When planning to buy a home, people inevitably encounter stress, which can only be compared to skydiving or another extreme sport, where a person is under the same psychological stress. It is associated with the fear of being disappointed in the purchased housing. Why can’t people find an option that suits them completely? The fact is that when choosing an apartment, everyone is guided by their own individual preferences and priorities, and there is simply no universal formula for determining the “ideal apartment”. For some, illumination is important in housing, others are looking for the most spacious apartment, and for others, the priority is the proximity of a green area, where you can walk your dog every day.
Which is better: new building or secondary housing?
How to find what will best meet all your needs? First you have to decide whether the apartment will be in a newly built building, or whether it is better to find housing in an already inhabited area.
Secondary housing
- this is an apartment in which someone has already lived and which already had owners. Therefore, apartments in a commissioned new building are the property of the developer and are considered secondary housing.
Primary housing
- this is exclusively an apartment in a new building, and housing in a building under construction is not purchased, but invested.
Advantages of secondary housing
When the apartment is ready to move in, this is beneficial for several reasons. First of all, if such a residential area is in good condition, it is ready to accept new residents in the shortest possible time. However, even if cosmetic repairs are necessary, the new owners will not have to wait long, and updating the interior will not be so expensive. In many cases, the cost of utilities in the secondary housing sector is cheaper than in new buildings.
Disadvantages of secondary housing
The main disadvantage of secondary housing is that it is not new. This means that new owners will have to deal with old wiring and plumbing. Pipes may leak, electrical outlets may spark, and plaster may fall from the ceiling. Although caring for such an apartment is not too expensive, it will have to be constantly maintained in decent condition, which takes a lot of time.
In addition, living in an old apartment, compared to a new building, may not be as comfortable. The entrances of houses built sometimes several decades ago are protected, at best, only by an intercom or a combination lock, and residents of new buildings today often hire a concierge or watchman.
Advantages of a new building
New buildings also have other advantages. The entrances here are much more spacious and cleaner than in old houses, the ceilings are higher and the elevators are more convenient. There are security systems, and most importantly, modern layouts are much more comfortable and thoughtful than those that can be found in almost all houses of the Soviet era.
And it’s probably more pleasant to feel like the first and only owner of an apartment.
Disadvantages of new buildings
However, new buildings cannot be called ideal. If the apartment is sold without any repairs, then the owner will have to invest money and effort into it. And you can forget about quick comfort and moving. An apartment in a new building has concrete walls, cement-smelling ceilings and a gray floor made of the same concrete. The first renovation in a new building will have to be taken with all seriousness and dedication.
, since the process will require not only large financial costs, but also enough time and nerves. Since the repairs will not bypass any of the neighbors, the first years in a new building are always associated with constant knocking, the sound of drills and hammer drills, carrying furniture and construction debris. Noise and knocking will be heard regularly and from absolutely all sides.
Therefore, if there are small children in the family, then it is better to refuse to buy an apartment in a new building.
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Choosing an apartment in a new building
Real estate on the primary and secondary markets differs not only in the year of construction, but also in the risks involved in the purchase. Purchasing housing from a good developer significantly reduces these risks, but choosing one is not so easy.
How to choose the right apartment in a new building and what to pay attention to:
- Developer reputation.
- Construction terms according to the contract.
- Construction company documents.
- Promotions and discounts from the developer.
Note: first you need to decide in which area and what kind of apartment you need. Real estate in the city center is usually more expensive than that sold on the outskirts. Realtors can find suitable housing, but you can search on your own.
Developer
The first and most important thing when choosing an apartment is the reputation of the developer. In every city there are construction companies that everyone knows about, and they have been working for a long time. If an organization has been building high-rise buildings for more than five years and there are few negative reviews about it, and there are friends who bought real estate from it, it is worth paying attention to this company.
There is also a minus: “old-timer” developers with a good established reputation often sell real estate at inflated prices compared to those who have been working recently.
Before choosing an apartment to buy from a specific company, it is recommended to study reviews about it. The responses on the organization’s page are uninformative and often custom-made. It is better to look for reviews on other Internet resources. If there are none at all, that’s not bad: as a rule, people write negative reviews much more willingly than positive ones. The absence of negative reviews on several resources indirectly indicates the integrity of the company.
Advice: it is advisable to interview friends who have purchased real estate in new buildings. They can tell without embellishment all the pros and cons of the developer and the housing itself. You can also check the company through SudAct to see if it participated in legal proceedings and what the matter was. To check, just enter the name of the organization in the search bar.
Elena Plokhuta
Lawyer, website author (Civil law, 7 years of experience)
Construction time
Construction time is an important factor. If construction is only at the excavation stage, and the apartment is needed urgently, this option will not work. It is better to choose real estate at the final stage of construction, but it will also cost more.
