Bogdan Bălașa is the General Manager of HILS Development, one of the main real estate developers in Romania, which aims to build new communities, while promoting access to quality living for as many residents as possible. HILS currently has 6 residential projects launched, a planned project horizon of 20 years and has publicly committed to delivering 1000 homes per year.
HILS is also one of VAUNT's partners, and today we are pleased to share more of their vision and plans through this interview with Bogdan Bălașa:
How is the residential market developing in Romania? What trends are you seeing and what are buyers looking for?
We are witnessing a maturing process of the residential market in Romania, both from the perspective of the increasing level of information and education of buyers, as well as the growing need for professionalization among real estate developers.
Buyers are much more interested in integrated, mixed-use residential projects, as well connected as possible to a transport infrastructure and related services that ensure the highest possible quality of life.
What makes Romania a good residential investment option for both locals and foreigners?
The affordability of the purchase represents the main advantage that the residential market in Romania still enjoys and, personally, I believe that it will remain at an attractive level in the next 3-5 years.
Also, the investment returns are superior to other returns in the Central and Eastern Europe area, and these two main factors put real estate investments, and especially residential ones, at the top of the placement of capital list.
It is also important to emphasize the fact that big cities, especially Bucharest, still have free land with generous, well-located areas, which can give rise to future mixed-use real estate projects for urban regeneration.
You have publicly committed to delivering 1000 homes delivered/year. What made you publicly declare this ambitious goal?
We have achieved this highly ambitious standard of efficiency with the help of a very well organized and coordinated internal structure, both in terms of the construction team and in the office support departments.
This public undertaking is intended to convey the confidence that HILS Development has in the development potential of the residential market in Romania. We estimate a shortage of new homes, both numerically and qualitatively, in the most important development regions in the country, starting, of course, with the Bucharest-Ilfov metropolitan area.
What impact do you think digitization has on the residential industry? Which processes benefit the most from digitization?
Digitization is beginning to increasingly transform the residential industry which, by its nature, is more resistant to this process than other fields.
At HILS Development, starting this year, we implemented an ERP software solution that integrates the activity of all departments in one place, with the ultimate goal of tracking with much greater accuracy the company's business objectives at a general level, as well as to each individual residential project.
In the HILS organizational chart, there is a digitization and software implementation department coordinated by a CIO (chief information officer), with the objective of identifying and implementing digital and process automation solutions that significantly increase efficiency on certain levels.
An example of high-performance digitalization, for us, is the CRM-type work interface for the sales team and the online platform for managing the monthly payment invoices after reception of apartments.
Why did you choose VAUNT and how does it help you in practice?
The VAUNT solution was recommended to us by one of the consultants we collaborated with at the beginning of the development of the HILS Pallady mixed-use residential project in 2019.
VAUNT helps sales consultants to manage the leads from the various promotion channels we access as efficiently as possible.
For the sales department, VAUNT is very useful in following up with a qualified lead, covering all offer details before a transaction, sending information about HILS products, setting reminders and recording feedback - all of these leading to interacting with a potential client as qualitatively as possible.
The marketing department is also very interested in the information presented in VAUNT to measure the effectiveness of the different promotion channels used and to constantly recalibrate the ongoing campaigns.
More details about HILS Development are available here.
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