5 mistakes when buying an apartment in a new building that cost money and nerves

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Trusting the developer's generous promises and buying an apartment in the area that you liked so much in the picture is definitely not worth it.

Most of us will not buy anything more expensive than an apartment in our life. We save up for a down payment for several years, then we pay off the mortgage for another 10 years - and all this in order to acquire our own square meters.

I have been running a service for finding apartments in new buildings for eight years now and still cannot understand why people treat the main purchase in their lives slipshod. In this article I will tell you about the main mistakes when buying an apartment in a new building, what they lead to and how to avoid them.

1. Choose the first apartment that comes up

Developers place advertisements on billboards, in transport, on the Internet, and on television. Of course, the apartments in it are described in such a way that it seems that there is no better offer to find. Therefore, many do not look for it. I liked the apartment on an advertising poster - and now a person in the developer's office draws up a deal.

With this approach, the chances of buying the best apartment for your budget are minimal. It almost always turns out that another developer had a similar apartment cheaper. Or the same, but it has a larger area or a better yard. Therefore, I highly recommend studying the market before making a buying decision.

Determine the amount you are willing to spend and see what the developers in your city are offering for that money. Compare them with each other in terms of price, area, additional features like turnkey finishing or yard without parking - and only then make a decision.

35 m² for a price of 40

Case from practice: a man bought an apartment in St. Petersburg. From the advertisement, he learned about the proposal of the promoted developer: 3 million rubles, 35 m², the house will be delivered in a year and a half. Everything suited him, and he formalized the deal.

And then it turned out that another developer was selling apartments in the same area of the city, only odnushki were already 40 square meters. The difference in price was insignificant, 70 thousand. These apartments were a little further from the metro, but for the buyer it was not so important.

It was worth spending a couple of evenings monitoring the market, and the choice would be much better.

Create a pivot table and compare apartments by parameters that are important to you. We have prepared a template in Google Sheets - follow the link, make a copy and use it.

Open Template →

I will also suggest some of the most convenient and informative sites for monitoring the market.

Federal:

• "CYANOGEN";
• Yandex. Realty.

For Moscow:

• MskGuru;
• "Novostroy";
• Novostroy ‑ M.

For St. Petersburg:

• SpbGuru;
• "Novostroy-SPb";
• Novostroy.su.

2. Believe the unfounded promises of the developer

To convince you to buy an apartment from them, developers literally bombard you with promises. “Buy an apartment now! Then a kindergarten, a school, cafes and restaurants, city public transport will appear here. Apartment prices will skyrocket! - they say.

When buying real estate, you can't trust anything. If there are indeed plans for the development of infrastructure, then they should be documented in the project declaration. You can also search municipal sites for territorial development plans. For example, Murin's development plan can be found on the website of the Vsevolozhsk municipal district.

Saved and bought an apartment in an open field

One family overly believed the developer's promises and bought an apartment at the excavation stage in a new area. At that time, literally three or four buildings were handed over there, and now they were selling apartments in houses of the second stage. From the infrastructure - the road and several small shops.

The company promised that in just five more years, a normal urban infrastructure will appear here. It was especially important for the family that a kindergarten would appear here, according to the developer.

Five years have passed, and only minibuses, chain grocery stores and beer stalls have appeared. The child had to be sent to a small private kindergarten, because they did not wait for the state one.

Empty promises concern not only infrastructure facilities, but also the quality of the houses themselves. For example, instead of the promised silent German elevators, ordinary Mogilev elevators are being installed. Or they promise to hide the water pipes in the floor, and then abandon this idea and stretch them directly along the walls: you have to wrap them in boxes and spoil the interior.

Study your project declaration and equity project carefully. Draw pessimistic conclusions: what is not there will not be. This way you will not create unreasonable expectations for yourself, and if the developer does deliver on his promises, it will be a pleasant bonus.

3. Pay no attention to the area

Some buyers only come to a new neighborhood in which they will live for the first time when the developer rents out their home. And they are faced with unpleasant surprises.

Painted trees

The developer showed the buyer the area of the future house on mock-ups made using computer graphics. The buyer liked it and bought an apartment.

After some time, the man arrived at his new home. He expected that there would be many trees in the yard, like in those renders. But he was greeted by only a few bushes near the entrances and huge new buildings around. A man bought an apartment in a typical concrete anthill.

Necessarily - I emphasize, imperative! - Before buying an apartment, take yourself a tour of the area in which you will live. And not for 15 minutes from the car window, but on foot and for several hours. Get to your new home by public transportation from work. Take a walk, go to shops, dine at a cafe. Look at the playgrounds, chat with the residents - how do they live here? This will give you a rough idea of the area, and you will be able to make an informed decision whether to buy an apartment here or not.

If in fact there is no area yet, do the same in other, already inhabited areas of the developer. Perhaps now it seems to you that all this is not so important and that the main thing is what is inside the apartment. Take my word for it: it is not. I work mainly in St. Petersburg, we are building up sleeping areas on the outskirts with a bunch of skyscrapers: Murino, Parnas, Dybenko. And I personally know people who save money, buy apartments there, and then face the realities of life and regret it a lot. Crowds of people who follow the metro in the morning and back in the evening, traffic jams at the entrance and exit, identical skyscrapers, courtyards crowded with cars - all this spoils the impression of housing.

4. Don't trust agents

In relation to agents, there is a stereotype that they are all people who do nothing useful, but charge a lot of money for their services.

In fact, the devil is not so terrible as he is painted. Contrary to popular belief, agents do not charge you: they are paid by developers to bring buyers to them. At the same time, agents remain unbiased, because they work with many developers at the same time.

It is important for an agent that you buy a suitable apartment: for this he shares his experience, answers your questions, sometimes even acts as a psychologist if you are too worried. He will also take over the routine work with documents. For you, registration of a mortgage and paying for an apartment is a complex science, and he has already performed such operations hundreds of times.

Of course, all this concerns good agents who work honestly for a percentage of the sale. There are others who want to get money from you at any cost. Study reviews on the Internet, ask for recommendations from friends - at any cost, find a realtor with positive reviews. The best agents are always found through word of mouth.

5. Be afraid of unfinished projects

Previously, when buying an apartment at the excavation stage, buyers' money went directly to the developer. In the future, the company could go bankrupt, and the money simply burned out.

In recent years, the market has stabilized: it has been occupied by large developers who rent out several houses every year, aim to work for a long time and therefore value their reputation. Nevertheless, the fear of unfinished construction remains.

There is no need to be afraid anymore. From July 1, 2019, the law Article 15.4 is in force. Specifics of attracting funds from participants in shared construction by a developer in case of placing such funds on escrow accounts on the transition of developers to escrow accounts. This means that when you buy an apartment at the excavation stage, you transfer money not to the developer, but to the bank. The funds are kept by the bank until the house is built - and only then the developer can receive them. If the house is not handed over for some reason, the bank will return the money to you.

Hope these tips help you buy your dream apartment. If you are going to buy an apartment and you are worried about any questions, ask them in the comments, I will be happy to answer!