Why homebuyers are wary of apartments and how justified their fears
According to ZIP Realty, apartments occupy half of the Moscow new building market. They cost at least 15-20% cheaper than apartments. Nevertheless, buyers, when telling sellers or agents about their criteria for choosing housing, very often add: “but not apartments.” Let's find out what scares buyers in the apartment format and how justified their fears are?
The first fear is taxes
First, let's deal with the legal status of the apartments. In fact, you are buying an apartment that is no different from a normal one: it has rooms, a kitchen, a bathroom, and so on. However, according to the documents, your apartment is commercial property.
It is necessary to pay attention to the fact that the property tax on apartments can differ four times: from 0.5 to 2% of the cadastral value of the property. As a rule, apartments located in administrative, business or shopping centers fall under the maximum rate of 2%. But still, in most cases, the property tax on apartments is a minimum of 0.5%.
The rate for apartments starts from 0.1%, but this applies only to housing, the cadastral value of which does not exceed 10 million rubles. The tax on apartments worth 10-20 million rubles is already 0.15%; from 20 to 50 million rubles – 0.2%, and from 50 to 300 million – 0.3%. At the same time, the cadastral value of apartments is almost always significantly lower than apartments. And it may turn out that, despite the higher rate, the owner of the apartment will pay less taxes than the owner of the apartment.
For comparison, let's take three objects located on Kutuzovsky Prospekt. In the new elite residential complex “Kutuzovsky, 12” the price per square meter. meter, according to the cadastral valuation (these data can be found on the Rosreestr website), reaches about 267 thousand rubles. Apartments in a Stalinist building on 1812 Street cost about 212,000 rubles per square meter. meter. And the cadastral value of apartments in the Match Point apartment block (pictured below) is 97 thousand rubles per sq. m. meter.
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For convenience in the calculations, we will imagine housing with an area of 100 square meters. meters and calculate the amount of property tax. A 100-meter apartment in a Stalinist building in the historic district (1812 Goda Street) will cost 21.2 million rubles according to the cadastre. At a rate of 0.2%, the annual tax will be 42.4 thousand rubles. For a similar apartment in the Kutuzovsky 12 residential complex, the owner will have to pay 53.4 thousand rubles a year (the cadastral value will be 26.7 million rubles; the rate is 0.2%). A 100-meter apartment in Match Point, according to the cadastre, will cost only 9.7 million, and, therefore, at a rate of 0.5%, the annual tax will be 48.5 thousand rubles.
As a result, the smallest tax will be paid by the inhabitants of Stalin's house. But the age of the house is one of the main reasons for its relatively low cadastral value. After all, an old house is worn-out engineering communications, uncomfortable layouts and many other shortcomings. In the new complexes, where these problems are not present, the owner of the apartments wins at the “hundred-meter race”. With a decrease in the area purchased, the amount of taxes will be less for apartment owners, but the difference is not very significant. But if we are talking about premises for permanent residence of a large family with an area of 150 sq. meters, then the owners of the apartments will clearly benefit.
The second fear is the lack of permanent registration
Permanent registration in the apartments cannot be done, but temporary registration can be done for up to five years. In addition, there are enough buyers on the Moscow real estate market who do not need a residence permit. Firstly, these are Muscovites who are registered with their parents, and they buy apartments in order to live separately. Second, investors. These people, as it is correct, already have their own housing, and the property is acquired for additional income.
By the way, if we consider the purchase of real estate as an investment, then apartments significantly outperform apartments. According to Dmitry Khalin, CEO of the Savills agency, the yield from renting out apartments is no more than 5% per annum, apartments – up to 8%. The fact is that apartments can be rented out both for housing and for “quiet” offices for programmers, lawyers, designers, etc. Rental prices for small offices are 20-50% higher than residential rentals. Apartments cannot be used in this way, as this is a direct violation of the housing code. And it turns out, argues Dmitry Khalin, that apartment owners, firstly, have more chances to find tenants, and secondly, they can rent them out more expensive.
The third fear is the lack of infrastructure
Indeed, the lack of infrastructure can be a major problem for buyers. The fact is that by signing permits for the construction of a residential building, the authorities take responsibility for providing residents with infrastructure and social facilities, from roads to schools, shops, and medical institutions. In old districts, the load is calculated based on the existing infrastructure, in new districts, schools and clinics are being built along with the new complex, roads are being designed, and additional public transport routes are being laid. With apartments, the authorities have no such obligations, however, if an apartment complex is being built in the old district of Moscow, then the infrastructure is already there, and, as a rule, quite extensive.
For example, the aforementioned Match Point on Kutuzovsky Prospekt has not needed any advertising for a long time. There are definitely no problems with educational institutions, shops and clinics: the best schools, kindergartens and parks are within walking distance. A volleyball arena with sections for ten different sports has been built near the quarter, for cultural leisure you can go to the Pyotr Fomenko Workshop and the Pioneer cinema, and for shopping – to the nearest shopping center Oceania.
