Russians get hands-on real-estate lessons

Slava Stepashkin, Larisa Bogdanovskaya and Alexander Ginovker, three in center from left, visit the Rutherford County Register of Deeds office Wednesday.
Daily News Journal, March 2007
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The Boom in Credit

"Nearly the whole world lives with mortgage systems and, for our citizens, acquiring a house or apartment of your own the price of which is several times your yearly income is now a reality," says Alexander Ginovker, director of the Nevsky Prostor real estate agency. "According to the statistics, about 50 percent of the population wants to improve its housing situation, and 20 percent intend to do it through the use of mortgages.
Focus, appendix to SPb Times, March 2006
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Real Estate Association of Saint-Petersburg: how to profit from selling real estate?

It has always been profitable to buy property. Property is the real goods as its price is constantly going up. Especially today when our city is at the threshold of great changes.
The most popular questions are answered by leaders of companies, members of Real Estate Association of Saint-Petersburg.
Director of NEVSKY PROSTOR AGENCY Alexander Ginovker:
- Of course, the boom of communal apartments consolidation is over. In the center of the city, where most communal apartments are located, the most available ones are already consolidated. For the most part, only housing with juridical problems is left or not very promising flats: with courtyard entrances, without splendid views from windows or with tenants having steep demands. Nevertheless, we consider those variants too. The termination of free privatizing state housing can make communal apartments with not privatized rooms unavailable for consolidation.
Real estate bulleten, 16 March 2006

Mysteries of the "Golden triangle"

In our last publications about mysteries of the "Golden triangle" (an area bounded by Nevsky prospect and the Fontanka and Neva rivers embankments) we told about the most expensive (up to several million dollars) apartments in the city. Today we are going to discuss more affordable ordinary elite apartments. Director of NEVSKY PROSTOR AGENCY Alexander Ginovker, a vice-president of Real Estate Association of Saint-Petersburg, will tell us how to gain an understanding of different kinds of elite apartments.
- Let-s begin from the very beginning. What does "an ordinary elite apartment" mean? And how much is it?
- Instead of "ordinary" I would call such apartments "common" elite, because despite their
"simplicity" they are real elite ones. The most important is that they should be located in the
"Golden triangle" area. Their price is 4-5 thousand dollars per square meter.
St.-Petersburg Vedomosti, 28 February 2006
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Dear Tenants

The structure of demand and supply on the elite rent market is visibly changing. The main reason is high-quality new housing and reconstructed buildings in the historic center. Completely different level of comfort as compared to the old housing affected distinctly tenants' demands.
In the most prestigious areas: in the "Golden triangle", on Admiralteyskaya embankment, on Malaya and Bolshaya Morskaya streets, in the neighbourhood of Chernyshevskaya metro station, there are practically no new buildings.
Estate Gazeta, 30 January 2006
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St.-Petersburg Vedomosti

Mysteries of "Golden triangle".
A square meter like a new car. That is the price paid for the most expensive apartments in our city.
We have already mentioned that the most expensive apartments in the city are located in the well-known to all realtors "Golden triangle" (an area bounded by Nevsky prospect and the Fontanka and Neva rivers embankments). The prices per square meter for apartments located in the historical center of any European city are nearly equal, whereas in our city the picture is completely different. So what are the prices in the "Golden triangle" now?
St.-Petersburg Vedomosti, 26 January 2006
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Mysteries of "Golden triangle"

Millions of dollars for beauty are paid by the buyers of central apartments.
It is a well-known fact that our city is one of the most remarkable cities of Europe. Moreover, all city guides mention its unique style. But nobody has ever tried to value the beauty of our city in monetary units. Nevertheless, there exist such appraisals. For example, the view of the Neva river can cost 2-3 million dollars. At least that is the amount which a buyer is ready to pay for a splendid view from the window of his own apartment if it is located in the "Golden triangle". Director of NEVSKY PROSTOR AGENCY Alexander Ginovker, a vice-president of Real Estate Association of Saint-Petersburg, will tell us what to be valued most on purchasing elite property.
St.-Petersburg Vedomosti, 5 December 2005
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7 December 2005

St.-Petersburg Vedomosti. Petersburg style costs millions

It is no secret that in the area called "Golden triangle" (an area bounded by Nevsky prospect and Fontanka and Neva rivers embankments) prestigious apartments are valuated at millions of US dollars. But it turns out that their owners pay such fantastic sums not for the apartments themselves. But what for then? Here is the answer given by director of NEVSKY PROSTOR AGENCY Alexander Ginovker, a vice-president of Real Estate Association of Saint-Petersburg.
- Actually, the qualities of apartment itself do not play the leading role. It should be spacious enough with high ceilings
- that is all. The main and rather strict requirements relate to the surroundings. The windows of an elite apartment should overlook the Neva, the Moika or the Fontanka. The building itself should be remarkable. The main entrance should be really splendid and have a wide staircase.
And only if the apartment has all these advantages, it can be considered prestigious. However, there is one more important condition, though not a technical one. All taken together should comply with the Petersburg style and, moreover, create the same impression on everybody. In this case, the apartment can be equated with a real work of art, the price of which is estimated at millions of dollars. For the time present the "average" price of such apartments is 2 to 3 million dollars.

23 November 2005

Arguments and facts. Rarities for millionaires

It is no secret that in the area called "Golden triangle" (an area bounded by Nevsky prospect and Fontanka and Neva rivers embankments) a square metre of prestigious apartments is valuated at 10,000 US dollars. However, in this area you can buy much cheaper apartments. For prestigious the time present. Director of NEVSKY PROSTOR AGENCY Alexander Ginovker, a vice-president of Real Estate Association of Saint-Petersburg, believes that soon even those ones will go up, since prestigious apartments in the center are in short supply.
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27 October 2005

It seems that the time of an overall deficit is in the past: come to any store and choose whatever you want.

