When you are trying to find good apartments in Kiev, there are a few things you should know about. We tried to collect the most helpful advices for those who are planning to go to Kiev and need to rent apartments there. Hope they will help you to make your trip pleasant and avoid any inconveniences with lodging.
First: if you need to find some apartments urgently, try to order it via agency, don’t search it on site by your own forces. Remember that without knowing Ukrainian or Russian language it is very difficult to communicate with native people. The agencies have English speaking managers, experience in selecting apartments for foreign visitors and are well informed in local real estate business. That is why it will take less time to rent apartments via some rental agency than search among private providers. Going to Kiev just put down a few phone numbers that can be found in the internet. When came to Kiev, use them to find assistance.
Do not trust your friends in such question as price. If they rented some apartments a year ago for the price of $100 a day, most likely that now the same offer will cost about 30 higher. In Kiev apartments are used to change in price very often, partly because of unstable financial situation. So be ready for such inaccuracy.
Looking through private listings, do not believe all they are saying. If you found there something like “After renovation”, make sure that this renovation took place in the nearest past. Very often people exaggerate the conditions to make more profit from renting, so don’t believe all the words you read. The same is with “well placed” or “in good conditions”. Every person has her own meaning of good condition, so what is good for one is not surely good for you. Pay attention on exact facts in apartment’s description, like the number of rooms, beds, equipment, etc. It is great if there are some photos you can view. A one photo is worth many words.
If location is important for you, make sure that your future apartments are situated in the appropriate district of Kiev. When you are booking the apartment via agency, discuss this aspect with manager. If you are selecting the place for living by your own forces, use the map or GeoIP to see the real location. When you read something like “two minutes from the metro station”, this can have nothing in common with the real position.
When the agent says to you that the “price is negotiable”, it is the first sign to start bargain. You can save a lot of money if speak accurately with the manager. Such phrases are said when agency really feel need in new clients and ready to come to terms. Use this opportunity to make a good bargain.
Not all force majeures have bad consequences. If you were offered a one room flat but got two room for the bigger price, don’t refuse at once. It can turn out to be the better variant for not much bigger fee. Just look around, see if this one is good and then decide whether you’re going to stay or find another variant. And for the professional incompetence you can ask for the lower price, so make a profit from other’s mistakes. You bare the bag.
When renting apartments, ask for the documental closure of a deal. Having the contract you have the right to demand for money back if some requirements are not satisfied by agency or apartments provider. Without the document you can’t expect that someone will return your prepayment if something did not suit your expectations. The normal understanding agency always forms its contracts officially to avoid various misunderstandings with the clients, and if the agency refuses to give you a contract, there is something wrong.
Try to select big agencies. The bigger agency is, the more agents it has. As a result of competition between them you can rent apartments for cheaper price, as each agent does his best to get hold of new client. Small agencies can hold big prices without any cut offs, as they have no ability to work for cheaper fees. Besides this fact, big agencies have proven reputation, so it is safer to use their services. This rule doesn’t apply to the small agencies you have already worked with. If you know definitely that it is a good one with competitive prices, then of course it is better to rent apartments through it.
One of the most favorite tricks of Ukrainian rental agencies is offering to give you several addresses of apartments at a reasonable price. Don’t pay for that! It is a fraud. Most likely that the addresses you will be given does not exist at all or are not for rent. Serious agencies take money only in case of conclusion the contract. As for the contract, try to study it before signing. Maybe you will feel the difficulties in understanding its terms, the agent must explain you all the details before signing it up.
It is normal that if you need to rent apartments urgently, the price will be bigger that in case of booking beforehand. Lots of agencies can find you a good variant immediately, but for this you will be offered a higher fee. And it can be different from the fee that you saw on a website or price list.
Ukrainian experience shows, that the price for renting apartment doesn’t always include the household running costs. Before signing up check whether it is so, just to avoid misunderstanding. Also find out if there is a phone line available for international calls, and whether you should pay for it.
These are the main things you should pay attention for while renting apartments in Kiev. Make the right choice and enjoy living in this beautiful city!