When entering adulthood or moving to another city, one is faced with the task of purchasing housing. Depending on their means and capabilities, people choose from different options, such as rented or their own apartment or room. The object of our attention will be our own room in a communal apartment. Let's consider its pros and cons, compare it with other real estate options, so that when choosing housing, potential owners do not have questions about what type of living space is preferable.
Independent search or professional help?
Everyone, of course, decides and determines which option is more convenient for him; a lot depends on financial capabilities. You may be able to easily and quickly choose the right option on your own with the help of friends or an ad.
But still, in the process of documenting the transaction, it is better to seek legal assistance , at least of an advisory nature. After all, such a transaction is not simple, there are a lot of nuances.
Without professional help, it will be difficult to take everything into account so that no problems arise in the future.
Results
By purchasing a room in an apartment, you acquire the preemptive right to purchase the rest of the living space in the apartment. Therefore, it is important to know what rights you have under the law in order to protect yourself and your transactions. If you study in detail the question of what documents are needed, how to formalize everything correctly, then you can do it yourself and not spend a lot of time on it.
If you have the intention of buying a room in an apartment, then you need to do this, because such investments in real estate will pay off and increase in the future.
How to buy: step-by-step instructions
What documents are needed?
- A document confirming ownership of this living space.
- Notarized waivers of neighbors' preemptive rights.
- All technical and cadastral documentation for a room in a communal apartment.
- Certificates of absence of debts for electricity, telephone, utilities, etc.
- A certificate containing information about all registered residents.
- Consent of the second spouse (certified by a notary) to complete the transaction.
- Passports.
- Consent from guardianship authorities.
Features of the design of a room in the property
Let's take a closer look at the issue of buying a room, what difficulties and pitfalls may arise.
Deals to buy a room in an apartment are most popular in large cities due to the lower price, and young families without children and students can afford such a purchase. If necessary, the room can be rented out for additional profit. In the future, you can sell the room and add more money to buy a more spacious home. When purchasing a room, all documents must be carefully checked, so there should be no problems with selling the room in the future.
From a legal point of view, a room in an apartment can be either a share in the whole apartment or registered as a separate room. There will be a difference in the execution of the purchase and sale transaction.
Notice of sale
If you are going to buy a room in an apartment, then you will need to check whether the seller, that is, the owner of the room, has notified other apartment owners about the sale of the room. If the seller has not sent written notice to other owners of living space in the apartment, then in the future one of the neighbors may claim a pre-emptive right to purchase a room or share. The seller must send notices to neighbors or other owners of the living space and obtain refusal or consent to purchase the room.
Important! If you do not follow the procedure for notifying neighbors, then in the future the purchase and sale transaction may be declared invalid.
Therefore, the buyer must see for himself the written refusals from other apartment owners, and only after that can he begin to formalize the purchase and sale transaction.
Quite rare, but there may be situations where the apartment has both privatized rooms and rooms that the municipality has transferred for living under a social rental agreement. That is, the owner of one of the rooms may be the municipality. All homeowners, including municipal authorities, must receive the notification.
The buyer of the room cannot buy the property at a price lower than the one specified by the seller in the notices to neighbors. It is advisable to issue all notifications through a notary.
If one of the neighbors agreed to buy a room put up for sale, then it is better for an ordinary buyer to immediately abandon this purchase and find another option.
It is also important to remember that when purchasing a room, the new owner, along with the room, also has the right to part of the total area, which includes the kitchen, toilet, bathroom, and corridor. Accurate information about the size of the total area of the apartment can be obtained from the documents of the apartment seller. There are situations when shares in an apartment are not allocated; in such a situation, it is necessary to distribute the rooms between the owners of the common areas before the sale. Information about the numbers must be defined and stated in the agreement, which then must be certified by a notary.
Important! You cannot place an incapacitated person or a person with serious illnesses in a room where other neighbors live, as this will worsen living conditions.
It must be said that given the small amount of investment in the purchase of a room, you should not expect to receive a large profit when using it. However, investing in real estate, if used correctly, will in any case bring profit.
