First, you should consider the area where you would like to live and your budget. For example, if you are in Moscow for a 6-month business project and your office is in the center, maybe it is worth to rent an apartment in the center. However, if you will be living longer, maybe it is better to save money and rent a place on the same side of the Moscow city but several stops away from the circle metro line.

Second, it may be useful to consider the current situation at the market and think how many rooms you need. Most russian apartment are 1 bedroom property and living rooms considered as a room too, so if Russian say it is 2-room apartment it means flat has: kitchen, living-room, bedroom and bathroom. 1-room apartments (especially cheap ones) are in great demand and go very fast - sometimes in few hours. 1-room apartment of flat have only 1 room, kitchen and bathroom.

Lowest price for flat which has recently renovated finishing (simply renovated walls, floor and sometimes bathroom and toilet) and cheap or 1990 yrs furniture and walking distance to the metro (5-7 min) station begins from 32.000Rub/MONTH (for 2012 year). If you need lower price be aware that it will be a flat far away from city center and will have outdated repair with last century (soviet) furniture.

Maybe it is worth paying a bit more and having a bigger place (where your friends who visit you can stay too)? If a 2-room apartment seems a bit too expensive, then you could consider finding a room-mate and sharing the flat together. If you not sure you can do flat search independently contact me today with short description of your situation:

Third, once you know what you need (location, qty of rooms, quality, price) and you ready to move in, you can start looking for an apartment. Sometimes it takes 1 day, sometimes 1-2 weeks, depending on your availability to view variants. Moscow is a big city and if you don't speak Russian and don't have Russian friends it is really not recommended to look through private classifieds because you can not check ownership documents and can be caught in scams trap.

As far as you do not know the specifics of the market and not able to see if the advert is a fraud or not. We have a lot of fraud in the internet with unbelievably cheap pricing made to attract people and reap them off. Methods they use to do it so many that It will take ages to describe them all. And all of them are so creative that sometimes even for locals it's hard to realise - this is a fraud. So if you fill suspicious about any option please think ones again before you take it. Not sure if you can find a flat independently? Contact me for help in finding apartment:

So, the fourth, and final, step, is to sign a contract - it is called lease agreement. Real-estate agents usually take 100% of 1-month rental price you agreed upon as their agent fee, and it is paid when the contract is signed. Owners normally ask for 1-st month payment and security deposit that equals to monthly rental fee. So Usually when you sign a contract you need to have 3 amounts of apartment monthly cost. We work differently - to learn more, please go to RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY page.

Please read your contract close or ask locals to translate it for you. Make sure that this contract does not contain extra penalties for payment delay. If you plan to stay in the flat as long as possible you can ask your agent to put a close in your contract saying that your landlord can not move you out before contract ending. Also add the close if landlord does so he will pay you a 1 month penalty or will let you to stay a month for free so you will be able to find another flat without hurry and stress.

Usually all contracts in Russia are for 12 months minus couple of days. This caused by our Civil Law (dated 26.01.1996, number N14-ФЗ - Part 2 ) that says - if you concluded any lease agreement for real estate with length more than 1 year, this lease agreement mast pass through state registration. Usually this costs 10.000-20.000 and takes up to 1 month. More about lease agreements read in our next articles.

Our market is still wild so far so if you do not speaking any Russian it is better to ask English speaking agent to help you with flat finding. Have no idea about contracts and legal issues? Contact me get real estate consultation (2000/hr):

Before signing the contract, you should check that the landlord really has rights to rent out this apartment. In Russia all landlord must have a Certificate of Ownership. He must give you an original only. Check carefully names and passport numbers in the Certificate. I would not suggest to sign a contract without this Certificate. Only owner has right to accept money from you and give you permission to stay in the apartment. In other cases it might be a fraud. Afraid of fraud and has no idea about ownership certificates? Ask for my help to find new home for you:

After you're sure that the landlord can be trusted, you can sign the contract and pay the deposit and agency fee. Right after you have paid landlord must give you sets of keys. Never give money without exchange for set of keys. As for deposit - never give any money without hand righting receipt or a Contract, it will cause you problems to get your money back. If landlord want to put in the contract different terms instead you have already agreed be strong and never let him do it. Otherwise he will be able to do it all the time. Visit following link to get Standard Residential Lease Agreement:Contract .If you do not like to deal with contract or do not know how to deal with them as me to help:

Note, that many people in Russia don't like to put the full rental price in the contract to avoid problems with taxes. In this case if your landlord doesn't pay taxes you have valued position - it will make him to think first before making you troubles. You always can send a letter with a readable copy of your contract to a tax authorities and this landlord will not be able to rent out this flat ever, or will have to pay taxes after paying penalties to tax authorities. want to avoid troubles and rent a flat safely and get assistance in case of troubles with a landlord, ask for my help:

If you get any troubles with a landlord, before giving up ask a lawyer for advice. If you does not speak any Russian ask locals to help you. We have a law protecting Buyer from not reliable Sellers. And remember - cheaper does not mean better in Moscow.

Real Estate Agents Russia. Expatriates relocating to Russia can have a hard time wile searching for housing. Honest Realtor - Moscow real estate consulting supplies information on everything you need to know about housing in Russia from buying a property to rentals to short term stay.

Buyers put a prime on a property agent who pays attention and responds to them more. After all, for a real estate deal to be truly successful it necessitates full cooperation between the two sides. Investing in real estate should be a more hassle-free prospect when a property agent is engaged to guide the client into the best bargains they can find. Hence choose only the most competent property agent to help you. If you search Real Estate Agents Moscow, share accommodation in Moscow, housing property Moscow, home search Moscow service, furnished flat in Moscow, long term rental in Moscow, rent Moscow apartments. Let me help you!

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