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Sashadroogie · Posted: Fri Apr 04, 2014 4:21 pm Post subject:

Not sure where to correct you, as this post and previous one seem to be saying different things. A bedroom in a flat for 30,000 being the only option these days? This is the part that sounds very off to me. Check with your friends again, but I have serious question marks about that....

teacher X · Posted: Fri Apr 04, 2014 5:41 pm Post subject:

I'm gonna have to disagree with you Maruss.

My apartment is a 2 bedroom apartment 10 minutes from the metro in Universitet (which is a rather nice area) and it's 40k per month.

My DOS lives in a one bedroom place 5 minutes from metro Universitet and it's costing him 30k.

A colleague of mine does indeed pay 70k per month, but that's for a 2 bedroom apartment and it's inside the ring (I forget where exactly, but he said he's a 20 minute walk from Red Square)

I mean, hell, the admin in my company earn only 30k per month and they have to rent somewhere since none of them are Moscow natives. One of the admin has a place that's costing her 15k per month. Sure, it's down in Yuzhnaya, but 15k is still 15k.

If all apartments cost 30k+ I can't see how anyone can rent here since most Russians I know earn 40k tops. I recently met a guy who was an IT teacher at a local school. His salary was 20,000 per month (which actually seems a little absurd. Perhaps something was lost in translation)

Out of curiosity, is your friend reasonably successful? I wonder if he has higher means and isn't looking very hard for lower rent apartments.

Sashadroogie · Posted: Fri Apr 04, 2014 5:59 pm Post subject:

Very good post, Teacher X. Always like it when I am agreed with : )

But seriously. I'd be very wary of statements from just one friend, or one old babooshka etc. Can be very misleading at best...

teacher X · Posted: Sat Apr 05, 2014 10:36 am Post subject:

On a more humorous note;

My flatmate suggested to his girlfriend that they find a place together.
So she (who earns 30k per month) immediately started looking at apartments costing 80k per month.
Classic Russian female thinking. "Money? Cost of rent? I don't need to think of such things...I have a boyfriend"

I'm honestly too scared to move beyond one night stands here. I really don't see how I could ever afford a Russian woman unless I work 18 hour days.

maruss · Joined: 18 Mar 2003 Posts: 1145 Location: Cyprus

30 k for a 1-room and 40 for a 2 room sounds quite reasonable in Universitet, which I agree is not a bad area-of course if the firm are paying the rent then its not your problem anyway........trouble is that if you are looking for a place on your own, especially if you are a foreigner it is another story! Either you have to use an agency which speaks English and those that do tend to deal with ex-pats earning high salaries and usually only have expensive accommodation. Using Russian agents that don't speak English means you need a local friend-some of them who advertise are bogus and ask for 'registration fees' up front, often around 500 roubles to put you on their list and then you wait....and wait. The genuine ones will also want a commission fee once they find you a place which may be half a months rent or even a whole month and then you have to pay one months rent as a deposit, plus a month down payment to move in? All this can add up to a couple of thousand $ which you need up-front to get somewhere to live and many people overlook this !There was also a problem-and maybe still is-that some landlords will not rent to foreigners who require registration at their address because they are afraid of tax complications etc...
But 15k is very cheap by Moscow standards today for a flat, even if it's down in the dumps and a bit of a dump as regards quality etc!!
But getting a single flat out of a Mac-School, especially if you are a new teacher, is definitely a stroke of luck, even more so when its in a good area ...AND close to where you work!!I'm sure others would agree with me on that point!

Sashadroogie · Posted: Sun Apr 06, 2014 6:56 am Post subject:

teacher X · Posted: Sun Apr 06, 2014 6:33 pm Post subject: Re: sounds a fair price?

Sashadroogie · Posted: Sun Apr 06, 2014 6:40 pm Post subject:

There are literally millions of kind and warmhearted women available in Moscow alone who have ideal wife qualities in abundance. You won't really find them in dodgy pick-up dives late at night, though.

Depends what you are after, but to suggest that there is nothing but money-grubbing mercenary passport-hunters out there is to do a great disservice to Russian womanhood.

Come on! Look past the superficial. Go to museums and poetry readings! Plenty of romantic possibilities there with girls with a bit of substance. Want to really hit the jackpot? Join the Party!!

maruss · Joined: 18 Mar 2003 Posts: 1145 Location: Cyprus

There are nice women-and some real 'stervas' in every country, so it seems-just that in some places such as Saudi Arabia and other places with closed societies, your chances of picking one up are very limited, even more so if you are a foreigner and of a different religion, culture etc?
But I have to agree with Sasha about Russian women, broadly speaking, based on my own experience of them. I will also admit that the good ones I met there were via friends and I am still in friendly contact with them quite a few years later. Not to say of course that you won't meet anyone worth knowing yourself but if you frequent joints such as' Nite-Fly' which are notorious pick-up spots for people who don't have time or interest in the 'preliminaries' then your chances of getting emotionally, as well as financially damaged if you have other ideas in mind are almost a certain!
Books have been written about Russian women and no doubt many more will be, but perhaps the best advice is to beware of 'gold-diggers' everywhere and that includes girls who suggest you rent an expensive flat for them to move into with you? Be sure that they will very soon have other demands!What does Sasha think?

fat_chris · Joined: 10 Sep 2003 Posts: 3198 Location: Beijing

fat_chris · Joined: 10 Sep 2003 Posts: 3198 Location: Beijing

When it comes to the golddigging game I like to turn the tables:

"Did I hear correctly? You/your father has a really nice dacha?!?" and immediately I turn up the charm to 11.

If you see this dacha a-rockin', don't come a-knockin'!

Very Happy

Warm regards,
fat_chris

maruss · Joined: 18 Mar 2003 Posts: 1145 Location: Cyprus

Nice one Chris! Wonder what we should say to the Russian gold-digging 'dyevs!?

alex1970 · Joined: 19 Jun 2013 Posts: 84

I would think very carefully before applying to any school in the Moscow 'suburbs' since what is advertised is rarely reality. For instance, a recent advert here says that the area is 'only 40 minutes' from Moscow when in fact it is 90 minutes by car/bus and around the same time by train. The salary is also very poor considering that the cost of living in Russia is now virtually the same as anywhere else (plus the Moscow suburbs are just as expensive as Moscow itself).

Working in Moscow is not much fun either since I've been let down by false promises recently.

Sashadroogie · Posted: Tue Apr 15, 2014 3:03 pm Post subject:

Sorry to hear that. Care to name and shame?

alex1970 · Joined: 19 Jun 2013 Posts: 84

I'm still working in one of them until Monday so I will post it here when I've left. In the meantime I will send you a pm.