Main characteristics of the apartment (page 1 of 3)

For most people, buying an apartment is an extraordinary and infrequent event. Therefore, you need to approach it with maximum responsibility.

How to buy an apartment so that you don’t have to urgently sell it and move to another area?

To do this, you need to take your choice of future housing seriously, considering it from the point of view of meeting several important criteria.

What characteristics should you use to choose an apartment?

There are quite a lot of selection criteria:

• price;
• the area where it is located;
• new home or resale market;
• exterior of the house;
• the floor on which the apartment is located;
• size of housing, number of rooms;
• type of interior decoration.

When choosing housing, you cannot proceed from only one or two criteria. You need to first evaluate everything, although two are decisive: the area and the budget allocated for the purchase.

If, for example, for some reason you are tied to a specific area of ​​the city or two neighboring areas, this immediately narrows the search area. On the one hand, it becomes simpler. On the other hand, the number of options from which one can choose future housing is greatly reduced.

Budget is the second factor that mercilessly weeds out many proposals that suit other characteristics.

But other criteria cannot be discarded. Therefore, you need to formulate your requirements for future real estate as accurately as possible, and then begin to “sift” them through the fine sieve of your own capabilities and options offered by the housing market. Among those points where your wishes coincide with the possibilities according to the largest number of criteria, you will find the apartment of your dreams.

Complete turnkey apartment renovation

• Everything is included The cost of repairs includes everything: work, materials, documents.
• Without your participation After agreeing on the project, we only bother the owners when the repairs are completed.
• The price is known in advance. The cost of repairs is fixed in the contract.
• Fixed repair period Turnkey apartment renovation in 3.5 months. The term is fixed in the contract.

Read more about Done

Housing cost

First of all, you will have to focus on it. This can be your own savings or bank funds.

Therefore, all options will have to be passed through this primary filter. Don't ignore low price offers. Sometimes people need to sell their home very quickly, and they deliberately put a low price tag.

Apartments in new buildings are more expensive than those offered on the secondary market. Sometimes the price difference reaches 20–30%. Therefore, it is worth considering all options.

New home or secondary market

Features of buying a home in a new building:

1. The housing is sold directly by the developer. From a legal point of view, such a purchase is safer. No one has lived in the house yet and, accordingly, no one is registered.
2. But there are cases when the same square meters are sold several times. Therefore, if it is important for you to purchase only new housing, look for a developer with a good reputation.
3. New apartments are not always ready to move in. To live a normal life, you will first have to make repairs, which delays the move-in and requires costs.

Secondary market:

1. Even if the house is not at all old, the cost of apartments in it is lower than that of similar options in new buildings. Housing is often sold together with household appliances and furniture.
2. Transactions with such housing are often delayed due to many problems, and therefore are considered riskier. To avoid problems, you need to carefully check the apartment for “legal cleanliness” and the absence of encumbrances.
3. Housing in an old building may turn out to be problematic due to wear and tear of communications, as well as other structural parts of the building. After purchase, these problems will have to be resolved independently, at your own expense.

Area of ​​future residence

When choosing a place to live, pay attention to:

• availability of infrastructure;
• transport accessibility;
• ecology.

Infrastructure

Its significance in the future depends on the composition of the family, its habits and needs.

If you are a single young man with a personal car, then the presence of supermarkets, pharmacies, and clinics near your home will not be of particular interest to you.

If you have a family with children, then such facilities as a school, kindergarten, clinic, playgrounds, and park areas will be important.

Transport accessibility

For people without their own vehicles, it is important to have public transport routes going to different areas of the city.

Therefore, you need to check the transport equipment specifically in those areas that are important for your family members. Find out if there are routes that will take you to your desired destinations without or with a minimum number of transfers.

If you have a car, find out if there are parking lots or garages near your home where you can buy or rent a space.

Ecology

It is important for everyone, but especially for older people and families with children.

Therefore, be sure to check the area for:

• landfills;
• factories;
• major highways;
• green spaces, walking areas.

Landfills, factory emissions, and exhaust gases greatly pollute the air and cause serious illnesses in people with allergies or respiratory diseases.

Do you need repairs?

We have already renovated more than 500 apartments, we will be happy to help you too

Find out the cost of repairs

Creative ways to describe properties for sale

To touch the heart and mind of a home buyer, try free-form answers to the following questions. We mean residential premises and premises for sale used for running a business.

1. What problem (and whose) can the purchase solve?

Example:

If you have a small apartment, or your business has long outgrown the premises, you cannot do without expansion. Buying real estate will be an excellent alternative for you.

2. Who (or what) is this property suitable for?

Example:

Acquiring real estate is good when it is on time: when the family grew, the business became stronger and began to grow. New real estate will give you new opportunities in life and business.

