Apartment moving

I recently moved from one apartment to another in Moscow, and I would like to contrast the experience here with that in the United States. There were two stages I want to describe: finding the new apartment and moving to it. The former was costly and time consuming, while the latter was quite simple and inexpensive.

Most apartments in Russia are owned by individuals – meaning the apartments in one building are all owned by different people – somewhat like the condominium concept in the States. So when you are looking for an apartment, you cannot simply go to your desired neighborhood seeking “for rent” signs (although there are flyers at bus stops advertising apartments or rooms, but I think this is a bit dodgy). While there are some websites on which owners advertise directly, most people who are offering an apartment use an agency, and thereby if you want to rent an apartment for yourself, you should also use an agency, which usually charges one month’s rent as commission. This means there are four people involved in the transaction: the owner, owner’s agent, renter, and renter’s agent. I spent more than a month rejecting bad offers from my agent, but after I nudged up my target price a bit she finally turned up something nice in the neighborhood I wanted for a reasonable price. Well, reasonable for Moscow, which has sky-high real estate prices; it is among the top six most expensive cities in the world for housing, according to various publications. Prices to buy in Moscow can range from (these are very quick, “back-of-the-envelope” figures) $4000 per sq meter for basic to $10,000-$18,000 per sq m for just fairly nice, depending on quality and location, of course. During the economic crisis, rental and purchase prices in Moscow came down only in the elite housing segment. Prices for apartments in the low to mid-range stayed mostly the same, and continued to rise a bit due to inflation (which has eased to below 10% with the economic crisis).

When signing the lease, one usually has to pay the 1st month’s rent and either the last month’s rent or a security deposit equal to that. Thus, along with the agent commission, you are shelling out three months rent all in one shot. In Russia you usually must make these sorts of payments in cash or by bank transfer (like a wire transfer or EFT); there are no checks or bank drafts. It is a little nerve-wracking to carry around that kind of cash, just in case you find your dream apartment that day and need to sign the papers immediately before someone else snatches it. In my case, after signing the lease agreement, receiving my keys and handing over several thousand dollars in cash, the owners of my apartment asked me if I would prefer to pay the monthly rent in cash or by bank transfer. While making a bank transfer requires a visit to my bank branch, I find it preferable to meeting with them each month to pay in cash (which I did at previous apartments), as I don’t have to set a specific time to do it. There is a branch of my bank (well, the bank through which my company pays my salary, a story for another post) in my neighborhood that is open until 8pm on weekdays and till 5pm on Saturdays.

Once I found my new abode, moving was a breeze. Although I don’t have a lot of stuff, it was more than would fit in a car, so I looked into getting a van or similar. I was ecstatic to discover that I could get a truck with driver and one mover through Gorodskoi Taxi for $60 for two hours (but note that the driver only drives, he does not carry anything, hence I needed at least one mover). I use this taxi company frequently, so I already knew their service quality, and I was able to order the truck and mover through their website. The last time I moved in the States, the truck alone cost more than $60; I drove it myself and imposed upon friends to help me move, something I have done too way many times – my eternal gratitude to Brett, Brian and Dan, who helped me with countless moves (and with an honorable mention Chad and John).