Way to Russia Talk Lounge

Pauley · Guest

What a shocker...

On this forum I'd heard $90K would buy "something nice, renovated". Ha!

1,000 sq.ft. with a view of the canal (near the Hermitage) is $260K (two hundred sixty thousand). So much for my (obviously naive) idea of a retirement place in StP. I got this data from a realtor adversing in the StP Times.

pauley

Roxana · Guest

You are right, the prices are the highest now and they are increasing every week. 1000$ per sq. m. for not renovated flat, without great view, etc. How to buy an inexpensive flat?

1. Forget about view to the canal, windows to Nevsky prospect, etc. the price for such flats is 2-3 times more, than if they did not have a view.
2. Buy Not renovated flat and arrange renovation, it is not so expensive.
3. Realtors, will offer you first only the most expensive units. But you should seek in newspaper or Internet database, with help of Russian partner.

For 90.000$ you CAN buy a good flat about 90-120 sq. m. in the center, good area, but without renovation and without canal view. Renovation will cost you 200-300$ per sq. meter and will take 4-6 months.

Guest · Guest

For $10,000 US you can buy a pretty nice flat in Minsk Belarus... Is St Petersburg that much nicer? Minsk had some stunning women!

Dan · Posted: Wed Nov 12, 2003 6:59 pm Post subject: Appartments

The market is booming now - prices for appartments in Moscow and St.Pete are rising from month to month. The reason is - many people in Russian now have enough savings to own an apartment. So people buy apartments to live in. Besides, appartments considered to be the good investment. It is safer and more profitable than deposit and it is not that risky as any financinal instrument.
Some experts saying that sooner or later the prices will go down, because there is growing supply of recently built blocks of flats. So, perhaps, you should wait and not buy the appartment at the highest price.

Lena Z. · Guest

One my friend, an expert in this business told me that he thinks that next year the flats that cost now 1000-1200$ per sq. m. will cost 2000$. We will see. Yes, there are many new houses, but there is no place in the center to built them, so, the flats with prime location will be every day more expensive. And in the near future the people in Russia will have even more money, because the oil prices are higher and higher, almost any business in Russia is going well now, economy grows fast (7% per year).

Guest · Posted: Wed Nov 19, 2003 7:19 am Post subject:

I have done a little research on the prices of flats in and around St.Petersburg, and was considering moving there part time. I began looking near the city center, but these flats were just too expensive. Then I moved my search outward, all the way to the end of all metro stations. Of course, the further you move out the less expensive, but the city center is still easily accessible by metro, and a lot less congested with traffic. Although I found some great flats at afforable prices I decided to go further. I suggest to anyone wanting to buy, or looking for long term rental try looking maybe to Strelna, Pushkin, or maybe Petrovorets (maybe I misspelled this one). These areas are beautiful, and the rates are very much lower. All these areas are just a short way by train, or bus, and a place to get away from the busy city life. I here the prices are going up now in Strelna because President Putin has built a residence there.

steven2046 · Frequent Guest Joined: 22 Jul 2003 Posts: 15 Location: UK

hi Pauley
I found this website http://www.spbapt.com/
most of the apartments are for rent.
but one studio in moyka area is on sale for 60,000 euro

maybe you can try to give them a call

AMH · Just Starting Joined: 21 Sep 2004 Posts: 7

So wheer is the best area to buy in St Petersburg if price wasnt a barrier. So is it the canal views of Nevsky Prospekt?

AMH · Just Starting Joined: 21 Sep 2004 Posts: 7

jpfalcon20 · Posted: Mon Oct 11, 2004 3:23 am Post subject:

Here is a great place to find a real good apartment to rent while in st petersburg. I have stayed here every time and it has been Awsome. The prices are also great i think. Hope it helps if anyone is looking for a place to stay.

http://www.dailyexpress.ru/

The Admiralty 1 is the best I THINK.

Lena Z. · Just Starting Joined: 12 Oct 2004 Posts: 1

I am sorry, I do not understand well your question.

The best and the most expensive zone is considered to be "Golden Triangle", the area between Nevsky, Fontanka and Neva river (where Hotel Europe, Russian Museum, Hermitage are located). B. Morskaya and M. Morskaya streets are also popular. If you buy a flat with a river view in this area (Neva, Moika, Canal or Fontanka), it is the most prestigious (but it is expensive and especially difficult to find, because people rarely sell such flats).

Also, after this, there are other areas and good streets with lower prices in the center. Now there are some new pedestrian renovated zones and streets, where there are good opportunities, especially for the large flats. Also, all people have their preferences about the zone, some like busy at big streets with traffic or Nevsky, some like quiet. For example close to the Mariinsky Theater and Sennaya Square (the area is called Admiralteisky, I now like this area very much because it is still "human", quiet and autentic)... Some areas are nice for living (quiet green streets), some for commercial use, renting, etc.