3. Brief description of the property, revealing its main advantages.

Example:

A new apartment or new premises is what you need right now. This will solve your problems in the family and protect you from problems in business. This is a shot in the ten!

4. How is the property better than what it was before?

Example:

The new apartment has room to spread out, it is in a new building, in a prestigious area, and a kindergarten and a school are located nearby.

Example:

Business premises will allow you to expand your business, hire new employees and even organize a small warehouse, which was never possible to even dream of before!

5. What makes a property a buyer's first choice?

Example:

This is the best offer on the market, and probably the most popular, many would like to have it.

This property solves all current problems, but the main thing is that it is affordable for the buyer, he can afford it!

6. Performance qualities of real estate.

Example:

New house, high ceilings, convenient layout - a set of excellent characteristics.

Example:

All communications necessary for a business, good access and the absence of neighbors make the premises an ideal place for locating an enterprise!

7. Unexpected combinations of real estate properties.

Example:

In the new apartment, space is combined with comfort, versatility with functionality; modern housing cannot do without this. And the park next to the house is just a dream!

Example:

The functionality of the room allows you to implement all the boss’s ideas - the production part, the recreation area and the kitchen - there is everything that is needed in the work of the company.

8. What emotions does real estate evoke?

Example:

Having such an apartment is a great blessing! Owning the apartment of your dreams means being both a fashionable and practical resident of a modern metropolis. Convenience for all family members, modern urban infrastructure and personal comfort - in one place.

Example:

Doing business in such a premises is not only important, but also pleasant!

9. Mention of brands.

Example:

Well-known brands in residential construction are an indicator of the status of residents. Finishing elements and equipment from famous brands add weight to your purchase. I would like to feel involved with the best people of our city.

Example:

To offer you comfortable working conditions indoors, the developer did not skimp on project development, better implementation and equipment.

House characteristics

The comfort of living in a house largely depends on the material used to build it. For residential buildings this is most often panels or brick.

Brick houses retain heat better and visually look more attractive than panel houses. Therefore, housing in panel houses, especially on the secondary market, is cheaper.

Inspect the outside of the house to see if there are any cracks or signs of brick destruction on the walls. Especially often such defects occur in the basement of the house. Assess the general appearance of the building. If it looks well-maintained, then the management company or HOA is doing a good job.

The condition of the entrances, elevators, and the presence of good lighting in common areas is important for future residence. You will receive information from the seller of the apartment or from neighbors.

Technical characteristics of the residential premises

In this article we will talk about the importance of official papers reflecting the technical parameters of the object being sold. How can a buyer avoid purchasing along with the apartment or house he likes a whole bunch of technical and administrative problems? To do this, from the very beginning, the transaction must include documents containing a detailed description of the official technical characteristics of the housing

Often one has to deal with unapproved redevelopments or, what is more typical for the central areas of the city, with unauthorized amenities. The neglected condition of an apartment in a serial building should not particularly confuse the buyer. He most likely plans to do cosmetic repairs anyway, in accordance with his taste, and the basis here is relatively healthy. But when choosing housing in the historical center, you need to be prepared for the fact that, depending on the type and condition of the building, the cost of repairs can amount to a tidy sum, especially if the apartment does not have all the amenities. However, even if at first glance the proposed apartment has “everything with everything”: here it is - a modern shower cabin with hydromassage, a new imported gas water heater, a telephone in a prominent place, make sure that this is not a myth, but a reality. Because otherwise you risk becoming a victim of the Potemkin village effect known from history. Often, cunning owners equip old homes with nice details before selling them, but in reality they turn out to be just decoration covering up serious shortcomings.

It is good that hygiene requirements are firmly rooted in the consciousness of the masses. It’s bad that a bathtub or shower stall that is not approved by documents is not always placed in a suitable place. It would be nice to make a little nook in the kitchen or hallway. Then, after running through thirty-three authorities and paying a little everywhere, you will still legalize the “sanitary and hygienic zone.” But if it is located in a room located above the living rooms of the neighbors below, then - sorry, no worries! In the event of the slightest leak, you will not only have to bear all the costs of repairing flooded apartments, but also immediately dismantle the bathtub installed in a prohibited place, paying a hefty fine.

The issue with the geyser is no less sensitive. Unfortunately, in the historical center many apartments are still not equipped with hot water supply. Unauthorized installation of speakers is strictly prohibited, as it is fraught with the most dramatic consequences.

Another, and widespread, result of an irrepressible passion for creation and space is the demolition of partitions, and sometimes even load-bearing walls. The latter is even more fraught with serious complications in the future. It’s no secret that in our country you can get a technical passport “without an inspector going to the address.” The result is that the seller's problem becomes the buyer's problem. Then try to prove that this was the case when you acquired the object. To prevent all these troubles from happening in the future, the seller should, during the showing, look not only at the property, but also at the documents reflecting its technical parameters.