The best option for those who want to save money is to purchase housing under an assignment of claim, when construction has already been completed, but the house has not yet been put into operation. Once entered, it will cost more. An assignment agreement is usually concluded if a person bought an apartment under a shared participation agreement at an early stage of construction, but later changed his mind about living there and decided to sell. This is how the replacement of shareholders under DDU takes place.
Important! Construction periods are always specified in the contract. If the developer violates them, according to Art. 6 Federal Law dated December 30, 2004 No. 214-FZ, the equity holder has the right to recover from him a penalty in the amount of 1/100 of the refinancing rate of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation of the contract value for each day of delay.
Documentation
Before purchasing an apartment from a developer, you need to make sure that he has all the documents:
- building permit;
- design documentation;
- project declaration;
- lease agreement for the land plot on which construction is being carried out. Or an extract from the Unified State Register of Real Estate confirming ownership;
- project declaration;
- state registration certificate;
- constituent documents;
- SRO approval, license;
- an agreement with an insurance company that insures the developer’s liability to shareholders.
It would also be useful to study the draft agreement under which equity holders purchase real estate.
Promotions and discounts
In the summer there is traditionally a lull in the construction industry, and at this moment you can buy an apartment in a new building with a good discount - up to 15% of the full cost. Developers often organize promotions before the holidays.
Advice: if you want to save money, you should pay attention to new buildings in microdistricts that are just beginning to be built up. Apartments there are usually sold cheaper, but they are not located in the city center.
Elena Plokhuta
Lawyer, website author (Civil law, 7 years of experience)
Take the survey and a lawyer will tell you for free how to avoid mistakes in an apartment purchase and sale transaction in your case
How to choose the right area
When choosing an area where you will buy an apartment, it is important to take into account a lot of criteria. Among them are the possibility of quick access to the highway, the proximity of the future home to children or parents, to the place of work and other objects that play an important role in life.
But besides this, do not forget about the environment.
If in the immediate vicinity of the area there are environmental polluters such as industrial enterprises and vehicles traveling in a continuous stream, then over time there may only be less clean air. The proximity of industrial facilities and transport interchanges may have a detrimental effect on health. But if there is a green area, park or square nearby, then the plants will reduce the harmful effects of transport and enterprises.
If you have to use public transport in your new place of residence, it is better to come to the nearest stop during the morning rush hour to find out whether transport runs there often enough and whether it is easy to get on the bus. The proximity of the final stop can be considered an advantage, since the chance of comfortably getting to the right place increases. You should definitely be wary of the location of power lines and high-voltage power lines near your home.
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Low-frequency electromagnetic radiation from these structures can adversely affect health and even provoke certain diseases. If you have a personal car, then it would be a good idea to make sure that there is a paid parking lot near your house. However, if such a concentration of cars is located right under the windows, then you should not be surprised that you will have to put up with the howling of car alarms, the sounds of running engines and their exhausts
If there is a 24-hour pavilion or a sales tent under the windows, then at night you can sing folk songs performed by drunken voices of ballads, and in the morning you can walk past bins filled with bottles and cans.
When choosing an area, you should make sure that the area has pharmacies and clinics, consumer services and schools, kindergartens and all the necessary shops, as well as other infrastructure. If there are children in the family, then you definitely need to personally visit a kindergarten or school to make sure of their performance and at least externally assess their level. And in the education department you can check the rating of educational institutions located in this area.
Which apartment layout is better to choose?
In fact, there are now a lot of options to choose from, and the main criterion will be the buyer’s taste.
A couple of thoughts about what is convenient and what is not:
- If one of the rooms is a walk-through room , this is convenient while there are no children in the family; as they appear and grow older, they will have to remodel or change the apartment.
- The windows of the apartment face opposite sides of the house - this can be convenient; in the morning the sun is on one side, and in the evening on the other. The apartment will be brighter.
- The number of rooms is an individual matter, for some it is better to have 3 with smaller rooms than a two-room apartment with more spacious ones, but remember that every person needs to be alone from time to time, and in an apartment where a large family lives there may simply not be room .
- Polygonal rooms - on the one hand, everyone is accustomed to standard rooms and a pentagonal room may not seem comfortable, on the other hand, this is an opportunity to get creative when arranging it.
- The northern side , and for the most part the eastern side - the apartment will be dark all year round, and this means additional costs for lighting, and just discomfort. Although the eastern side is even less tolerable during the day.
- South and west sides - if your climate is hot, you can’t live without air conditioning. These are additional costs. In the summer it will be like in a greenhouse. If you have a small child , then think in advance what is better: air conditioning for the south side or a heater and lights on for the north side.
