By Andy Potts
Demand is down, rent is down and estate agents are down - so what can a prospective tenant hope for in Moscow's current buyers' market? We sent a young, professional couple - one expat, one Russian - out to see what was available in or near the Park Kultury area, with a budget of $2,000 a month (67,000 roubles according to most exchange rates, nearer to 75,000 according to most agents).
The small office
We started with Tamara, an independent agent based in a small office on Gazetny Pereulok, and received an enthusiastic welcome. While the signs outside were mostly advertising cheap suburban properties, she was delighted to open up the file of top-end central apartments. Unfortunately her first pick suggested too much enthusiasm - the 102,000-rouble price tag was well over our budget. An immediate reduction to 80,000 roubles brought it closer to our $2,000 upper limit, but it was still too much, even with the promise of a "big plasma television". It did, however, back up recent reports of a 20 per cent drop in rents for two-room "elitny" apartments.
On properties within our price-range there wasn't too much scope to cut a deal. Although Tamara was able to produce a wide range of potential flats in the Frunzenskaya area, mostly for around 55,000-60,000 roubles, she was reluctant to offer any further savings. However, she did offer to half her fee "if you find somewhere quickly".
The pick of her options was a surprise - a two-room "yevroremont" at 5 Tverskaya Ulitsa for an impressive 55,000 roubles. That was right in the price range, and had an unbeatable location, though my better half demurred at some of the detail of the décor. Unlike most others we spoke to, Tamara was also happy to point us towards cheaper properties away from the centre, mostly around the Frunzenskaya area.
The big chain
INCOM, one of the biggest agencies in the city, has several branches. We called into the Tverskaya office, explained what we were looking for and were introduced to Svetlana, a "leading expert". She advised us that, for the money we had available, we should look centrally rather than close to Park Kultury. Surprisingly, this did not always push up prices: While an Oktyabrkaya apartment was out of reach at 85,000 roubles, she had a number of more central properties around Tsvetnoi Bulvar for 55,000-60,000.
Within a few moments we had a string of viewings arranged - at Smolenskaya Ploshchad, on Ulitsa Karetny Ryad and on Sadovaya-Samotyotchnaya - and were being whisked around the city to see what was on offer. The after-sales service was also persistent: Svetlana phoned regularly over the following days chasing up our interest and offering further viewings.
No room at the inn?
An email to Penny Lane realty, one of the city's most prominent agents, had gone unanswered, so we were out on the streets looking for other firms to advise us. On Bolshaya Nikitskaya Ulitsa one firm was boarded up, possibly closed, and another insisted they had no rental properties available.
But there was a still more interesting experience at Avers Estate, near Mayakovskaya metro station. Unwilling to let us into their offices - despite the promise of VIP service - we met briefly in person to exchange e-mail addresses before later receiving a flurry of property offers from a centralised computer database. N
MOZHNO NA-ANGLIISKOM?
Only one company, Evans, which regularly advertises in the English-language media, had English-speaking staff. They operate a phone service, assigning an agent based after a brief discussion of requirements. This is usually followed up with a long list of available apartments, and an opportunity to arrange a viewing. Other agencies advertising in the English media tend to offer English-speaking staff as well, but it's usually easier to get a better deal with a Russian speaker's help.
What you can get for $2,000
Most agents felt that a two-room apartment was ideal for two young professionals and preferred to search within the Garden Ring, though independent agent Tamara did say she could find a three-room apartment for 60,000 roubles if we wanted it.
Typical of the places on offer was the preferred choice of INCOM's Svetlana on Smolenskaya Ploshchad. A large Stalinist-era building, overlooking the main road. It had a large living room and a genuine double bedroom joined by an impressively-proportioned bathroom and a sleek, modern kitchen. Coming fully-furnished - with some slightly over-the-top baroque ornaments - and fully fitted with every possible convenience, it had a lot going for it. And, to further pique our interest, the 75,000-rouble starting price was cut by 10,000, putting it (just) in our price range.
WHAT IT COSTS
It comes as a shock to many prospective tenants, but renting through any agency in Moscow tends to bring a painful separation from a huge wad of cash. In addition to the standard month's rent up-front, and the usual one month's refundable deposit, most agents charge tenants a further one-month's rent as a non-refundable agency fee, pushes the up-front cost to the equivalent of three months rent - around $6,000 for our couple.
The situation for landlords isn't much better. A spokesman for one agency confirmed that "because of the difficult situation we have at the moment" that first rental payment also stays with the agency. This charge was justified because the agency "specializes in long-term lets".
One way to avoid these charges, of course, is to rent privately. Deals done directly with landlords remove any commission charges, and don't always require a deposit. The risk, as agents regularly warn, is that contracts - if there are any - are less formal and harder to enforce.
