When a family looks for a three- or four-room apartment, the criteria change completely compared with a first purchase. Adrian Ciocoiu, CEO of VIB Real Estate and imo360, explains to Agenda de București what really weighs in the decision, which areas are worth watching for investment, and which mistakes are paid for over years.

Schools and kindergartens, the criterion that decides

For three- or four-room apartments, proximity to schools and kindergartens is one of the most important selection criteria.

The reasoning is simple: families with children are not looking for spectacle, they are looking for predictability. A short trip to school means time recovered every single day, for years — and that calculation outweighs finishes or a more generous balcony.

The areas most sought after by families remain Drumul Taberei, Tineretului, Aviației and Sisești — neighbourhoods with parks, schools and settled communities.

Areas to watch for investment

For those treating the purchase partly as an investment, Ciocoiu recommends monitoring the areas where infrastructure is developing fastest:

• Theodor Pallady — rapid development and improving access.
• Sisești–Străulești — an area gaining from infrastructure expansion.
• Expoziției — one of the most dynamic areas of the capital.

Infrastructure is the variable that shifts an area's value most over the medium term. Not today's price, but tomorrow's access.

The real cost of a home is not the purchase price

One of the most common confusions: the sale price is not the cost of the home. Added to it, month after month:

• Maintenance and administration fees.
• Parking — actually available, not merely promised.
• Commuting time, translated into hours per week.
• Access to services: schools, shops, doctor, transport.

Two apartments at the same price can have very different total costs after five years of living there.

The most common mistakes

• Choosing on price alone, without comparing total cost.
• Visiting the neighbourhood only at the weekend — when traffic, noise and parking look nothing like Monday morning.
• Deciding emotionally, without an objective comparison against the market.

The first month on the market is the most valuable for a seller — and the first viewing is the most misleading for a buyer. Both deserve data rather than impressions.

Advice for a first purchase

Set three or four essential criteria you will not compromise on, and stay flexible about everything that can be improved later — paint can be changed, location cannot.

And look at the purchase over a five-to-ten-year horizon, not as a decision for this year. A home that suits the stage you are in now but is wrong for the next one quickly becomes an expensive problem.

Interview given by Adrian Ciocoiu, CEO of VIB Real Estate and imo360, to Agenda de București (6 August 2026).

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