Oksana Diveeva, Director of the Sales Department at Capital Group, on whether extroverts can be architects, why there are many fake elite houses in Moscow, and whether City Addiction needs to be treated
Everyone has their own path to the real estate market. To understand her place in life, Oksana Diveyeva first needed to get an architectural education, and then overcome the serious resistance of her family, who considered the sale of real estate to be the height of indecency. But now she heads the sales department of a large development company Capital Group. In an interview with the Elitnoe.RU portal, Oksana spoke about her road to the heights of excellence and her view of the future of the capital's elite real estate market.
About children's hobbies: “Mom is still sure that the theater and world cinema have lost a lot because of my decision”
– I was born into an intelligent Moscow family. Dad was a very talented creative person: he composed songs, wrote poetry, painted pictures. And my mother worked with me a lot, often did her homework with me. Thanks to my parents, I received my secondary education at a prestigious school with in-depth study of the English language. In parallel, she studied at an art school in the class of sculpture, went to acting courses at the “Snuffbox”.
For myself, I quickly realized that the theater is not mine. They staged the play “The Seagull”, where I played Nina Zarechnaya. And no matter how she tried, she could not understand her emotional experiences, she believed that the girl was simply toiling from boredom. And neither the director nor anyone else could convince me otherwise. Perhaps because of my age … But be that as it may, I decided that I would not make a great actress. However, my mother is still sure that the theater and world cinema have lost a lot because of my decision.
About my first profession: “When I decided to become an architect, they looked at me like I was crazy”
“When I was in high school, everyone around me planned to become lawyers or economists. At some point, I also joined this stream. I went to courses at the most prestigious institute of MGIMO at that time. Passed the exams, entered the Faculty of Economics. And I took the documents … I just realized that the whole atmosphere of this university was alien to me, and transferred to the RUDN University at the Faculty of Architecture, which had just opened at this university.
Nobody understood such a decision: neither parents, nor friends, nor acquaintances. But for me it was perfect. On the one hand, an architect is a creative profession, on the other hand, at this university everyone received a second specialty – a translator. And after graduating from an English special school, I really wanted to preserve and develop my language knowledge. Even after school, I managed to earn extra money as a simultaneous translator, but I was not going to make it a profession of my whole life. I need to see the result of my own work, and translating someone else's work is boring. However, the level of English that I received in a special school was more than enough for RUDN University. The first entry in my work book was “an English teacher at RUDN University”. Already in my second year at the university, I started teaching English to freshmen there, while I myself studied Spanish at the same time.
I already realized that I have the charisma that is able to spark people with an idea, I can show by my own example that everything is possible!
I felt that it was necessary to develop not only teaching skills, but also managerial and leadership qualities. However, then I already realized that I have that charisma that is capable of igniting people with an idea, I can show by my own example that everything is possible! In many ways, this marked the beginning of my development as an effective leader.
About architecture: “All crazy ideas are not only invented, but also implemented in practice”
– At that moment I saw myself as a creative architect. I drew houses with sloping walls and curved windows on black Whatman paper with white ink and thought it was super cool. However, I quickly realized that all my crazy ideas were not only invented, but also implemented in practice.
My thesis was a 20-storey luxury building with 200 apartments. At that time, the concept of “elite housing” did not yet exist, but, in fact, I tried to design an elite house. There was a fenced area around the house, infrastructure was located on the first floors: shops, pharmacies. Such houses in Moscow were just beginning to appear at that time.
While I was studying, I did not think at all that architecture is an extremely introverted occupation
I got a job in a well-known bureau, but I did not work as an architect for long. While I was studying, I did not think at all that architecture is an extremely introverted occupation, and the lot of young specialists is to draw architectural nodes. They put me in a small office: no communication, no creativity, only four square meters and a hanging computer. I stayed there for only a month and went to work at the Blackwood agency – at that time the most prestigious agency. It was a company with an aura of elitism, with prescribed missions and values, an image company with its own face, where everyone wanted to work. I was only 22 years old and worked there for 12 years.
About real estate agencies: “The main disadvantage is that developers do not always listen to the recommendations of realtors, but in vain”
– At that moment the agency had its first exclusive project – “Trubnikovskiy, 4”. Club house for 25 apartments. And I was offered the position of a consultant for this project. I didn't know in detail what the company was doing, but I really liked it there: both the people and the energy of the place. When I returned home and told my parents that I would be selling real estate, my mother was horrified. No matter how I tried to explain that my work would be devoid of stereotypes, nothing worked. She forgave me only a year later, when she saw that I was happy in this job.
At first, I became the best broker, and then rose to the position of a leader. Leadership was not an end in itself – it was important for me to develop and help the team, to be a mentor and assistant in achieving the goal and to represent the company in the market with dignity.
Finally, the gestalt with my architectural education was closed after moving to the Capital Group
Later I moved to Best-Novostroy. My main task in the company was to develop the direction of elite business. But there is a small disadvantage in working in agencies: we participated in consulting new projects, gave our recommendations, but the developer could not listen to them.