- A separate bathroom is convenient (you don’t have to wait while someone is washing or someone is in the toilet), and a combined one is spacious (if it’s large).
- Kitchen-studio - if it’s a single kitchen and a family lives in it, then it’s not convenient; if this is a 2-room apartment, then consider that you have a one-room apartment with a large kitchen (there is no particular point in this), but a 3-room apartment with a studio kitchen, then it is much more convenient when the kitchen is combined with the living room, because Most of the time is spent in it, but at the same time there is more free space.
Valuation of the house outside and inside
Exterior of the house
When the area is determined, you can proceed to choosing a house. And here it is especially important to be sure that the housing will be completely safe. In any city there are dilapidated houses that are easy to distinguish by eye. There are noticeable cracks on the walls here, which even when repaired are visible along the gray lines along them.
If these alarming symptoms are detected, it is better not to take risks and refuse to buy an apartment even under very tempting conditions.
An attentive buyer should also be wary of the use of external insulation installed by individual residents. Such “patches” can be a signal that the heating in the house is not the best.
Upon entering the entrance, you need to evaluate its improvement and cleanliness. The same applies to the elevator, if there is one. The doors of potential neighbors can tell a lot. Their quality will make it possible to navigate the well-being of the contingent and what can be expected from these people. If the doors are old, with torn upholstery, then the neighbors may be not only people with low incomes, but also unreliable individuals, hooligans or alcoholics.
Violations of building codes, such as errors in the design of the ventilation system or incorrect electrical wiring, can pose a threat to the health of residents. Therefore, it is better to inspect the apartment you like together with a specialist with experience in this field.
Selecting a layout
Before buying an apartment, you need to take the time to carefully familiarize yourself with the BTI plan. If the apartment is adjacent to an elevator shaft, then constant vibration and noise in the house cannot be avoided. If there is more than one room in the apartment, then at least one of them should not have common walls with neighbors, so that if necessary you can have privacy.
If possible, it is better to avoid buying a corner apartment, where the premises can be excessively damp and cold, even with thick brick walls.
It’s worth looking at which side the apartment’s windows face. It’s worst if they face north. Such housing will be dark and cold. The south side is also not very good, since there will be an abundance of sun here, and in the summer residents will face heat and a constant lack of oxygen. It is better to choose an apartment facing the east, where sunlight fills the home in the first half of the day, or to the west, where the sun is visible only in the afternoon.
If you are going to buy a one-room apartment, it will be useful to pay attention to which walls separate the home from its neighbors, and who these walls border with. It’s good if the walls turn out to be load-bearing, then the neighbors won’t bother you.
Interior renovation
Once in an apartment offered for sale, you should forget about natural modesty in order to ask the owners and neighbors, inspect and feel every corner:
- If the selected apartment is located on one of the upper floors, then the hot water pressure here may be insufficient, which means problems with laundry, dishwashing and hygiene procedures are inevitable.
To check the pressure, you need to open the tap in the kitchen and bathroom. It’s good if the previous owners took care of installing meters for hot and cold water. - Particular attention will have to be paid to pipes.
If they have already outlived their useful life, they are covered with traces of rust, which cannot be hidden even with paint, because the surface will still be uneven. If such pipes are discovered, you can be sure that they will be able to break through at any moment and flood both this apartment and the floor below. You also need to make sure that all valves and taps on the pipes are in good working order, which must be screwed in completely and without effort, otherwise it will be impossible to shut off the water supply in the event of an accident. - Traces of mold or mildew in the kitchen, bathroom or toilet indicate a dangerous apartment.
- The apartment may freeze.
If the inspection takes place during the heating season, then before the buyer arrives, the owners can ensure a decent temperature using heaters, but this can be easily exposed by checking the radiators in all rooms. The situation will become even clearer if you walk along all the walls with your hand. This way you can even feel hidden cracks in the joints. - If the floors in the kitchen, bathroom and toilet are tiled, you can jump on them or try to feel the tiles in the most accessible places.
If you hear a crackling sound, this may mean that there are voids under the tiles, or they were laid in violation of the technology, and cracks on the floor will not be long in coming. Unevenness on the linoleum will indicate that the screed underneath is bad. Poorly laid parquet will reveal itself as squeaking and cracks. - The presence of modern metal-plastic windows in the apartment is a significant plus.
But here it would not be superfluous to check the tightness of the closure, the quality of the rubber seals and closing fittings. - It is worth finding out whether the loggia is glazed and how the balcony is insulated.
