Real Estate in Russia

How do I find a place to live in Russia?

We asked expats how they chose their neighborhood and found a place to live. They answered:

"We chose a family friendly area - Chisty Prudi - and used Evans estate agent for our first two apartments and Penny Lane for our last one. We used others too but Evans worked out to be the most reasonable overall and their agent actually listened to what we wanted, rather than showing us a whole load of rubbish. Penny Lane did a great job helping us find our last apartment," explained one expat living in Moscow, Russia.

"I have been lucky enough to converse with some Russian people online and to later meet them in SPb. The city varies widely in terms of housing. Some areas are industrial and you'll find smoke pouring into your windows at odd times. The better areas tend to be near universities, metro, large shopping malls ("magazines"). One advantage here is that for a small sum of aboout $0.50 US (20 ruble) you can take a bus and travel the city while seeing it's various facets," said another person in St. Petersburg.

"My wife is Russian, so I'm not typical of most expats. She always wanted to live on Vassilievsky Island, and a few years ago she negotiated a very complex chain of stae-owned flat trades to end up with a completely trashed empty 5-room communal flat in the neighborhood. I don't know how she did it (and I don't think I want to). We subsequently gutted the place and renovated it," added another expat who made the move to St. Petersburg.

"I chose to live as close to the office as possible. My colleagues helped me by giving advise and transporting me to some appartments to check them out and helping me negotiate," explained one foreigner living in Moscow, Russia.

What is a typical expat home or apartment like in Russia?