Finally, the gestalt with my architectural education was closed after moving to the Capital Group. Now I am in absolute harmony. Projects are already underway, in the development of which I was directly involved, and it is very pleasant to receive live feedback from clients who note their advantages. “How difficult it is to choose an apartment from you: there are no bad ones,” one client told me. I am glad that this is the main problem of our buyers.
About the Mon Cher complex: “Customers ask to show old photographs of our house and are surprised to learn that this is a new building”
– The club house I worked with at Blackwood – Trubnikovskiy 4 – was one of the first elite projects in Moscow. We can say that I was almost at the origins of the luxury real estate market. More than 20 years have passed since that time, a huge number of interesting projects have come out. However, unfortunately, in almost a quarter of a century, not all capital developers have learned how to make high-quality stylish projects. Investors often practice this approach: “Let's make something a la classic, for example, like that house, but only cheaper …”. Then everything is decorated with stucco and mosaics, and you get not an elite house, but jewelry. As a result of this approach, a huge number of fake projects with vague stylistics appeared.
Our Mon Cher project has become one of the rare exceptions. It looks like an old reconstructed house: the walls are half a meter thick, the ceiling height is about four, vaulted windows and terraces of 30-40 sq. meters that do not look like a foreign body, but are created by the facade of the house.
In general, this project may never have entered the market. Initially, all 26 apartments of the club house were planned to be purchased by one person for his own residence. However, negotiations on this deal fell on the crisis, when the dollar rate doubled. And the buyer was unable to complete the deal at the new prices, and the Capital Group decided not to sell at the old ones. As a result, the sale of apartments in the Mon Cher club house began only at the end of last year. But during these few months, six apartments have already been sold.
Our company has not built a “semi-antique” house, but a real “old” house, which has no competitors
The prices in the mansion are higher than in similar projects: real jewelry and bijouterie cannot cost the same. Most developers are trying to save on details: they made the ceilings lower – they got an additional floor, thin walls – also an additional area. As a result, all this gives developers additional income. We are attentive to such trifles, because, as you know, the devil is in the details. But buyers are very surprised when they find out that Mon Cher is a new building: they ask to show some old photographs of our house. It turns out that our company did not build a “semi-antique” house, but a real “old” house that has no competitors.
This is a very painstaking work, and sometimes I think that if Capital Group ever decides build a second Mon Cher, you won't be able to repeat it.
About the future of the elite market: “Club houses for hereditary intellectuals and skyscrapers for those who need a drive”
– In the near future, the elite housing market in Moscow will develop in two directions: club houses and skyscrapers. Buyers of apartments in club houses and apartments in skyscrapers are comparable in terms of income, however, they are completely different people. Club houses are preferred by hereditary intellectuals who have lived in abundance since childhood and have received a good education. And skyscrapers in the City, as a rule, attract another category of buyers: drivers of their business, skyminded self-made people. Looking at the world from above gives them a boost of energy.
In addition, it is convenient to live in “Moscow City”. High-rise buildings are gradually turning into vertical streets where you can get everything. Inhabitants of skyscrapers do not leave the downtown for months, getting to any destination practically in slippers. In recent years, even the term has appeared among psychologists – “City-addiction”. However, it is possible that such a life will become the norm in the future.
About Moscow City and different approaches to the convenience of residents: “Having bought an apartment in the Oko Tower, it is impossible to turn them into an office”
– B “ Moscow-City ”has a huge number of skyscrapers, and it is quite difficult to choose an apartment there. But I would like to draw the attention of buyers to the following points.
First, no matter what your position in life is, not a single person will be able to stay in the center of business activity all the time. An important step for potential buyers has been made in the “City of Capitals” and “Oko” towers: the flows of office employees and apartment residents have been separated. These are not just different floors of one building, as is organized, for example, in the projects of other towers of the City, but different towers with different entrances.
Secondly, it is worth paying attention to the presence or absence of repairs. Prices in Oko and other towers are comparable. Capital Group is the only company that has brought the concept of fully finished housing to life. We do not just build, we manage our towers, which is impossible without finished finishing. However, in Oko apartments are sold fully finished, in other towers – without. The renovated apartment can be checked in on the same day the keys are received. Having bought an apartment “in concrete”, you need to put in several years for repairs. But even if you do it quickly, you have to be ready for life with a construction site next door.
Another thing is when people want to organize an office or studio in an apartment, I would advise them to look at other Moscow City projects with a less strict policy. This is not our audience. Our contract stipulates that the apartments in Oko can only be used for living, and we are ready to refuse one or two clients for the sake of the comfort of the rest of the residents.
My mother taught me that you need to do either well, or nothing. I teach my environment to work perfectly, and every day I remind myself of this. The second principle of building sales is to love people: understand the buyer, be in his place and find what he needs. And people feel it, they like it.
