Analyst Elena Mishchenko named ways to save money when buying an apartment

High prices for apartments have made purchasing a home impossible for many Russians. However, if desired, it is still possible to obtain a serious concession from the owner. Experts told MK which apartments on the secondary market do not rise in price (in which areas and under what conditions). Knowing what to play on, the buyer can reduce the price by two to three million rubles.

The cost decreases most noticeably if the apartment was often involved in transactions between individuals or was recently transferred to the owner as an inheritance or under a gift agreement.

– On average, such housing costs 5-10% cheaper. In addition, many sellers offer an additional discount of up to several hundred thousand rubles,” notes the head of the city real estate department of NDV Supermarket Real Estate. Elena Mishchenko.

Let’s do the math. The average cost of a secondary one-room apartment in Moscow, according to Miel, is 10.4 million rubles, two-room apartments – 14 million, three-room apartments – 17.2 million. This means we subtract 10% from these amounts for a bad hereditary history and another discount from 500 thousand to a million.

The actual selling price ends up being much more expensive for the buyer. A one-room apartment is falling in price to 8.4-8.9 million rubles, a two-room apartment – to 11.6-12.1 million, a three-room apartment – to 14.5-15 million rubles. If the seller needs to part with the home urgently, he is usually ready to provide even greater discounts.

Do not forget that the type of house plays a big role. As a rule, apartments in old five- and nine-story “panel” buildings and in block buildings of 9 and 12 storeys become the least expensive. In such buildings there are ancient communications and poorly installed garbage chutes, which spoil the smell and attract rats and parasitic insects into the entrance.

Apartments increase in price minimally in areas where there are a lot of high-rise buildings and the supply of housing for sale is quite large. In Moscow, the leaders in these indicators are Nekrasovka, Biryulyovo and Pechatniki.

Regardless of the area and proximity to the center, the cost of secondary real estate practically does not increase if industrial enterprises, hospitals, police stations, and cemeteries are located nearby. For example, in the triangle between the VDNH, Botanical Garden and Rostokino metro stations, two dozen hospitals and hospices are concentrated. Apartments in buildings located nearby are 3-5% cheaper than the average in this generally quite popular territory among Muscovites.

Resale properties with poor repairs, views of the canopy of an entrance or store, as well as apartments without a balcony are being sold below the market price. In old Soviet and post-Soviet buildings, which do not have balconies or separate storage spaces, apartments lose in price from 3 to 5%. At the same time, the absence of a loggia or balcony in comfort or business class residential complexes has almost no effect on the cost.

Qian experts say that sellers have begun to provide discounts more often, but are not ready to accept a significant discount for no apparent reason (which we wrote about above).

Within a week, every tenth owner reduced the price of the offer. Of these, 68% – by 3%, 16% – by 4-9%, and only 0.3% – by more than 10%.

“High activity in the secondary market still remains,” comments company analyst Alexey Popov. – In October, 17.1 thousand transactions were concluded – 2.3% less than in August (17.5 thousand) and slightly higher than in September (17 thousand).

The secondary market is still more stable than the primary market, since many alternative transactions traditionally take place there, which do not depend on the economic situation or the key rate, but are associated with the natural and migratory movement of people. Owners, against the backdrop of high mortgage rates and competition from the new buildings market, will be forced to trade more actively and reduce the cost of apartments.