So wheer is the best area to buy in St Petersburg if price wasnt a barrier. So is it the canal views of Nevsky Prospekt?[/quote]

stanj

The center is where people want to live when they first move to the city but eventually they drift off to other areas because the noise, dirty air and congestions in the Inner Fontanka. Where the best place for you would be would be determined by your lifestyle. The most exclusive homes and neighbirhoods are north of the center on a few islands where $1-20,000,000 homes have been built. A new development is going in for 47 homes where the cheapest is $1,900,000 and go up to $5,200,000 offered by a development company, Concord, which also owns some of the better restaurants in town,
After living in several areas, I liked the Black River area (Chernaya Richka) due to broad uncrowded tree lined street, low noise and lots of parks and the Neva. It is also a reasonably priced area, $900-1200/meter
A popular area for comfortable life is a long Moskovskaya near Park Pobedy. Petrogrogradskaya area is quite popular for quality of life reasons.
The city center sales have stalled out a little in recent months, less liquidity and longer periods on the market but there is no indication of prices dropping. I lived right on Nevsky pr for a while and loved the action but it was very noisy. My first apartment was a real bargain on Fontanka 30 meters from Anichov Bridge. I was crazy for selling it because that little $23,000 flat +$8k in remodeling sold by the person I sold it to for $124,000. Another area which is coming into its own is lower Nevsky pr. It used to have a poor rep but recently the trendiest shops and cafes have move down there and it is now a very nice place to live, quieter than further north but still very convienent and near the river on the southern end.
New apartments in the suburbs are running between $650-1200/meter and older but nice areas close in are topping out at $2500/meter and the city center is going for anywhere from $1200-3600/meter. The suburbs are bargains if you have a car and don't need as many services but new places do not have much style or flare like a 200 year old city center building does.
Good luck with finding a good property
stan

rikrok · Posted: Thu Nov 04, 2004 5:25 pm Post subject:

I'm interested in buying an apartment in St Petersburg too, the inforamtion on here is all very useful as guidance. However theres one thing I cannot find ana answer to - how to finance the purchase.

If you have cash there are $3000 limits on what can be brought to Russia - it'll take a lot of trips through customs to reach $100K.

Standard banking systems do not seem to have the ability to transfer funds into Russia easily, (i've not found a bank yet that can do this)
I have no idea if there are mortgages availalbe for foreigners,

And on top of all this I've heard that property deals are always done in US$ Cash. $100K seems a hefty amount of cash to be wandering the streets of St Petersburg with !!

Anyone got any helpful info?

stanj · Posted: Thu Nov 04, 2004 6:58 pm Post subject: Buying in SPb

Hello rikrok
Bank transfers are the accepted way business is done in Russia even for minor bills such as electric bills, since checks are not used here.
Any bank worth its name can do a bank transfer to Russia so ask for referrals. They will need a little info, the receiving banks SWIFT and Routing numbers, the bank account info for example.
That means you need to either open your own account in Russia to receive the money or be very sure of the seller for a direct transfer into his account. It is easy to set up an account and as a foreigner you can set up a hard currency account to receive it in Pounds so conversion fees will be lower in Russia than in London.
Select a large national Russian bank such as Sberbank or Alpha Bank or one of the many European banks which have gotten into that market lately further increasing the stability of the whole industry there. Just avoid the smaller private banks.

You have no restrictions on the amounts brought into Russia or with the proper documentation, how much you take out. Most people think the limits on $10k (recent increase) on exit it the top amount. It is for those not wanting to provide documents proving where they got the cash.

But as you suggest, carrying $100k in any city in the world is not a good idea.

Buying is easy but unfamiliar so get a good lawyer to advise you, it is cheap compared to other countries. For $50-100 you can have expert help in doing the whole transaction.

Mortgages have been available for a long time but only to those who can prove they do not need them with high interest, short term and high collateral….so not popular. But recently European style mortgages have become available from western banks which are shaking up the whole mortgage market allowing middle class and lower buy homes.
A foreigner would have a difficult time qualifying however since they would be out of local their reach of there was a default.

The housing Market in SPb has slowed down this fall after being very liquid most of the last 2 years. That just means the time for a decision about a property is now a matter a week or more instead of needing to pull the trigger in hours before to prevent choice properties from disappearing. Prices have not dropped however. They might get softer this winter. Consolidating communal apartments in the center is falling out of favor because the price escalation in replacement flats for the room owners. You can not buy individual rooms to consolidate communal flats, you have to buy an apartment in another accepted area to trade to the family who have each room. The big apartments in the center were communal flats in past but were consolidated in the last 5-10 years. That was a big speculation target until the prices of suburb apartments to use as trades went up so far.

Buying a property in Russia is a lot simpler, faster and cheaper than in the west. After deciding on a place and agreeing on the price, the whole process of transfer regirstration and residency rights, taxes and other details, takes about 2-3 hours. Transferring funds usually takes the longest, 4 days before you have access to it.

Good luck
Stan

rikrok · Posted: Fri Nov 12, 2004 3:21 pm Post subject:

Stanj,
thanks very much for your full and detailed response, it answers a lot of questions i've had for a long time, and its all good news so its time for me to get flat hunting now!

Thanks

rikrok