Rent or Buy an Apartment in Russia - Davidliam/Edu-Technic GitHub Wiki

The Russian market is becoming one of the main objectives of companies in the Russian real estate sector. Understanding the characteristics of the Russian home buyer is critical to being successful in this market.

There are many articles in the press that talk about the profile of the Russian home buyer in Moscow, however, there are few statistical sources and official reports to analyze the behavior of Russian home buyers, so making an accurate analysis is quite complicated.

Historically, within the real estate market, there has been a situation in which foreigners who live in Russia for a long time, for work reasons, for example, prefer, in most cases, to rent apartments rather than buy them. This is mainly linked to the large taxes that a non-resident has to pay in case they decide to sell their property in the future. When the ruble weakened dramatically. Now, for a foreign citizen, even Moscow (who, by the way, has the right to choose in which currency he is going to get his salary), it is more beneficial to buy an apartment than to rent it. The why, we are going to tell in this article on https://moscowestates.com.

Buying a property in Russia

Property agencies say that now is the best time for foreigners to get hold of real estate in Russia, regardless of location. Also, Russians will be happy to sell you an apartment or house because they know that foreigners will always give a better price for a property.

First, let's look at the numbers. For example, a Moscow works as an engineer and has a salary of 7 thousand Dollars in Moscow, which would be quoted at about 530 thousand rubles. He does not want to change his job, everything is going great for him. You live in the capital for a year, two, five ... Suppose you rent an apartment in a comfortable neighborhood near the center, which would be about 50 thousand rubles a month. So in five years, he has to pay 3 million, which is what a one-bedroom apartment in the same neighborhood costs. But it is not very profitable. During that time, a foreigner who considers continuing to live in Russia can save enough money to buy an apartment, even if he continues to rent it. One similar to the one we have just described or, perhaps, that same floor. Why not?

But for a foreigner a question always arises: what am I going to do with a flat in Russia if I decide to return to my country? The best option is to rent it. It will always be a good option because the situation in the real estate market in Russia means that Russians themselves rent apartments for most of their lives or have 25-year mortgages with an interest rate of 15%. That is why you will always have a constant income. The biggest problem here is choosing responsible tenants. For example, families with children are considered good, while students, on the contrary, have a reputation for causing trouble and being irresponsible. And it is not only about apartments in Moscow or St. Petersburg, but also in any other city in the country, more or less important. For instance, it is almost impossible to rent an apartment in a village where there is no factory or something similar. In short: there are more possibilities to rent an apartment that is located in Vladivostok even though it is very far from the capital than a flat in Kozelsk, which is practically around the corner from Moscow.

Details of the purchase

If you have decided to get an apartment in Russia, you must not forget certain details. Now we are going to give you some legal information.

In Russia, there are no restrictions for a foreigner to buy urban or rural housing. There are restrictions on the purchase of agricultural land, but if non-resident plan to build a house, the limitations do not apply to them. Of course, the key condition, in this case, is the legal stay in Russia.

Real estate can also be acquired by certified authorization abroad, but it must be legalized in Russia and translated into Russian, the official language of the Russian Federation. In addition, this translation must be certified before a notary.

The most difficult and responsible moment is the contract settlements. There is a "classic" option, so to speak: settlements by bank cash. If they decide to use this method, it is necessary to examine the lease of the bank safe carefully and pay attention to the conditions of access to the safe. It can be a contract for the purchase and sale of a flat in the name of the registered acquirer or a document before the Unified State Registry of Rights for Real Estate and operations with them. Better that they ask for the verification of the bills put in the bank box. Everything for safety!

There is another more civilized option but not very widespread among physical buyers, and it is the settlement method with the use of bank documentary credit. It is more civilized because it is a cashless type of operation.

They should not forget that all transactions with real estate in Russia are carried out only in rubles. The parties, if they wish, can match the ruble to any currency. The citizenship of the parties is not relevant since most operations are carried out in cash.

The next stage is the formalization of the contract. Before this step, you should read and examine all the details and linked documents one more time. It is also necessary to pay attention to the deadlines in which the seller must leave the apartment or house.

The contract must be registered at the state level and is considered signed when that registration goes into effect. They can do this at any branch of the Directorate of the Moscow Federal Registration Service. They have to submit two applications for each party (buyer and seller), personal documents, those of the apartment, and a receipt for payment of state tax. All expenses for the registration of the contract are duly paid by the buyer, in accordance with Russian practice.

The last stage is the physical transfer of ownership. Upon receiving the money, the seller must give the purchaser a corresponding receipt note. But it is not all as easy as we have described. You have to examine all the documentation very carefully. Real estate market specialists are very skeptical about the possibility of signing a purchase-sale contract without errors and problems in the future.