Dear Readers,
Before I even start today, I’d like to apologise for being so late with this post. I was supposed to post on Wednesday, but what happened…? Well, the whole thing’s been a pain in the neck, let me tell you!
A Pain In The Neck
I woke up Wednesday morning, and I was fine as a flower. Now, I know that’s not a very manly statement, but it was true! I really was fine as a flower, dandy as a dandelion (mate, you’re not helping yourself…). No, really, see the pic…
Then, a few minutes later, I decided to turn over. And so I did… and that was it. There was a huge “ZAP”, in my neck, and I completely froze. Now, this has happened before, and I generally ignore it. I pretend that the pain is not there, and it doesn’t bother me too much. On Wednesday though, it was different.
I tried to ignore it, as I normally do, and an hour later, I was a complete wreck. I was at the baker and the guy said “Dude, did you go to a doctor..?”. On my way home from there (i.e. a few minutes later), I bumped into my neighbour who said “Dude, you should go to see a doctor…”
I went to the pharmacy to get something for the pain, and I kid you not, the pharmacist said to me “man, you look like Stephen Hawking”.
(Naturally, he followed that up with a “you really should see a doctor…”)
Just walking hurt like crazy because when you’re walking, your body naturally goes up and down, which was all too much for my neck. There was no way I could look at a monitor and type (and hence this delayed post). In the end, I spent most of the day the only way I could, staring at my bedroom ceiling, thinking about how I can see the start of humidity issues there, and what will need to be done about said issues…
So dear Readers, please accept my apologies for this late post. It was not the dog that ate my homework, it was my neck…
Enough about me though! Today, I am posting my first contributor post! And it’s an Iranian Property Story! Wow right? A story from Iran! It’s almost scary (but not really). So, I got this story sent to me. I’ve had to edit it, so that it sounds like me, but it’s not my story. Still, I have done some careful thinking (and more!), and I’m adamant that the info in this story is legit (that’s vernacular for accurate). Iranian Property Story. How can it not be interesting..?
Iranian Property Story (Here Goes…)
In 2010 a friend wanted to buy a flat/apartment in west Tehran. They found a flat whose owner wanted to sell and migrate to Canada. So he needed a quick sale. The flat was 81 square metres on the fifth floor (also the top floor) of a nice building. This nice building had a total of 9 flats. The seller wanted to sell for 2.15 billion Iranian Rial (around US $180,000 at the time, so £145,000).
In the Middle East (Iran in this case), but also everywhere else practically, negotiation and bargaining is common. Here our buyer did his bit and reduced the price to about $1.95 billion (around 10%, not bad). The building was a new build (about 2 years old) with a nice view in a quiet neighborhood. Just to give you some perspective, 80 square metres is a very comfy 2 bed flat. A nice neighbourhood is like West Hampstead (West Tehran, West Hampstead. Makes sense right..?).
Imagine a 2 bed flat in West Hampstead for £145k! HA! In a quiet part? With a nice view?! ROTFL!!!!
Just Cos You’re Not A Pro…
Now, in Iran, apparently a lot of estate agents are not professionals and they don’t provide that much of a service. They don’t do any work on the property to make it more appealing for buyers (so no Mrs F then?). If they are professional they might give you some advice but usually that doesn’t happen (let’s face it, 90% of the time, you’re worried about an estate agent’s ulterior motive anyway – no matter where you are!). So it is in the hands of the owner to do things to make the property suitable for easy selling or good renting. As you would guess, because the agents actually don’t do much, they don’t get exclusive rights for renting/selling any property. In the end, as in most places, you can list your property with a few real estate agencies and whoever finds you a tenant or buyer gets the commission.
Again, like in most places, there are no specific viewing times in Iran. If people are still living in the property, the agent gives them a call and arranges the viewing. If it is empty, they should have the key and they just take you there to see it. In the case of this flat, at the time of inspection, no one was living there but it had been rented out to a lady who had stacked up her furniture in one bedroom and had gone to France. The owner and estate agent talked to the lady and found another place to store her furniture to be able to hand the keys to the buyers in time. Despite the agents not being pros, in this case, it does seem like the estate agent worked hard for his money!
Iranian Estate Agent Commissions (On Sales)
They usually get 0.5% (half a percent) of the price as commission from each side (total 1%). Now, in the UK, a normal estate agent will get 1%, if you give him exclusivity, or 2% if you don’t. However, the estate agent in the UK will only charge the seller (normally). In Greece, it’s like it is in Iran. The estate agent will charge both sides, and it’s not unusual for them to charge each side 2%. Nowadays though, things are a bit looser, since property sales in Greece have gone through the floor (except on the islands where things are ok!), so you can get better rates.
In Iran, like elsewhere, the agents have an interest in making a deal for the commission, so they usually don’t care if the deal is fair for both parties, or not. If they get a whiff that one side can be pushed this way or that, they would not hesitate to do that (so just like everywhere else really!). If one party is their friend, then they might take that side while pretending to be neutral. It’s very much the same in Greece. In the UK, I must say, it’s a little more balanced, but I’ve heard lots of stories from the UK too.
Growth of the value of the property in Iran is, once again, very much like everywhere else. It very much depends on its exact location. This buyer could have spent the same amount of money on a flat in another quarter of Tehran and the appreciation would have been different than it is now. This flat is worth twice the price now, around 4.5 billion rials. So not bad for 7 years, right? Check out the detail though… the value of the Iranian Rial has fallen by a tremendous amount against the USD. So, in USD, the property is now worth around 30% less than it was in 2010! A kick in the nuts for sure…
On the plus side, the owner has collected around 1 billion in rent in the seven years, so, that’s been some consolation.
Conclusion
Well, from this Iranian Property story at least, it seems to me like the Iranian real estate market operates in a very similar manner to many other real estate markets (as you may have noticed from my generous use of the phrase “like elsewhere…”). They’re suffering because of the devaluation of their currency, but if your currency does not devalue, that doesn’t necessarily mean you’re better off.
(Greece is a wonderful example of that – most Greeks wish their economy was more like Iran right now!).
Generally speaking, I’ve learnt two things from all the above:
- The Iranian property market seems like a normal place.
- A pain in the neck can really mess you up…
Well, dear Readers? What do you make of it all? Let me know! In the meantime, I wish you a great Saturday night, and I do genuinely hope your necks are all fine!
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