Analysis of the real estate market when buying a room
When buying a room in an apartment, you can spend money on hiring an experienced lawyer who will check all the nuances of the property so that problems and difficulties do not arise. The specialist must take full responsibility for the legal support of the transaction. On the buyer's side, it is necessary to decide what kind of room he wants to buy, small or large at a higher price. It is better not to buy an expensive room if you plan to rent out real estate in the future, in the middle price range, so that you can sell it later without any difficulties.
Buying a room on credit
There are people with an entrepreneurial spirit who don’t just want to save up for an apartment or a room. Now you can get a loan to buy a room in an apartment, then rent it out to third people and pay for the loan with money received from renting out the room. Until the loan is repaid, the property is encumbered by the bank as collateral. After repaying the debt to the bank, the room can either be sold or exchanged for an apartment with an additional payment. This scheme can be applied to several rooms.
There is no point in buying an expensive room for resale or rental; due to its high price, there will be less demand for it. You need to buy such a more expensive room for yourself, for example, in the city center, near work.
To summarize, we can say that buying a room for investing money is profitable for the purpose of investing money as a start for increasing it.
Verification of documents
One of the most important points when buying a room is checking the documents that the owner of the room presents to the buyer.
Required documents include:
- certificate of registration of ownership of the room;
- an agreement that the property is transferred into ownership of the buyer;
- an agreement signed by a notary stating that the owners have agreed on the distribution of shares of common property;
- a certificate from the BTI, where the shares of the apartment will be registered, also in value terms;
- documents with refusals of other owners from their pre-emptive right to purchase;
- certificates that will confirm the absence of arrears in payment for electricity, telephone communications, and utilities;
- a certificate stating that minor children do or do not live in the apartment and room, and what rights they have to the property. You can obtain a certificate from the guardianship and trusteeship authorities;
- if the owner is married, then a certificate of consent of the second spouse to conduct a purchase and sale transaction is needed.
Underwater rocks
It is possible to buy a room in a communal apartment with a mortgage; the law allows it (Clause 1, Article 5 of Federal Law No. 102-FZ “On Mortgage”). But in reality, this is not so easy to implement; banks are not very willing to cooperate in such situations, because they do not want to take risks.
You can identify some specific features when applying for a mortgage loan for a room in a communal apartment.
Bank position
Not all banks are ready to provide a loan for the purchase of a room in a communal apartment , since its liquid value is low. If the borrower experiences financial difficulties (if he stops repaying the loan), the room becomes bank property. But the bank cannot easily sell it to compensate for the damage, so lending conditions are becoming more stringent, and so are the requirements for the borrower.
Neighbors' refusals of priority rights
If the neighbors do not express a desire to buy this room, then the borrower, together with the seller, must collect written refusals from all neighbors and attach them to the package of documents for obtaining a mortgage.
Property collateral
Some banks require that the bank be given as collateral not the room being purchased (for which, in fact, the loan is issued), but other housing available to the borrower.
Banks are happy to provide a mortgage if the last room in a communal apartment is purchased, where all the others already belong to this buyer. In this case, the entire apartment is pledged.
There is a specially developed series of requirements for rooms (to authorize a mortgage):
- the minimum area of the room cannot be less than 12 square meters;
- the loan can only be issued in the area where the property is located;
- housing must be residential in status and cannot be in disrepair (no more than 55% depreciation);
- the presence of a kitchen and a bathroom in a communal apartment;
- availability of heating, running water, electricity;
- wooden floors are not allowed;
- housing cannot be new, only secondary.
If you are thinking about purchasing real estate, then it would be useful for you to familiarize yourself with such options as buying a room in a dorm and a share in an apartment, including from relatives.
Is it possible to buy a room using maternity capital?
The question of whether it is possible to purchase an apartment using maternal capital is resolved on an individual basis. The law allows budget money to be spent on the purchase of separate residential premises. According to the Residential Code, the room belongs to such premises. But the buyer will have to prove that the room being purchased is separate. That is, for example, it will not be possible to buy part of it with public funds. After the transaction is completed, the room must become the property of the buyer, and it must also have a separate entrance.
