Dachas near Moscow? / 07 May 2010
Spring has come, and this means that the summer season is coming soon; it is a time to move out of town. March-April is when most people search for somewhere to move to, out of stuffy Moscow. The most farsighted people will already be hunting from the end of January onwards.
However it is necessary to bear in mind that today it is rather difficult to make a deal with owners. Because they think that the crisis is already over, whereas clients consider that haggling for a 20%-30% rent reduction is normal.
For $5000-8000 per month you can rent a nice cottage of average quality with a good plot of land located on the Rublevo-Uspenskoe highway about 30 km from Moscow. A cottage with a good interior, quality furniture and developed infrastructure will cost $8000-$15,000 per month. If you wish to rent a cottage with a pool, security, and expensive furniture, it may cost $15,000-$20,000 per month. The rental price of an exclusive cottage, a unique mansion for example, may be $50,000 per month. But such cottages can be empty for a very long. If you are comfortable with a cottage 50 km from Moscow it can cost 1.5-2 times less. However most cottages on offer are located 10-30 km from Moscow.
When choosing a cottage, the most important things are obviously location, plot size, and standard of decoration. The security and prestige of the settlement is also of great importance, as well as the proximity of water. The presence or absence of these parameters should directly influence the rent as established by cottage owner. Sometimes the tenant is interested in whether or not there is a fitness centre or tennis-court near, because many people are active out of town. Good examples meeting specified requirements are traditionally found not far from the Rublevo-Uspenskoe, Ilyinskoe and Novorizhskoe highways. The Kiev highway is becoming more and more popular among clients: rent prices here are significantly lower and access is good.
As a rule, in May there are no good cottages left ‑ there are only places with significant disadvantages or “problematic” owners who have not decided whether they want to rent their cottages or not, or properties which have not been repaired for several years. Good properties are well maintained. Properties near or on a main road are not very desirable; after all, do you really want to live in the countryside only to hear the noise of traffic?
In May the demand for cottages falls: almost everyone who wants to rent a cottage for the summer has already done so. During summer and autumn, out of town cottages are searched for only by people who want to live there permanently. Naturally these people have different priorities while looking for cottages.