Of course, rarely do any sellers order passports for an apartment for future use. But in vain. We should contact the regional office of the Federal Bureau of Technical Inventory (PIB - in St. Petersburg or BTI - in the Leningrad region) as soon as we have the idea to start selling or exchanging housing. Firstly, you can save some money (the tariff largely depends on the degree of urgency of execution). Secondly, a complete package of documents makes the most favorable impression and makes it easier for the buyer to make a decision. From viewing an apartment (especially when it is far from the only one - the market today is replete with offers), the buyer is left with only a general impression. And even if it is very favorable, the chances that he will immediately begin to mentally inhabit it and arrange furniture in it (and therefore mature before his eyes to make a purchasing decision) are very small when he does not have a plan with exact dimensions at hand - the length of each wall, the total area of ​​each room. The apartment plan is precisely reproduced in the passports - technical and cadastral. Therefore, advice to a prudent seller - get these passports as early as possible, copy (preferably enlarged) the plan of your apartment in several copies and give it to every favorable potential buyer. Let him mentally furnish his home in accordance with his preferences and be ready to make a purchasing decision as quickly as possible.

Why we are not talking about a passport, but about passports - in the plural - many readers who remember the only “technical passport” that has accompanied transactions for more than a dozen years will wonder. The fact is that now the document detailing the official technical characteristics of housing is not single and consists of two independent parts. The first is the actual “passport for the apartment”: technical documentation reflecting information about the structure (building) in which the dwelling is located, footage of all premises, inventory value, current at the moment (but in no way coinciding with the commercial price of the property), apartment plan . The second part is a cadastral passport, which characterizes the type of real estate property. And here you can immediately see: this is a house, an apartment or a room, registration numbers are given, the exact address and purpose of the premises are indicated.

It should be noted that the package of documents required for the alienation of real estate includes only a cadastral passport.
However, those who made transactions with their real estate over the past few years, or at least simply privatized it, should have kept the old technical certificates with housing plans in their hands. They are quite suitable for presenting an updated plan to the buyer, but for a new transaction you will still have to obtain documents of a new type - and with the current inventory value, which has changed more than once or twice since the start of privatization. Housing problem

Floor selection

There is no clear opinion here. In nine-story buildings, the best floors are considered to be from 3 to 7, so the apartments on them are the most expensive. Here, focus on your preferences. There are people who cannot stand heights, and there are those who enjoy a bird's eye view.

Most buyers avoid the first and last floors.

The first is considered unsafe from the point of view of intrusion by uninvited guests, as well as street noise and prying eyes. In old houses, damp basements are often found, so the apartment on the first floor may be damp. This leads to the appearance of mold and other unpleasant phenomena.

Buying an apartment on the top floor is fraught with freezing of the roof and leaks. There may also be low water pressure and insufficient heating. If the elevator suddenly breaks down, not everyone will find it easy to get to their floor, especially if the building is high-rise.

But the cost of housing on these floors is usually lower.

Middle floors. Good view from the window, lower level of street noise. Apartments here cost 10–15% more than in the first place. Remember that you will have neighbors both below and above. Therefore, from time to time you may be annoyed by noise coming from adjacent apartments.

Apartment characteristics

The most important factors that influence the cost of one square meter are the area of ​​the kitchen, bathroom, ceiling height, number of rooms, the presence of loggias and balconies, as well as the floor.

First of all, a small kitchen, and secondly a tiny bathroom, as well as a combined bathroom, reduce the cost per square meter of the entire apartment.

Today people tend to buy homes with kitchens whose area exceeds at least 8 square meters. Apartments with kitchens of 6 square meters or less are increasingly becoming illiquid, which means they are cheaper.

Apartments located on the first floor are on average 10% cheaper, and on the second and last - 5% cheaper than on all other floors.

High ceilings, loggias and balconies, which quite obviously increase the cost of one square meter of an apartment.

The price of one square meter of housing in a one-room apartment will be higher than the cost of the same meter in a two-room, and, moreover, multi-room apartment. Therefore, it is always extremely difficult to exchange a three-room apartment for two one-room apartments without additional payment and loss in the quality of the house, as well as the prestige of the area, even if the total area of ​​a three-room apartment corresponds to two one-room apartments. There is no need to confuse the cost per square meter of a particular home with the statistical average. That is, on average in the market, a square meter in one-room apartments can cost less than a square meter in two-room, three-room and, to an even greater extent, multi-room apartments. This is yet another proof that statistics and averages do not always reflect the real essence of ongoing phenomena. This discrepancy occurs due to the fact that the average market value of one-room apartments is largely influenced by apartments in the cheap sector, because there are simply much more of them than expensive one-room apartments.