When it comes to repurchasing a share, there is one limitation. The Pension Fund of Russia will give permission to use the certificate if, as a result of such a transaction, the housing will be purchased in its entirety.
If you need to buy a room with maternity capital from relatives, then there are also special features. Thus, it is legally prohibited to buy a room from a spouse. Both the buyer and the seller need to take into account that such transactions are carefully checked for fraud. It does happen: sometimes people enter into imaginary transactions just to cash out maternity capital.
Is the participation of a notary required?
According to clause 1 of Article 42 of the Federal Law of July 13, 2015 N218, the contract for the sale and purchase of a part of shared ownership must be certified by a notary , otherwise the transaction will not be able to be registered. This provision was introduced into legislation to prevent illegal real estate transactions. At the same time, if the room in the dormitory is designed as an independent living space (not shared ownership), and minors do not live in the room, then notarization of the transaction is not required.
Is it possible to sell a non-privatized premises and what is needed for this?
By law, non-privatized housing cannot be sold or purchased legally, since it is not the property of the citizens living in it. However, there are ways to get around this problem:
- Privatize a room by contacting the direct owner.
Typically this is the local municipality. If you cannot privatize for yourself, you can register a close relative and privatize for him. Important ! Privatization is possible only in the case of social hiring. - The legislation provides for the possibility of exchanging non-privatized housing for other residential real estate.
The real estate agency provides a special “buffer apartment”, which is temporarily purchased by the buyer, after which he exchanges this apartment for the seller’s non-privatized room. At the end, the seller returns the apartment back to the agency and receives his money. The exchange application is considered by a special housing commission at the municipality, which can authorize the transaction or prohibit it. The ban on the exchange can be challenged by the tenant in court.
Qui prodest
In both capitals, room buyers can be divided into three main categories. “The first ones purchase rooms in order to become the sole owner of the entire living space. The latter make transactions to obtain registration. Still others are private investors who subsequently rent out their property,” says Alexander Ginovker, general director of the Nevsky Prostor real estate agency.
At the same time, the first two categories would be more willing to buy an apartment rather than a room, but their choice is dictated by a limited budget. But investors may well prefer a room to an apartment for reasons of “project economics” - however, we are talking about daily rather than long-term rentals.
There are also other schemes in which you can make a good profit on rooms - however, this is the field of activity of professional realtors, says RELIGHT-Real Estate General Director Konstantin Barsukov. “For example, you buy a room in a two-room apartment. Then the neighbor is offered to buy another room with slightly more attractive characteristics in exchange, and the result is a two-room apartment for the price of two rooms. This is often beneficial,” explains the expert. “But you need to have a very good understanding of real estate values and be able to negotiate.”
“A room in a “renovation” house would be a profitable purchase - in this case, the owner will be able to get an apartment in the future,” adds Yulia Dymova, director of the secondary real estate office of Est-a-Tet.
“The trend in the room market is to buy a room and convert it into a studio apartment. After that, it’s time to rent out,” shares Alexander Ginovker. — This trend [in St. Petersburg] is gaining momentum. But coordinating such operations, especially in terms of redevelopment, is quite difficult.” That is, without administrative resources and the necessary connections, starting such a business is a high-risk business.
Photo: Kirill Kallinikov / RIA Novosti
If a person refuses a purchase, a ransom?
Today, room owners have the right to refuse the purchase and the preferential option to buy. The refusal is usually sent in writing. An application is drawn up and certified by a notary. In addition, a notification is sent to all participants in the process in which the data is recorded.
Another way to carry out a transaction is by contacting Rosreestr. You gather all the room owners and draw up a statement of refusal. There are ready-made forms that allow you to instantly resolve all issues. If the owner is a legal entity, then he must draw up a refusal in the form of a response to the letter. If we are talking about companies, then they can draw up a response on a company sheet of any format and signed by the manager.
Changes in the market
Interest in rooms has also been spurred by innovations in the shared construction market.