The main thing is to have enough money. But it turns out far from easy. For example to buy a really elite apartment in the "Golden triangle" (an area bounded by Nevsky prospect and Fontanka and Neva rivers embankments) is rather difficult even if you have a few extra millions. The reason is that the elite housing market has completely different laws from those of the standard housing market. Director of NEVSKY PROSTOR AGENCY Alexander Ginovker, a vice-president of Real Estate Association of Saint-Petersburg, will tell us about them.
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March 2005

Inyoupocket guide book. My favorite spot

For every issue, St. Petersburg In Your Pocket invites local personalities to talk about their favourite place in town.
My favorite place in Petersburg is the eastern tip of Vasilievsky Island, named the Spit (Strelka) of Vasilievsky Ostrov. It is here that the island splits the Neva River into two powerful streams which wash the island, emphasizing the magnificent beauty of the river banks. From 1733 to 1885, the Spit was the commercial center of the city, including a trade port, a stock exchange and Rostral Columns, acting as lighthouses. But in spite of its prosaic functions, the Spit became a splendid architectural ensemble, created by great masters. After the port was moved to the southern outskirts of the city, life in the Spit district became much quieter and many of its trade buildings turned into academies and museums. The unique aura of this place attracts all types of citizens: former schoolchildren celebrate their graduation parties, and students and sailors meet their dates. Many couples visit the Spit on their wedding day. And at weekends you can see here families with children. I live in the middle of Vasilievsky Island, and also like to take a walk along the Neva embankment with my children to the Spit to admire the Neva and the regal panorama of the river banks. You can already feel the spring breeze of the forthcoming Women-s holiday over the Spit. And I would like to congratulate all women in St. Petersburg and wish them happiness and a peaceful home.
Elena Botvinnik Administrator, Nevsky Prostor real-estate agency, Rentals department

February 2005

SPb Times. Serviced Apartments Gain Appeal

With hotel prices soaring and Moscow losing its affordable hotels to demolition and reconstruction as parts of big hotel chains, business travelers are often forced to pay premium prices for a hotel room. Many companies have found a simple and more affordable solution to their housing dilemma - a serviced apartment. Serviced apartments are available for rent from most reputable real estate agencies. They are often cheaper than regular hotel suites and offer a home-like atmosphere to a businessman who may be weary of yet another standard hotel room in yet another city. Such apartments can be rented from one night to several weeks, and agencies offer discounts to long-term lodgers. For example, St. Petersburg-based real estate agency Nevsky Prostor offers a 10 to 20 percent discount (depending on the season) for a two-week stay. Depending on the number of stars, average prices of hotel rooms in St. Petersburg can run from $100 to $300, while Nevsky Prostor offers two and three-room apartments for $80 to $120 a night.
Alla Shinkevich, lease administrator at Nevsky Prostor, said that foreigners coming to St. Petersburg from Moscow for the first time rent a hotel first of all because security is very important to them, but those who have been to the city before, opt for serviced apartments. "Many spend their first two nights in a hotel and later move to an apartment," she said.
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February 2005

The Pulse

The local rental market has been panicked by reports that there are to be clamp-downs on those not paying tax on income from the properties that they let out- In the humbler sections of the market - dubbed -ekonom- class in these parts - the market is more akin to the sort of conveyor belt of which Henry Ford would be proud, with tens of thousands of apartments currently being rented out. The top end of the rental market, however, is something of a world unto itself. Locals and expats that can afford to pay up to $7,000 a month for a pad in town have their own, very specific set of standards to maintain.
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December 2004

The Pulse

Elena Botvinnik. Assistant Manager Nevsky Prostor ltd.
At the moment residential property is going from $1000-$7000 per square meter. $7000 dollars is the centre of the city, Nevsky Prospect for example, or Luxury apartments, while $1000 is perhaps something in the outskirts. It's possible to get something at this price in the centre, but then we are talking about unrefurbished communal apartments in very poor condition. Prices of property have risen 20-25% in 2004. Residential has been rising fast, but commercial property not so fast, simply because there are so many offices. There are perhaps less people who want to buy property in general now (although we still get calls from people who want something small and cheap in the centre of the city that they can rent out) because nobody knows what is going to happen.

2001

The Saint-Petersburg Times

How does a two-room apartment just off Nevsky Prospect for $65 a month sound? What about a three-bedroom pad on the Neva for $3,000 a month? Depending on where and how you look, how quickly you need to rent and what length of time you are willing to sign a lease for, apartments in St. Petersburg come for all budgets, down to a less than $20 a month for a room in a communal apartment. Indeed, many companies can organize short-term rents in just hours, although without a doubt you pay a huge premium for the ease. There are two main ways to find a place to live: through agencies and through acquaintances - the latter of which, if an option, is often the easiest.
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2001 September 23

HUFVUDSTADSBLADET (Finish newspaper)

Alexander Ginovker tell about real estate market in Saint-Petersburg
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2001 March

The Saint-Petersburg Times

Foreigners in St. Petersburg frustrated with the dual-pricing system will be happy to know that there are some transactions in which state law treats foreigners just like Russians - for example, in the purchase of real estate. As Marina Sirenko of Nevsky Prostor real estate agency points out: "There are no special rules that apply just to foreigners. For a foreigner to buy an apartment, all he needs is a passport - with a notarized Russian translation."
>Details>>

2000 September 29

Talouselama (Finish magazin)

The analysis of real estate market and discussions about deals.

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