- It is also important to check the condition of the electrical wiring,
as well as what it is made of: copper or aluminum. But how do you find out? You can ask owners to remove one of the sockets to see what wires are connected. Although aluminum wiring is more often installed, copper wiring is more reliable and durable. - You should definitely ask the owners for a plan of the apartment
to make sure that the owners have not hidden any unregistered alterations. To do this, the plan in the technical passport is compared with the actual layout. If this is not done, then perhaps the new owners will have to legitimize the redevelopment and pay fines.
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What to look for when viewing an apartment?
A very important point when you do NOT need to rush is to inspect the apartment. It is best to take photographs so that you can compare with other options, and this way you will eliminate the emotional factor and manipulation of both sellers and realtors.
So, what should you pay attention to when inspecting an apartment?
Who is selling the apartment
- If this is a married couple with a child, then you should find out whether the child is registered in the apartment. If registered, this may complicate the paperwork process, because parents will need to obtain certificates from the guardianship authorities.
- If this is a relative of the owner of the apartment and is selling by proxy, then you should carefully consider the documents. To be on the safe side, get title insurance.
Follow the link for a detailed article on what title insurance is when buying an apartment.
Condition of the apartment
- Inspect the plumbing , heating pipes, radiators - this is one of the most expensive stages of repair.
- Inspect the walls under the windows and in the corners of the rooms for traces of mold or freezing - this may lead to additional costs in the future.
- If the apartment was or is being rented out , then you will have to at least change the locks, or even the entire door - this is another additional expense.
- Check the electrical wiring , if you don’t understand it, it’s better to invite someone to help.
- Look at the presence of meters for water and electricity - the absence indicates that over time their installation will become your headache; if the meters are installed, then look at the verification date.
- If there is a balcony , then at least visually check its reliability. In many old houses it is dangerous to go out onto the balconies. Or another option, if the balcony is not glazed, then there is noise and dust in the apartment.
- Balcony glazing can be different ; if it is sliding windows, then such a balcony cannot be insulated; replacement will be quite expensive. All other things being equal, give preference to warm glazing. There is no way to alter a balcony with façade glazing. Read which windows to choose.
- Find out what remains in the apartment. Large wardrobes, furniture, household appliances - all this costs money, and then you will have to buy it yourself. If there are several options for apartments, then it is better to take a fully equipped one, as you can save a lot of money. An example of how we managed to save 70,000 rubles when ordering a kitchen.
All this is a reason for bargaining.
Who are your future neighbors?
- Bottles or syringes lying near the entrance already say a lot, but the absence of them is not a guarantee that they will not cause you trouble. Sometimes seemingly decent people can behave much worse.
- If drunks and homeless people live in the neighboring entrances, then this is also a reason to think about it. The solution to any problems in the house will be transferred to you, including financially.
- If some of the apartments in the building are transferred for resettlement (from villages, old houses, etc.), then be prepared for the fact that you will have a mess, drinking and nothing will be done about it.
As you can see, there are a lot of nuances that need to be taken into account when choosing an apartment, but this may not always work out. But neighbors are probably one of those points that you should pay special attention to.
Read this link to find out how to deal with noisy neighbors.
What management company
- Is the entrance clean?
- Is there a cleaning schedule for the premises?
- look at the bills for housing and communal services and compare with yours, preferably for each service
- what has been done in the house for current repairs
- The management company or homeowners association is engaged in home maintenance, find out contacts and location
The quality of work determines whether you will be comfortable living in the chosen place or not.
Which floor is more suitable for living?
Top floor
If you are seriously considering an apartment in Khrushchev, located on the top floor, then you should make sure that the house has a gable roof
. With this roof design, the likelihood of freezing and leakage of future housing is significantly reduced. If the house has a technical floor or attic, then this space can later be privatized and after redevelopment you can get a two-level apartment.
You can obtain information from the management company about the last time a major renovation was carried out in the house and the roof was updated. If you have an attic, it is better to inspect its condition in person to make sure that the roof is not leaking.
Interestingly, the often-held negative opinion about the top floor is not entirely true. The last floor with a strong roof turns out to be the most comfortable. Here you can’t hear your neighbors’ steps overhead, which are especially tiring on holidays or if there are small children in the apartment on the floor above. The stairwell here is always quiet, no one except the closest neighbors walks up the stairs, and there is less street noise coming here.
First floor
The apartment on the ground floor also requires close attention. And if the residents of the top floors can be let down by the roof, then on the first floor the basement can become the cause of extreme inconvenience. If there is high humidity here, it will inevitably penetrate into the home.
And this means damaged repairs, smell, mold and mildew. There is also an external cause of problems. These are garbage containers that can be located under windows, and in the absence of proper security at the entrance, the first floors of houses are often visited by suspicious individuals.
