Our partner in Romania is Tavi Bota. Tavi, a Romanian entrepreneur with
British residency has studied the Romanian property market for many years and is widely recognised as the country's best-informed independent property market analyst.

Tavi was instrumental in the production of the Property Secrets Romanian Market Forecast report two years ago, which correctly predicted a number of property investment opportunities in Romania.

With all our deal finders, the first thing we do when they put forward a deal for consideration is to subject them to the Elevator Test - can they convince us quickly that this is a great deal. Here are our questions and Tavi's answers...

Tavi, this is the lowest cost deal we've seen presented in Romania so far. But does low cost necessarily mean high growth?

This is a good point because I know a lot of people expect Romania to be cheap, relative to other CEE markets - but it is not as cheap as many expect.

I do know that a low-cost entry point - and here we are talking of prices between €675 to €878 psm - is appealing to many investors. That is really an excellent price - not only is it cheap for an overseas investor, it is also a good price in the Brasov market.

BUT, and this is what I want to stress - the price is less important than whether these units are affordable to the sector of the domestic market they are aimed at, because this represents an investor's exit plan.

OK, I will talk a little about the deal itself in a moment, the quality of the development and the location - these are all very important. But first, let's clear one key point up - affordability.

In short, the answer is 'yes', these units are highly affordable to a middle class professional in Brasov.

We can be sure of this for three reasons.

First, units in the first phase of Tampa Gardens are already around 60 per cent sold to locals on terms that are not as good as we secured, and this happened within days of them going to market.

We secured our terms and cherry picked our apartments before the units went on general release, by the way.

This sale of 60 per cent took place just three weeks ago. This tells us the prices - higher than those we have secured - are at least at market level.

And here's the second reason - you can work out affordability quite easily.

Let's assume a mortgage of €50,000 on a one-bed apartment in this development for a local in Brasov.

Over 30 years at six per cent, we're talking about €500 per month. Now, we need to ask if there is a good proportion of professionals in Brasov earning, say, €1,000 a month net. The answer, I can assure you, is yes. Plenty.

Thirdly, the valuation report we commissioned valued these units at €900 psm, considerably higher than the price we have secured.

So, I am perfectly happy that these units are being offered at below market rate and market rate, as far as I'm concerned, means what the market can absorb and is willing and able to pay.

Again, this development is a winner because right now there are so few in the same category - highly affordable and yet with a great deal of class and offering a luxury development feel. In fact there is only one other directly comparable development - Euro Residence - built by the same developer and all sold.

...and high growth?

Undoubtedly, we are talking about high growth, yes. This is a local developer, along with a Belgian partner and he knows this market well. He builds quickly but to a very high standard.

I know it sounds like marketing, but in this case it really is true to say that these are luxury units at a non-luxury price.

I mean the location is superb, near the city - just 2.2 kilometres away - and also on the fringe of the beautiful nationally protected parkland behind. There is even a spa and a gym included - for this price you do not expect these kinds of facilities.

I've also closely inspected Euro Residence and the quality is very high.

Tampa Gardens also has that certain wow factor that Romanians love - lots of glass and strikingly modern. I mean, just look at the picture!
This is a superbly positioned development - a little oasis just outside the centre of Brasov.

So, these units will be in high demand. The fact is that they will be completed in just 14 months and we know the developer has factored in price rises of 20 to 25 per cent. This is not an anticipation of market growth. These are price rises simply based on later phase buying. Market growth is in addition.

I think, undoubtedly, we're looking at a conservative growth forecast of 30 per cent a year for at least a couple of years.

OK, we've seen a lot of talk among investors about finance in Romania. Isn't this a negative for investors.

I'm very bullish about finance.

The fact is that the market is developing and changing every day. There are even strong suggestions of an interest-only product coming onto the market by the end of the year.

But, let me be straight here, that is a product that will come, yes; but right now it isn't available. So let's detail what is out there and what Romanian banks will offer - in the most general terms, obviously.

Loan to value right now is 75 per cent. That is no problem. After that the bank will look at your income and deduct your tax liability and all other liabilities to arrive at a net monthly figure. And, at the moment, they will lend you pretty much any multiple so long as the monthly repayment is not more than 35 per cent of your net monthly income, as they have calculated it.

Of course, there are arrangement fees and so forth, as you would expect in such a young market. But this, quite frankly, is the price you pay for access to such dynamic growth.

In addition, we are pretty certain that the 35 per cent of net income figure will rise to 40 per cent very soon.

I am personally investing in this market and, while I base my calculations on the figures I've just outlined, I have no doubt that much more flexible and exciting products will be available very soon, including the interest only loan.

So, who is this investment most likely to suit?

I think I have to be a little bit boring here and say pretty much anyone who wants a great price on a very exciting development in a superb location and who is also interested in high capital growth, obviously.

But, I suppose we could argue that Tampa Gardens is so low priced that it would suit the more cautious investor. Someone who is attracted by the huge price growth potential in the Romanian market and Brasov in particular, but who is wary about putting forward too large an outlay prior to much stronger finance products being available.

Those products are just around the corner, I have no doubt. But anyone who likes to deal only with and think about what is on the table right now, must, surely, be strongly drawn to this deal.

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