How Professionals Filter Properties Before Looking at Price

1. First filter: micro-location (not the area in general)

Professionals do not buy “Marousi,” “City Center,” or “Northern Suburbs.”
They buy a specific street.

They assess:

• noise and traffic exposure,

• orientation and sunlight,

• proximity to disturbances,

• neighborhood character,

• access to transport and daily services.

If the micro-location fails,
the property is rejected — regardless of how cheap it looks.

2. Second filter: layout and functionality

The floor plan is a structural value driver.

Professionals look for:

• wasted square meters,

• awkward angles,

• unnecessary corridors,

• poor living–kitchen relationships,

• lack of storage.

Layouts:

• are hard to fix,

• define future buyer and tenant pools.

Bad layout = narrow audience = low liquidity.

3. Third filter: natural light and orientation

Natural light is one of the most underestimated filters.

A property is evaluated based on:

• daylight hours,

• orientation of main living spaces,

• size and number of openings.

Professionals know:

dark properties cannot be “saved” by renovation.

4. Fourth filter: construction quality or upgrade potential

Not all older properties are bad —
but not all can be meaningfully upgraded.

Professionals assess:

• structural integrity,

• ceiling heights,

• insulation potential,

• plumbing and electrical systems,

• overall solidity.

Assets that require structural gymnastics to become acceptable
are filtered out early.

5. Fifth filter: liquidity and future audience

The key question is not:

“Who likes this today?”

But:

“Who will want this in 5–10 years?”

Professionals examine:

• breadth of buyer pool,

• rental demand depth,

• realistic exit scenarios.

If a property appeals to a very narrow audience,
liquidity is structurally limited.

6. Sixth filter: legal clarity

Properties with:

• zoning ambiguities,

• unresolved planning issues,

• “to be regularized” assumptions,

• unclear title status,

are treated as risk assets.

Professionals:

• do not rely on promises,

• do not buy with footnotes.

Legal clarity comes before yield.

7. Seventh filter: resilience over time

Final question:

Will this property remain relevant across cycles, trends, and conditions?

If the answer is uncertain,
price becomes irrelevant.

Because a cheap asset that does not endure
is ultimately expensive.

8. Only then does price enter the conversation

Only after a property passes all filters
does pricing matter.

At that stage, professionals ask:

• is it justified versus the market?

• does it protect capital?

• does it allow flexibility?

Price is a decision tool, not a starting point.

The Poli Real Estate approach

At Poli Real Estate, property selection follows this exact order.

This means:

• many listings are rejected early,

• fewer but stronger opportunities are considered,

• decisions are based on liquidity and long-term value.

We do not search for cheap properties.
We search for the right properties at the right price.

Conclusion

The difference between professionals and amateurs is not negotiation skill.
It is filtering discipline.

Those who start with price
often end up with the wrong asset.

Those who start with quality
always have options — even in difficult markets.

In real estate, the ability to reject correctly is more important than the ability to buy quickly. This is the philosophy behind Poli Real Estate.