Area of residence
The area where the apartment will be located is of great importance. On the one hand, housing in the city center is more convenient from the point of view that the infrastructure around is very developed. On the other hand, the environmental situation in the center of any settlement, even if there are no large factories in the city, is quite complex due to the abundance of transport.
Ecology
The environmental friendliness of the area is extremely important for families with children. In principle, it is important for everyone, but in some cases it can be neglected in favor of better cost or a more convenient location. The location of future housing should be checked based on:
- Presence/absence of landfills and factories in the area.
- Traffic activity.
- The number of trees and the size of the green area (if there is one at all), and so on.
The optimal option may be an area located a short distance from the city, but from which you can get to the center in a maximum of 1-2 hours or even faster.
Infrastructure
The infrastructure of the area is also important. There are few shops - you will have problems buying everything you need and will have to go shopping to a different area each time. The lack of playgrounds and other recreational facilities is also a problem, especially for families with children.
In this case, you need to focus primarily on your own needs. For a single person, it will be enough to have 1 supermarket or more or less large store in the district, but for a family with children, one of whom goes to kindergarten and the other to school, it will be important to have these kindergartens and schools in the immediate area and playgrounds in the district .
Transport accessibility
Everything is simple here - the more types of transport that go from the area to different parts of the city, the better. More specifically, it is worth checking transport accessibility precisely in those areas that are important for the future owner.
Example: It is necessary to check whether a person can get from his new area to work without transfers or with a minimum number of them. Will it be possible to get to your favorite places of recreation or training, and so on.
If the buyer has his own car, this largely eliminates the problem, but another one arises: where to put it? There are not always parking lots or garage cooperatives near the area. At the same time, given the number of personal vehicles, most of the available spaces near houses are usually occupied.
You will have to look for suitable parking spots and track the time when they are freed and occupied. All this is quite difficult, especially at first, but after a few months you can literally stake out the same place for yourself if you constantly park the car on it.
Neighbours
If, when viewing an apartment, you ask the realtor or the owners a question about the neighbors, the answer will be very predictable. Only kind-hearted, sympathetic people live around.
But just a few weeks after purchasing the apartment, the previously unknown life of the house begins to open up. You can also find out some not so pleasant details about your new neighbors. To prevent this from happening, before buying a home it is useful to make a visit to everyone who will live on the side, below and above. If they do not want to communicate, you can get an idea by the appearance of people and the few words that they will utter.
If you are going to buy an apartment in a new building, you will have to rely only on luck.
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A few more nuances that require attention
- Shared spaces
The cost of an apartment is affected by the condition of the walls, ceilings, floors, and lamps in common areas. The apartment may be expensive, but dark staircases without lamps with dilapidated floors and dirty walls will ruin the whole impression.
- Location of the apartment on the floor and neighbors
There may be a different number of apartments on a floor. It depends on the type and design of the house. If there are only two apartments on the site along with yours, then most likely you will not have to communicate closely with your neighbors. But if there are 6–8 apartments on the site, then you will see your neighbors more often and enter into communication too.
But it’s difficult to understand who your neighbors will be even after several months of living, much less upon inspection. Keep this in mind and try to make inquiries about who lives in the house. Talk to other permanent residents, go to the local police officer, and meet potential neighbors in person if possible.
- Elevator type
In residential buildings, passenger elevators (for up to 4 people) and cargo-passenger elevators (for 8 people) are installed. In new buildings with a large number of apartments, either cargo-passenger elevators or even both types of elevators are installed. This saves owners from problems with lifting large furniture, pianos, household appliances, bicycles and strollers.
Options for old-style elevators with swing doors are rare in historical city centers. There may also be attached elevators - unreliable options compared to modern ones.
It is worth paying attention to the elevator manufacturer. It is better if it is an elevator of European origin. They are reliable and less noisy than Russian-made ones.
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- Concierge or security
In terms of evaluating an apartment, this criterion is not the most important. But there were cases when concierges remembered the appearance of thieves, thanks to which they were able to quickly find them. And security guards often pass on interesting information or lost things, documents, etc. to residents. This fact does not need to be put at the forefront when thinking about how to choose an apartment; it is enough to simply take it into account.
How to avoid falling for scammers
In order not to provoke all kinds of scammers, you do not need to come to inspect the apartment in an expensive car and in some kind of eye-catching outfit. The more expensive the buyer looks, the stronger the temptation not only to deceive him, but also to simply ask for a higher price for housing. A democratic appearance will allow the buyer to bargain more successfully. In addition, such clothing will make it possible to easily check all communications, pipes, windows and wiring, without fear of getting dirty.
