and life in the UK

Discussing home ownership, life in the UK, and why it's not easy to buy property cross-border with income from abroad with one of our early customers.

Petru Dimulescu
Written by Petru Dimulescu
Published at 2022-08-19
Last updated on 2023-09-13
Readtime 2 minutes

Friday meet-up

We met with Alina at Bucharest’s best spot for Romanian food to talk about her experience buying a home back home in Romania.

She is one of our first customers to complete the purchase of a property in her home country, Romania.

Alina is from Romania and lived for 8 years in New York, before moving to the UK. “They removed the direct flight from New York to Bucharest, so London was the next best alternative”. 

There, she works in complex care, tending to patients that need extra help. She travels to Romania at least once a month to visit her family and friends. 

She finds life back home better than in the UK and loves fishing in Brăila. “It’s something I did growing up, and it makes me happy.”

Alina is happy to have bought the house of her dreams

Eventually, she got tired of staying with friends and in rented flats when going home. She found a beautiful apartment where she could go to the seaside and easily access central Bucharest.

When she tried to apply for a mortgage on her own, the banks drove her crazy. “They just couldn't give me a straight answer. At first, they asked for my contract and bank statements, with translations. When I came to their branch, they asked for additional documents, with more translations. Then they wanted the documents notarized. And after all that work, they declined me. I was very upset.”

When she found Homevest, she was already close to giving up. “Homevest made the whole process so easy. It took less than six weeks to buy my home because they knew exactly what documents I needed, and which banks had the best products for non-residents like me.”

Over some papanași, we talk about the difficulties many Romanians experience in the UK and her plans for the future. “I think eventually I will retire in Romania. The UK is great for making money, but Romania is home. There, I can go fishing with my son, and enjoy all the great food we have here.”

Questions from Homevest for Alina


1. Tell us a bit about yourself
Hello! Nice to meet you! Thank you very much for your support! 🙂 I am 46 years old and for almost 7 years l live in England where I work in the medical domain.

2. Why did you decide to buy a property in Romania? And why now?
I think it's a good way to invest your money but also because I need it. I tried to buy a house for many years and l really struggled with this one. I fought with the system and the bureaucracy from Romania and now you made it possible in 6 weeks.
Can't believe it even now…

3. What was the hardest part about buying in Romania from abroad?
The hardest part is that the Romanian banks don't understand the work system which is in the UK for example. Many banks asked for all the documents to be translated in Romanian and legalized with a public notary from Romania. This costs a lot of money and time. 
And here is another problem because all documents in the UK are signed with black ink and Romanian law is asking for blue ink if you want to translate and legalize a document.

4. How did Homevest make the process easier for you?
First of all, l want to say that what l haven't succeeded in 6 years l have done now in 6 weeks…unbelievable!!! With Homevest l knew exactly who I need to get in touch to make things easy. And what is a plus in all this was the COMMUNICATION which was fantastic and easy. Homevest gave me all the support and information I needed! Anytime! Which was really great!

5. What advice would you give to others that are interested in buying a home back home?
Just get in touch with Homevest! Best solution that l ever had!!!

6. What accommodation did you use when visiting Romania before owning? 
I got a rental apartment which cost me much more than l pay the mortgage now.

7. What do you look forward to, now that you have your own place back home?
l do my best to finish paying this one quickly and then why not buy another one…haha!

8. What’s the best thing about Romania?
People like you!...for example! This is my home…and will always be! I travel, l do enjoy my work but l have my soul here! And then you find the best pickles in the world! Haha…

9. How did you find out about Homevest?
After the 3rd bank rejected my credit request l was desperate. And l was looking in the middle of the night on the internet…trying to find some solutions…and found you!

10. What could we improve in the home-buying process?
l think that if you give the people the right information and facilitate the process like you have already done with me will be great!

11. Would you recommend Homevest’s service to your friends?
100%. Really appreciate what you have done for me!
I HAVE A HOUSE NOW!!! OMG!!!

Thank you Alina for being such a great customer.

Homevest Team

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