What are the major differences between purchasing a property in Russia versus purchasing a property in Europe or the United States?
The quality of information in a Russian real estate database or private advertisement is more questionable than in the west. Its possible that an agent may publicly list on apartment based on the information of a single phone call from a seller and without any verification. Properties are rarely ready for fast transactions owing to some of the following factors: – The necessary documents for the title are unready or unprepared – There may be unresolved legal problems associated with the property – Inherent complexities in the transaction (see section below on communal apartments) To look at it another way, there are around 500 registered real estate agencies, close to 100 building companies that have their own sales divisions and a large number of freelance middlemen involved in the St. Petersburg market. Each of these agencies has its own base of properties for sale. This arrangement tends to put the sellers interests ahead of the buyers due to the commission arrangements. It is often