Precautions
Sometimes, under the guise of a realtor, you can meet with a scammer. Unhonest people may introduce themselves as apartment owners.
Therefore, when inspecting housing for purchase, it is better to adhere to simple recommendations that can save not only material resources, but also life:
- When talking with the apartment owner on the phone, it is better to make it clear that the buyer will not come to inspect the property alone.
Let the seller dictate his contact number so that the buyer can call back after a while. If the interlocutor cannot give an intelligible answer, it is better to refuse further contacts with him. - When going to look at an apartment, you must leave its address to relatives or friends.
- Upon entering the apartment, you need to warn the owners and call someone you know
to tell them the address and set up a meeting time near this house. If the owners refuse to call you on your home phone, then it is better to leave such an apartment.
No less important parameters of the apartment
- Location and dimensions of window openings
There are significant differences in the size and shape of windows. Their parameters depend on the project, series of the house, design features, climate, etc. If redevelopment is necessary, this can become both an advantage and a disadvantage and limit the owners’ actions.
So, when two windows in a room are located at a distance of 1 meter or more, you can divide it into two so that each has a window.
If you have one window for redevelopment, there are fewer possibilities. The same applies to continuous façade glazing from floor to ceiling. The breakdown into rooms depends on the location of vertical imposts with a certain pitch.
The illumination of the rooms depends on the size of the windows. The cardinal directions also matter, but more on that in the next paragraph.
- Insolation of the apartment and orientation of the rooms according to the cardinal directions
According to sanitary standards, sunlight must enter the apartment during the day. This is called insolation, which can be calculated. This is not so easy to do, since the indicators depend on the height of the floor, the geographical location of the apartment and house, the number of rooms, etc.
In our case, it is enough to take into account the duration of insolation depending on the geographical location of the house:
- Northern : two and a half hours or more per day from April 22 to August 22.
- South : one and a half hours or more a day from February 22 to October 22.
- Central : two or more hours a day from March 22 to September 22.
The duration of insolation depends on the number of rooms. In a three-room apartment there should be insolation in at least one room. In a four-room or more room - in two rooms, etc.
You can determine the orientation of rooms using special applications on your smartphone or a regular compass. So, the bedroom, living room and children's room for European parts of the country should face south, southeast or west. The best location for the office is southeast, and for the kitchen - east, northeast or northwest. For utility rooms, orientation does not matter.
- Ceiling height
On average, ceiling heights in apartment buildings vary from 2.5 to 3.8 m. The indicator depends on the type of house, series, design features and even the author of the project, if we are talking about an individual development by an architectural bureau. In some cases, the ceiling height reaches 4 m and even 4.5 m, but these are rare cases.
The visual perception of the area and space of the apartment depends on the height of the ceiling. You can also hang a cascading chandelier or multi-level lamps in an apartment with a high ceiling.
- Availability of a balcony or loggia
When inspecting a new apartment, it makes sense to estimate in advance the arrangement of furniture on the loggia and balcony. They can be successfully used by placing a closet, a small sofa, or hanging shelves. For a freelancer or remote employee, you can build a workplace on the balcony with plenty of natural light. Well, or complement the interior with a rocking chair and several flowerpots with lush greenery.
It is not allowed to completely dismantle the balcony block in order to attach it to the room. But, upon approval of the redevelopment, you can remove the window sill and install glazing with double doors. The balcony and the room will still be separate rooms, but this change will visually unite them and add light to the room.
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- Availability of mezzanines and built-in furniture
Elements of the apartment layout can be mezzanines and built-in furniture, which are difficult to change. You need to pay attention to their condition and functionality before purchasing. If they are free of defects, installed not long ago and correctly, they can become useful and convenient for storing things.
But in cases where the built-in wardrobe does not have fittings, its facade is worn out, and the doors do not close, it is worth immediately budgeting for the cost of dismantling it and arranging a new storage location.
- Availability of utility rooms
These include storage rooms and dressing rooms. Their number and size depend on the lifestyle of the owners, the habits of storing things, the total size of the family, etc. If it is necessary to reconstruct the apartment, by dismantling utility rooms, you can increase the space of the bathroom, kitchen or other living room.
- Width of passages and doorways
The point is relevant when all rooms remain unchanged and no redevelopment is expected. Here you need to arm yourself with a tape measure and take the necessary measurements.
All furniture and household appliances are brought into the apartment through the doorway. Measure the width of the doorways and analyze for compliance with SNiP standards: the width of the corridor from wall to wall should be 90–120 cm; the width of the light opening of the interior doors is 80 cm; doors to bathrooms and utility rooms - 60–70 cm; entrance door - 80–90 cm.
