Network News, January 2006, A Coldwell Banker Johnston Publication

Justin Rushdi spent the month of September 2005 traveling through Iran with his 64 year old father. Why, in this unstable time would he choose to visit a country such as Iran? His answer is simple: “family and curiosity.” He’d never met many members of his family, and his uncle was ill, in his mind the timing was right.

He saw a lot of the country, including Tehran, Hamedon, Rashdt and Chaloose which are along the Caspian sea, Isfahan, and Mashad where most of his family lives (a map is available here). The climate changed from dry and hot with barely get any rain (we had 26 straight days of sun) to lush farm land with humidity “like nothing I’ve ever experienced.” Luckily Justin’s father is semi-fluent in Farsi, making traveling easier.

Real Estate in Iran is booming. Residences for the most part are more apartments or condos. People are doubling their investments in very short times in their current market. Land in the big city centers is extremely costly, and there are high rises going up everywhere. Builders take many years to finish one building as they are massive since there is very little room. “I saw a few big homes but they are gated and very private, the people who have lots of money, in comparison to the rest, really have lots of money.” There are brokers but the society is very social; word of mouth is definitely an advertising force, leading to a lot of FSBO’s.

Much like when Sheldon visits Ontario, Justin was advised not to talk about politics with the locals. He says: “There is a president of Iran who was elected by the people; however the clergy have their hands into every aspect of the government. There are copious amounts of corruption present. Things are tense because there is an aging religious population who are being replaced with a younger more liberal population of young adults. From what I saw and heard it seems that the clergy is losing their grip marginally but it would be more like decades then years before there is any real major change.”

The other major difference in everyday life that Justin mentioned was shopping – everything is negotiable, even in shopping malls that look much like what we have here. In a mall, if you’re looking for jewelry, there will be an entire hallway of jewelry stores next to each other so comparison shopping is easy. And if you’re curious, it costs $4 cdn to fill your tank with gas.

	Justin's Travels				Justin Rushdi
	Justin Rushdi spent the month of September 2005 traveling through Iran with his 64 year old father. Why, in this unstable time would he choose to visit a country such as Iran? His answer is simple: “family and curiosity.” He’d never met many members of his family, and his uncle was ill, in his mind the timing was right. He saw a lot of the country, including Tehran, Hamedon, Rashdt and Chaloose which are along the Caspian sea, Isfahan, and Mashad where most of his family lives (a map is available here). The climate changed from dry and hot with barely get any rain (we had 26 straight days of sun) to lush farm land with humidity “like nothing I’ve ever experienced.” Luckily Justin’s father is semi-fluent in Farsi, making traveling easier. Real Estate in Iran is booming. Residences for the most part are more apartments or condos. People are doubling their investments in very short times in their current market. Land in the big city centers is extremely costly, and there are high rises going up everywhere. Builders take many years to finish one building as they are massive since there is very little room. “I saw a few big homes but they are gated and very private, the people who have lots of money, in comparison to the rest, really have lots of money.” There are brokers but the society is very social; word of mouth is definitely an advertising force, leading to a lot of FSBO’s. Much like when Sheldon visits Ontario, Justin was advised not to talk about politics with the locals. He says: “There is a president of Iran who was elected by the people; however the clergy have their hands into every aspect of the government. There are copious amounts of corruption present. Things are tense because there is an aging religious population who are being replaced with a younger more liberal population of young adults. From what I saw and heard it seems that the clergy is losing their grip marginally but it would be more like decades then years before there is any real major change.” The other major difference in everyday life that Justin mentioned was shopping – everything is negotiable, even in shopping malls that look much like what we have here. In a mall, if you’re looking for jewelry, there will be an entire hallway of jewelry stores next to each other so comparison shopping is easy. And if you’re curious, it costs $4 cdn to fill your tank with gas.				Buyer's Specialist Coldwell Banker Supercity Realty Halifax, NS justin-rushdi@coldwellbanker.ca Justin is an integral part of Mariana Cowan's Team. He recently handled a referral from us and got very positive reviews. Click on any of Justin's photos to see a slide show of his travels. You may have to click the play button at the bottom right hand corner of the screen to start the slide show.