Job Discussion Forums

technodrome · Joined: 29 Jun 2009 Posts: 13 Location: Chicago

What can one expect from the apartments provided by the major chains (Language Link, English First, etc)? Are they usually furnished? I'm guessing one has to buy everything for the kitchen? Do teacher's have a relationship with a landlord, or are all maintenance requests, etc. handled through the school? Is there a lease, or can one change apartments at will? Just trying to get some feel for how this compares with renting in the U.S.

Thanks!

jpvanderwerf2001 · Joined: 02 Oct 2003 Posts: 1117 Location: New York

jpvanderwerf2001 · Joined: 02 Oct 2003 Posts: 1117 Location: New York

P.S. I highly recommend contacting another foreigner in the city where you're going about the best areas to live in. In general, I would say that living close to your place of employment is a capital idea, especially for newcomers. JP

Nexus · Joined: 08 Mar 2004 Posts: 189 Location: Moscow

I'd agree with JPs comments but they seem to be more in line with finding your own place independently.

When you step off the plane to work with a large chain school (especially BKC / LL) you will usually be taken directly to your flat.

It will be furnished but generally with old, often tatty furniture. The beds seem to be a common problem in that they are especially old and uncomfortable.

Kitchen stuff will be there but if you like cooking, you might want to buy a good quality pan or two. Unless previous teachers have left things, the pots and pans will resemble army surplus stuff.

Dealings with the landlord are done through the school. The school may send someone round to do inspections / maintenance etc.

It's not a problem to leave the flat if you want to find something independently (or with friends) but moving to another school flat just because you fancy a change may be another question.

I have a feeling that EF have a different housing system than other chains but can't say for sure. Generally it's pot luck which flat you're put in regarding location and quality.

Hope that helps.

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

Van der werf has written some excellent advice:I have have been through this experience myself and it was no joke,believe you me!
Having experienced nice accom. and not so nice, my overall comments are that firms like BKC and LL will not normally give you a decent flat,especially in a place like Moscow where the good ones are kept for senior staff.But on the wages they will pay you have no chance of affording to rent a place on your own so you are effectively stuck wherever you end up and may not be able to get them to move you...Depending on what you are used to, be warned that even in a supposedly( once!) booming city like Moscow many people still live in standards of accomodation that only squatters would accept elsewhere in other developed countries and it can be downright depressing and miserable,as well as far from where you will be working!Also DO NOT agree to share with an unknown person and I emphasise this for many reasons...
Until the present economic crisis hit I would almost have said that if you can find somewhere of acceptable standard to live in Moscow for yourself that is not too expensive,there were plenty of jobs,but now of course,that no longer applies!Living somewhere you don't enjoy or maybe even hate is bad enough but working for peanuts too is not acceptable...
P.M. me if you need more info..

technodrome · Joined: 29 Jun 2009 Posts: 13 Location: Chicago

Thank you! This is all very helpful.

I confess, though, that the underlying economics is unclear to me. Nexus, since you suggested one might find items left by a previous teacher, it sounds like the schools rent the same apartments repeatedly. But if that's true, don't they have a vested interest in restricting teachers to particular apartments? Otherwise, how do they avoid paying rent on vacant units?

I'm also wondering if renters have any enforceable rights at all...For example, could a landlord evict a tenant in under 24 hours?

Nexus · Joined: 08 Mar 2004 Posts: 189 Location: Moscow

Yes - schools have a number of flats that they rent out from private landlords medium term.

They are virtually all 2 bedroom places so you'll have a flat mate, but contrary to Maruss' comment, most newcomers find that having someone around to explore the city with or share a night in with can be an advantage. If you don't know anyone, it can be lonely going home from work to a empty flat.

In times of teacher shortages the school will simply jetison some flats and move the teachers. If a lot of teachers are recruited, they'll rent some more flats. of course they won't leave flats empty for long. If some teachers leave and there are 4 teachers in flats alone (each flat with an empty room), the school can move them together in to two flats and let two flats go.

Teachers generally have no choice about housing and will be moved at a few days' notice eg if the landlord decides to terminate the lease. What you get is a roof over your head, registration paperwork, bills, maintenance etc all taken care of. Those are headaches you'll have to deal with yourself if you rent your own place.

Flats are generally crummy, but rents have come down over the last 12 months (commercial probably more than residential) but it's not as difficult as it used to be to find a pretty decent place independently. You should be able to get a 1 room flat for 25,000 Rub per month.

Unfortunately you won't have much left over from a chain school salary so it's more economical to share.

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

I would agree on many of them,but even though rents have fallen due to the economic crisis, finding a flat for yourself is far from easy and not recommended, as Vanderwerf described very well..
Sharing a flat should be a matter of choice if you get along with someone and are compatible though, not something forced on you by an employer because there are so many things that can go wrong which can start-off small and end up causing an eruption,meaning someone has to move out and who will it be??
I know Russians do it,often out of economic necessity but then they are used to not having much space and privacy and the standard of living many of them are used to is just not mine,sorry!Many Soviet era buildings are not just decrepid but also often unhealthy and even structurally poor and unsafe,as well as dirty and grimy!These issues were not considered important when they built them for the proletariat who were grateful to get housing that was not communal with shared kitchens and bathrooms etc!Of course the elite did not have to live in them as they were given places which we might say were reasonably comfortable!
Furnishings and carpets etc are often old and worn and may even have problems with bugs and cockroaches so be warned....and don't
be shocked by dodgy plumbing and equipment that looks decades old and like we had in the 50's and 60's in the west!
Especially in Moscow,quality accomodation is at a premium and Russians who can afford it regard it as a status symbol so you can forget it on your wages!!
Better to be prepared....