How to save your money and not go broke when buying
So-called social housing is often delivered on a turnkey basis, with simple but quite livable renovations. It is clear that such apartments are purchased or received with certificates by people who do not have the funds to decorate the interior to their own taste. In a few years, when the required amount has been collected, it will be possible to make a new repair.
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When decorating social premises, cheap and simple materials, window structures, plumbing, and door frames are used. After all, the more expensive the materials for renovation, the more expensive a square meter of an apartment turns out to be.
In an elite house, expensive exclusive finishing is also unnecessary, although the reason here is that it is easier for the owners to make everything to their taste. In such buildings, apartments are usually just finished. Builders prepare the floor, ceiling and walls, lay communications and wiring, and new residents make repairs on their own and at their own discretion.
Depending on the repairs performed, the price of an apartment may double compared to one where the walls were left bare. Sometimes a development company makes renovations solely to attract buyers. In this case, clients can save money. But often, wealthy buyers are more attracted to unfinished apartments. There is a reason for this approach, because often clients are not satisfied with the repairs made by the developer.
As a rule, when considering options, home buyers place the location of the property in the first place in importance, then consider the layout of the apartment, but the finishing of the apartment being purchased turns out to be a secondary factor. In this case, the most economical option is to purchase housing with repairs acceptable to the client on the secondary market. Here, saving concerns not only money, but also time.
Even high-quality repairs may not be taken into account when selling an apartment. And you can move into the purchased apartment immediately after the transaction is concluded.
How to lower the price correctly
If you want to reduce the price, you will have to find as many problem areas and shortcomings as possible. To do this, you don’t need to be lazy, looking into all the cracks, corners and hatches. It is better to record the shortcomings you see on paper and immediately voice them to the sellers.
If you cannot find any shortcomings, you can draw the attention of the realtor or owners to the unfavorable environmental or criminal situation in the area.
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Lawyer's answers to popular questions
Which houses are better to buy an apartment in?
To a large extent, it all depends on the amount that the buyer is willing to pay for the property. If you have enough money, you should pay attention to new monolithic houses.
Which apartments sell best?
If we talk about the secondary market, one-room apartments and studios are in greatest demand. The hardest thing to sell is three- to five-room luxury housing with designer renovations: its cost is several times higher than the standard one, and not everyone can buy it.
Which apartments are better not to buy?
You should be wary of real estate inherited or purchased with capital. In the latter case, the seller is legally obliged to allocate shares to all family members. Often this requirement is not met, and in the event of a sale, the transaction may be challenged by the guardianship authority, the Pension Fund, the prosecutor's office, the spouse or child upon reaching
How to choose an apartment to buy on the resale market and not run into scammers?
First of all, you need to check the documents and independently order an extract from the Unified State Register. Fraudsters usually offer housing at a price significantly lower than the market price, and act on behalf of the owners using powers of attorney. They may be fake.
I want to buy a home, there are two options. The first is in a good area at a low cost with renovations, but with a mortgage. Second - the area is not very good, the renovation is the same, but without encumbrances. Which apartment should I choose?
In the first case, the seller must pay off the mortgage in order for the bank to remove the encumbrances. If he does not have money, the buyer can pay a deposit equal to the amount owed. The encumbrance is removed within three working days. Documents for registering the transfer of ownership can be submitted immediately after the conclusion of the contract. There are risks for the buyer, but they are minimal. If the buyer is not satisfied with this scheme, it is better to resort to the second option. But the first time the transaction is supported by a competent lawyer, all risks are minimized.
Legal registration of the apartment
Verification of documents
Checking the title documents for an apartment is a difficult but necessary task. If the seller provides copies of documents during the meeting, this should alert the buyer. On the one hand, this may indicate caution, but you cannot sign an agreement without seeing the originals.
The transaction is completed only after a comprehensive verification of the identity of the seller and the original documents of ownership presented when selling the home.
The situation is not trustworthy when a transaction is concluded through an intermediary person acting in the interests of the legal owner. After all, no one here can guarantee that the owner of the apartment wants this sale, and is alive and well at the time of the transaction.
The purchase of an apartment in a new building is carried out only with the participation of a development company or a trusted realtor, so the buyer should check the rights of this company to the apartment and the powers of the employee signing the contract.
Do I need to contact realtors?
It is better to buy, sell or rent an apartment with the help of a realtor.
This is a person who, by virtue of his occupation, knows which documents for an apartment or house need to be checked first and many other important things. There are many legal subtleties in matters of selling real estate. Only those who have the necessary knowledge can independently find the right option and complete all the documents correctly. There are only a few such people. The majority of citizens not only have little idea, but have no idea how to protect themselves, for example, when buying an apartment.
