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How to Test an Apartment Before You Rent It

An advice to the foreigners coming to Russian cities.

If you go to one of the Russian cities, it can be better to rent an apartment for few days that to book a room in a hotel. For example, in Krasnoyarsk, a normal apartment with 2 rooms, a bathroom and a kitchen costs 40-70 € a day (and you may stuff it with as many people as you want), while a hotel room (with bathroom) costs 40-100 € per person. So it’s obvious that you can get more comfort for less money if you just search a bit.

In this note I want to write how to quickly test an apartment that you’re offered. This can work even if you don’t actually do all these procedures, but just tell the salesperson that you are going to do these things to test the flat.

Here is the list of weak points of the apartments and measures to test them:

Door locks.I haven’t faced this yet, but in the cheapest apartments they may fall apart and not actually lock the doors. So as the sales person lets you enter the apartment, check it yourself both from inside and outside, with handle and with keys, to see that it works and doesn’t need special knowledge to make it work.
Light switches. Check if they function, if there are no faulty contacts.
Electric sockets. This is an important point. In many apartments they do a cosmetic repairs and put new Chinese sockets and switches, that are fancy but very-very weak. Link up your laptop power supply, see if it works, and then pull the plug out. Look if the socket doesn’t drop off the wall: sometimes they are hanging on almost nothing.
Toilet and bathroom. Make sure they work, don’t make noise, don’t smell; make sure the shower works and can be regulated. Drain the water in the toilet and see if it closes normally (otherwise it will leak and you’ll hear the water noise all the night). See if the drainage works normally.
Windows. If you come in summer and rent not an expensive flat, there will be for sure no air conditioner (they haven’t become a cheap and easy thing here yet), so windows will be of vital importance. Windows must open and close easily, better if they’re plastic (good wooden windows aren’t acceptable for an average consumer yet); even better if there is a net against flies and mosquitoes.
Stools and chairs. Check that they don’t fidget or fall apart under your weight.
Phone may come handy. It it’s there, check if it is online.
Water. There must be at least a working electric kettle. Learn if it’s safe to drink city water, or you need to filter it, hence if there is a filter. If no, learn where you can get drinking water, where to buy coffee, tea. Drinking coffee or tea is healthier than colas and saves money.

The next points are not necessary, but you may want to check them.

Internet is still rare in hotels and rented apartments, even though we already take advantage of unlimited broadband connection. Ask if they have it anyway – let them at least know it’s necessary. If you have a modem on your laptop, ask if it is possible to buy “internet in the envelope”. (it is sold in press kiosks. You buy an envelope with credentials of an anonymous account with some hours in it.) After all, there are internet-cafes: ask where you can find a cheap one. Those internet rooms in the foreigner-aimed hotels are just money pumps.
Sofas and beds are usually Ok, but it won’t hurt to check them as well.
Kitchen. It might be useful to ask yet on the phone if there is a microwave owen, which can be useful even if you don't cook yourself. If you do want to cook yourself, check the necessary crockery; better if there is salt (you don’t want to buy a kilo pack for few days and then throw most of it away – don’t hesitate to ask; if the question is of high importance, ask about salt/oil/pepper yet on the phone – the salesperson is also a human and might be happy to help you). Though, as far as food is concerned, I wouldn’t care so much to cook myself, because eating in Russia is quite cheap and even cheaper for foreigners. If you step away from luxury places meant for foreigners, you can get a good dinner in a good place for 6-7 €, or a good one in a decent dining-room for as few as 4 €.
TV. If you want this kind of entertainment, check if the box is connected to a central antenna for good signal quality. Local TV channels often show current temperature in the city.

Let me warn you that the language barrier can be a real challenge: while in the hotels listed in Lonely Planet they usually know some English, in the apartment agencies outside of Moscow the salespersons might speak no English at all. Be prepared, find somebody to help with translation, get a phrase book or learn Russian phrases.

Usually, the agency takes a small money deposit for keys and writes down your passport data (only one person’s). Big agencies can also register you in the immigration office if you need (when you stay more than 3 working days in the city).

So, to the point, don’t trust the (more or less) nice look of an apartment: most of them look OK when you enter; they are clean and have new fancy wallpapers, but later may make a few bad surprises if you are careless. Remember that usually Russians seem angry/irritated to foreigners, so don’t let this mislead or frighten you: be polite, but get what you need. Don’t be afraid to seem impolite or captious: it’s their job to show you that everything works. Of course, having arrived to another city you may be tired of the road you made, and you might want to make everything quick, but do an effort and be selective, and keep in mind that when you come to an apartment to see it, the salesperson also has already done some efforts, wants to settle the deal quickly and may make concessions to you.

Is it really worth checking all this stuff, instead of just staying in a hotel? According to my experience, and I’ve seen quite enough hotels in Russia, if you don’t have really much money for a trip, the same problems can arise in hotels: bad windows, poor door locks, etc. Often Russian hotels save on the facilities: toilet and shower often are shared among several rooms; no internet access. Then why pay much more? You can save money and take the greatest advantage of an apartment: having much space available and being autonomous.

The points in the checklist may look frightening, but problems are minimal if you choose an average offer. This checklist (a) protects you from being fooled badly, (b) makes it easy to compare the offers and (c) can make the salespersons make you discounts or other offers.

Some strategic advices:

Try to have a choice and make the salesperson aware of it; tell them politely that you’ve already been offered another apartment and want to make sure their apartment will be better.
When you phone to the apartment agency, you may want to walk through the checklist. Ask them if there are any problems with each of the points before you agree to meet and look at the apartment. If something is bad, they’ll usually admit it.
If the apartment isn’t okay, say politely about what you don’t like. Suggest meeting an hour later and go see another apartment. Then make a decision and phone them back. Maybe the salesperson makes a discount for you. Anyway it’s nice to be polite, and it’s good to let them know what’s wrong: next time they’ll care about those things.

After you settle the deal, ask the salesperson about things you need in the city: places of interest, internet points, etc. Have a 2Gis [http://www.2gis.ru] map of the city on your laptop. Though it’s only in Russian, you’ll see the street names as they are and may ask Russians to help you find services with it.

Dmitri Lebedev, http://ryba4.com 03.08.2008