In the sector of two-room and three-room apartments, higher-class housing is represented quite widely. And the number of such apartments is comparable to the number of two- and three-room apartments in the low-cost sector. As a result, expensive real estate here is already having a significant impact on averages. Multi-room apartments are represented on the market mainly by higher-class apartments, which primarily form the average cost per square meter in this sector of the market. However, if we compare one-room and multi-room apartments in houses of approximately the same price category, then the cost per square meter in a one-room apartment will always be higher than apartments with more rooms.

As for the repairs made, harmony is important here. In most cases, “marketability” increases the cost per square meter, and “European-quality renovation” ultimately costs more than the benefit received from the sale of such an apartment. For housing in the expensive sector, the quality of communications, additional security systems, and smooth load-bearing walls are important in this matter. Everything that has to do with design is unlikely to greatly increase the cost of the apartment, at least by the cost of expenses, because this is a very subjective thing, and the buyer of an expensive apartment will most likely make renovations to his taste. As for housing in the cheap sector, here the client would rather buy a larger apartment than a bath with a jacuzzi, so here it is better to limit yourself to superficial cosmetics. What really matters is the presence of a telephone and, preferably, with a Moscow number.

A special factor is the view from the window. In the luxury sector, this criterion can increase the cost of housing through the roof. So, if the Kremlin is visible from the windows of your house, then only due to this factor the cost of the apartment soars incredibly. On the contrary, in the cheap sector, where buyers think in slightly different categories, a view of a pond or forest park will change little the cost of an apartment compared to one whose windows face the opposite side, to the parking lot and neighboring houses.

A separate conversation is the smoking chimneys of the plant, or the highway, which we talked about above, but these are more likely environmental issues than just the view from the window.

Typically, vacant apartments that can be moved into at any time cost several thousand dollars more than those whose owners continue to occupy the living space until the moment they move.

Also, apartments that are put on the market through reputable real estate agencies are 1–2% more expensive than similar ones sold “without intermediaries.” This is understandable: confidence in “legal purity” costs money.

Redevelopment done but not properly formalized reduces the cost of housing. If, of course, the buyer manages to identify this fact and then register ownership of the property.

Of course, housing with an encumbrance is much cheaper, that is, one in which the right of residence, but not ownership, of one or more citizens is preserved. There is usually no way to deregister them by a willful decision. Most often this happens because they have nowhere else to live.

Dimensions of the apartment, its location, number of rooms

When thinking about a large, spacious apartment for your family, keep in mind that the cost of utilities and property taxes increase with the size of the home. Therefore, you need to approach the selection of area wisely.

One-room apartment - for single people or a married couple without children. Even small apartments can vary greatly in size, so you need to choose the size based on your needs and budget.

Two-room apartment - for a small family with no more than two children. There is enough space for both children and parents. At the same time, its area is not so large that the communal apartment would have a significant impact on the budget.

Three-room apartment - for a family with three or more children. There's enough room for everyone.

A four-room apartment is for a family where all generations are present - grandfather, grandmother, father, mother, children.

Apartments located:

• near elevator shafts and flights of stairs - noise will disturb you;
• corner – rooms with two external walls can be cool in winter;
• with windows facing nearby neighboring buildings - lack of natural light and an unpleasant feeling that you are being watched.

But if everything else suits you, you can ask for a discount “for inconvenience” in the amount of 3-5%.

Economy

Such apartments are located far from the center, may overlook busy highways or railway tracks, and do not require any special social infrastructure within a radius of less than a kilometer. A house of a standard series and standard layout, without finishing or with standard rough finishing. There are no requirements for security, parking spaces, utilities, etc.

Main characteristics of “economy class” housing:

there are always more than 100 apartments in a residential complex of this class, it is usually multi-storey - about 20 floors, and up to 11-12 apartments can be located on one landing;

is located in a typical, not very attractive in terms of location, residential area, most often somewhere on the outskirts, and in the case of capital real estate - even closer to the Moscow region;

“Economy class” housing is often built from panels, a simple monolith (monolithic frame or monolithic block construction);

ceiling height - from 2.5 to 2.7 meters;

only one small open balcony;

standard layout - apartments on each landing are similar to their neighbors above and below, there is no talk of individual projects;

engineering equipment is limited to an elevator, usually of domestic production;

the presence of car parking in an economy class residential complex is not necessary;

the efficiency coefficient, showing the ratio of living space to the total area of ​​the house, is more than 0.75, i.e. This class is characterized by a minimum volume of common areas;

the minimum housing area is 20 square meters per person, that is, one-room apartments can have a very small area and be studio apartments, where the kitchen is combined with a single room.