Therefore, a realtor is required if you plan to buy or sell a home.
How to choose the right assistant
- He has been working in real estate for more than 5-10 years, the agency he represents is large;
- Found “through an acquaintance”: he provided services to relatives, friends, acquaintances, they had no complaints about his work;
- The conditions proposed by the realtor: time to search for an option, cost of services, payment procedure and other important and necessary points are not just negotiated, but fixed in a special agreement.
How to avoid getting scammed by real estate companies
You should not trust real estate companies if:
- are asked to pay a deposit for the proposed work without providing any written guarantees indicating the volume and timing of the work;
- are asked to pay some unforeseen expenses in addition to the amount of the agreed commission;
- the cost of services is very low and differs from the average in your region; if the price is unbelievably low, most likely this is not the most honest agency and it is better not to contact them.
Remember these main rules when planning to seek help from a real estate office.
How many rooms should there be
Which apartment is better to buy – one-room or two-room? The answer depends on the approach.
- According to personal comfort level
The traditional calculation is the number of bedrooms + 1 (for the living room). But not everyone can afford this option. And if you have a European layout (combined large kitchen-living room), it is not so necessary.
At a minimum, you need to ensure that family members living separately have their own room.
If you want friends to have the opportunity to stay overnight, a guest/living room is a must. And in this case, European planning saves – two-room apartments with European planning are actually not inferior in area to 3-room ones, and are significantly cheaper.
- With a reserve for the future
Do you live alone or with your significant other? The 2-room option may be more profitable taking into account future family plans.
It’s easier to turn a living room into a children’s room than to urgently move.
- From a financial position
Real estate is constantly becoming more expensive. From this position, it is more profitable to choose an apartment that is a little larger. Even the mortgage option will ultimately turn out to be cheaper, taking into account inflation and rising prices.
On the other hand, this should not turn into financial bondage. If you need to improve your health, make repairs, invest in professional development, choose a one-room apartment. Ultimately, this will be more profitable and effective than endlessly postponing really important expenses due to lack of money invested in real estate.
Advice from home buying experts
As a result, we can give a number of criteria that determine the comfort of housing:
- remoteness of the house location from the center;
- prestige and ecological cleanliness of the area;
- distance to the nearest public transport stop;
- the material from which the house is built, as well as the year it was built;
- floor, number of living rooms and their dimensions;
- ceiling height;
- orientation of apartment windows;
- desired apartment layout: location of rooms, bathroom, kitchen, hallway;
- the presence of a balcony or loggia, as well as their dimensions;
- general condition of the apartment;
- condition of the courtyard area and entrance;
- availability of a landline telephone in the apartment;
- the presence of an elevator and its lifting capacity;
- the presence of a garbage chute.
We hope that simple advice will help you find a decent option and, without wasting time, nerves and financial resources, become the owner of the apartment you could only dream of.
Choosing a house design
Look at the design of the house; the comfort of your future home depends on it. Having information about energy efficiency, sound insulation levels, durability of materials, etc., you can quickly understand how to choose the right apartment for yourself and not regret it.
Developers in our country build three types of houses: panel, monolithic (monolithic-brick) and brick.
Panel houses have been popular since Soviet times. Buildings using this technology are erected from reinforced concrete panels - ready-made blocks that are assembled at the factory. Houses are then built from such products. On average, a panel high-rise building takes approximately 1.5–2 years.
Most of the modern housing stock consists of monolithic houses with reinforced concrete foundations and walls made of small stone blocks. The latter are cast directly on the construction site and laid using a seamless method. Such houses are durable and last up to 120 years.
But there are very few brick houses on the primary market. Companies avoid this method of development due to the cost.
So how to choose a good apartment? When choosing housing in a panel house, it is important to understand what you will have to face. First, such houses are noisy. Secondly, due to the large number of load-bearing walls, redevelopment is almost impossible. The energy efficiency of a panel house depends on the series. Modern “sockets” retain heat no worse than a monolith. But houses of the Soviet and post-Soviet era can be cold, as heat passes through the seams between the slabs.
When building monolithic houses, individual projects are developed, which makes the choice of apartment layouts quite wide. Modern new buildings offer completely different housing formats: with large terraces, high ceilings up to 4–6 m, two-level apartments, etc. The houses are quite energy efficient, thanks to seamless construction techniques and wall insulation. But sound insulation may suffer a little, although not as much as in panel houses.
If you have already made a choice in favor of a brick house, it will be useful for you to know that these houses are the most durable. The service life reaches 200 years. Even in the most severe frosts, a brick apartment will be warm. These houses are highly energy efficient. But redevelopment will be difficult, since most of the walls are load-bearing.