“The transition of construction companies to escrow accounts, as well as preferential mortgages, has increased the cost of apartments in newly built and under construction buildings by an average of 30%. As a rule, studios and one-room apartments rise in price the most, and those potential buyers who were planning to buy such housing shifted their interest to rooms,” comments Lyudmila Kazakova, head of the sales department of the real estate agency Real.
The situation was also affected by the fall in household incomes associated with the coronavirus and the unclear financial situation in the future. People who had small savings and planned to buy a one-room apartment or a studio using mortgage funds are forced to buy rooms in order to get at least some real estate for living or renting out. Or just to save your money.
We check for debts and encumbrances
Making sure that there are no encumbrances, seizures or prohibitions on the property is another important point that needs to be checked before purchasing. The buyer can obtain the necessary information from the Rosreestr extract. In addition, you can check the owner himself, for example, whether he is about to go bankrupt or whether he is a participant in legal proceedings as a defendant. We talked about how to do this using several free online services in one of the previous articles.
It would not be superfluous to make sure that the owner of the room has no debts for paying utility bills. This can be done by asking him for paid receipts for the past month and a certificate from the Criminal Code.
What to remember?
If we talk about what needs to be remembered when carrying out the procedure, we should highlight the preemptive right. This concept is spelled out in the legal laws of the country. At the same time, it allows the owners of other rooms to be the first to buy the space being sold. And to put it simply, when the owner decides to sell this or that room, then first of all he must offer to carry out the transaction to his neighbors.
Some tips to keep in mind:
- If any of the registered residents refuses to purchase, then all papers must be certified by a notary in accordance with current legislation. The transaction is carried out in writing according to the established format. After this, copies are sent to both parties to prove correctness in the event of a controversial situation.
- The terms of the transaction must be absolutely the same for all buyers. If a person indicates a price for neighbors of 50 thousand rubles, then for a stranger it should be the same. If this is neglected, then you can get additional problems in the future.
Affordable investment
Another important point is that investors have become more active in the city, and rooms are the most affordable investment tool on the real estate market. They are especially good when you need to invest your free funds somewhere, which are not enough to buy a separate apartment.
A similar facility, located within walking distance from a metro station, can be rented out. According to realtors from the St. Petersburg Chamber of Real Estate, the average annual return will be 8–12%. The most liquid rooms are from 15 sq. m in two- or three-room apartments one or two stops from the metro. As for the districts, this is definitely the center and the surrounding area: Central and Admiralteysky districts, Vasilyevsky Island, Petrogradka.
However, it is not a fact that this purchase will bring a guaranteed income. In some communal apartments, rooms remain empty for years because neighbors prevent them from being rented out. According to the Housing Code, tenants are not required to allow tenants into common areas - the kitchen, bathroom and corridor. Therefore, despite the adequate rental price and great demand, the owners simply do not have the opportunity to rent out the meters they own.
Geography and infrastructure
For the most part, communal apartments are located in old housing stock, often in the center, in areas with established infrastructure: these include the metro, hospitals/clinics, theaters/museums, and shopping malls, explains Anisimova.
Is it safe to buy an apartment from several owners? More details
Apartment instead of communal apartment
And if the communal apartment is located in a dilapidated building, its owner can count on a separate apartment when moving out.
“To receive an apartment instead of a room, one or more conditions must be met: if the city has an appropriate targeted resettlement program, the house is recognized as dilapidated and subject to demolition, the owner is recognized as a low-income tenant, is registered as in need of improved living conditions, or belongs to a special list of persons,” explains Anisimova.
There is another way to improve living conditions in a communal apartment - by purchasing rooms from the remaining residents of the apartment, the expert adds.
Will they be given a full-fledged apartment when moving to communal apartments? More details
Registration
For the money for which the same room is sold at Baumanskaya, you can buy a one-room apartment in the not-so-close Moscow region or a small apartment where you cannot register.
“Purchasing a room is also an opportunity to obtain permanent registration at your place of residence. You will greatly simplify the resolution of issues related to official employment, receiving social health care in public clinics, and children attending kindergartens, schools and other educational institutions,” says the expert.
