Our branch manager Liduška was kindly invited to give a small presentation at an annual event organized by our partner, Brno Expat Centre. The purpose of this event is to share and spread information and tips and tricks about real estates and housing in Brno, to foreigners. And, trust me, thanks to all of you seeking help from us, we have a lot to say. There were 4 speakers altogether.
We were first invited by Don Sparling , the co-founder of BEC.The first speaker was Mrs. Andrea Černá, who runs a real estate agency City Real Estate specializing in finding accommodation for foreigners, just like us. She spoke about the process before renting an apartment and mentioned there is a new trend occurring in real estate business lately. A lot of her clients like to choose their apartment ahead, prior to their arrival to Czech Republic. The next speaker was our branch manager Liduška Nerudová. She shared a lot of important information about what to do once you move in – legal help that might be needed, tips on how to remember to pay bills on time and how to pay them via direct debit, how the security deposit works, how to pay attention to the lease agreement itself and important dates in it, how the deposits for utilities work and other useful tips. The third speaker was a lawyer, Mr. David Záhumenský.
He had a lot to say because there is a new Civil Code in Czech Republic since the beginning of 2014. He talked about all the changes in law related to housing or purchasing a property as a foreigner. Many issues were discussed, the most important laws that changed can be also found in one of the articles published by the Brno Expat Centre. The last speaker was Mr. Ivo Válka from Uniqa, an insurance company. He talked about the difference between house insurance and household insurance. He strongly advised everyone to have some kind of household insurance and he shared a very important tip – find out what house insurance does your landlord have and get a household insurance from the same company. It should be easier since everything is covered for sure then. After some questions were asked and answers were given and then an informal networking took place. Our poor Liduška was nervous at first, but her prepared speech was outstanding and it only took a glass of wine for the nervousness to go away and to enjoy the rest of the night. 
We met some really interesting people who were interested in us as well and enjoyed the whole event very much. Thank you, BEC, for inviting us and we are already looking forward to all the future events!
