Apartment in Russia

[KenInUtah]

Hi guys!

I'm new here but have an interesting question.  My Russian fiancee is coming here to the US to marry me but is only going to rent her apartment in Moscow, not sell it.  Why?  We won't be going there to live ever!  Is it some sort of safety net or is it a Red Flag?

[Boethius]

If you consider that a red flag, you should not be marrying.

[KenInUtah]

Its not that I consider it a Red Flag, its just something I am asking about

[Muzh]

If you are asking, you don't trust this lady. Ergo, red flag.

[KenInUtah]

Geez guys, it is a question.  Has anyone had this situation.  I cannot be sure about everything in life

[LiveFromUkraine]

Geez guys, it is a question.  Has anyone had this situation.  I cannot be sure about everything in life

Do you have plans on putting this lovely lady's name on your house deed before she comes to marry you?

[KenInUtah]

I have an apartment.  She has seen it

[JayH]

Geez guys, it is a question.  Has anyone had this situation.  I cannot be sure about everything in life

ken--you are not giving enough information to allow wider opinion to be offered--really-- a lot more background needs to be known.
 

[Hammer2722]

To answer your question seems everyone else just seems to want to make smart ass comments, its quite normal for FSU women to keep their apts even after leaving their country. My girlfriend came to USA on a visa lottery and still has two apts in Minsk she rents out.

[LiveFromUkraine]

To answer your question seems everyone else just seems to want to make smart ass comments, its quite normal for FSU women to keep their apts even after leaving their country. My girlfriend came to USA on a visa lottery and still has two apts in Minsk she rents out.

Ah, the savior to the rescue.


This dude is asking if it is a red flag for this women to sell off her assets and move across the world to be with this guy while this dude hasn't mentioned what he is doing for her.  He can walk away without any monetary damage while she could be financially destroyed.

What I don't understand is why this isn't common sense for her to want to keep the apartment.

[Chicagoguy]

My wife keeps her flat in Russia in case she ever has to return home if I die or for some reason it all falls through here. She asks me "where will I live ?" She is too old to work but would have some $ from me and might not want to stay in U.S.

Russia is still her country. Yet she at times does consider selling it. Maybe just rent it for a few years. I stayed in a rental in Moscow one time and owner was in U.S. and rents it out and her mother keeps income.

[Faux Pas]

Ken, it's not a red flag. Unless of course you had some idea to liquidate it. Then that's you raising a red flag to her. If she can rent it out and generate an income with it, why not?

My advice, forget about her apartment for now. Work on the marriage and helping her to transition into her new surroundings. The time will eventually come when the apartment needs to be dealt with. For now, it's hers and hers to do with as she sees fit

[KenInUtah]

Thank You, Faux Pas. THAT is good advice

[calmissile]

Agree with Hammer and Faux Pas,

She probably wants the security in the event the marriage does not work out.  It's reasonable for her to keep her apartment until she is comfortable with selling it or at least the two of you to decide whether to rent it out or use for a vacation home.  My wife has two apartments and commercial properties that we are sitting on until sometime in the future.

I know the smart ass answers don't help newbies, but best to get used to it here.   

[KenInUtah]

Thanks all.  I don't need the smart ass comments.  I was just asking if it was common.  If it is, which from you guys it sounds like it is, then I'm fine with it.  As for what I am doing...everything in regards to $$$, paperwork, travel arrangements, shipping...I hope that answers your question LFU.  I'm not asking her for a penny, not to come here, not for the visa, not for the wedding she picks...nothing

[LiveFromUkraine]

Thanks all.  I don't need the smart ass comments.  I was just asking if it was common.  If it is, which from you guys it sounds like it is, then I'm fine with it.  As for what I am doing...everything in regards to $$$, paperwork, travel arrangements, shipping...I hope that answers your question LFU.  I'm not asking her for a penny, not to come here, not for the visa, not for the wedding she picks...nothing

Ken, that is nothing in the grand scheme of things.  You will have someone who will be completely dependent on you.   Try to imagine swapping roles and you going to live in Russia having to completely rely on her.  Would you want to keep your house or sell it before you even go there?


You can pass these off as smart ass comments but your line of thinking is way off and you need to understand why.  You are obviously thinking of yourself here otherwise you could see why she wants to keep her place.  At least until some time has passed where she was more established in America.


Now, if we had all said it was a red flag, what would you have done?

[KenInUtah]

I was just asking if this was normal.  I get the reason why.  Relax.  I didn't come here to be judged, I just had a question.  In the big scheme of things, your opinion means nothing.  I just wanted to ask something.

[ML]

Apartments, houses, etc., are two things:

1) a home

2) an investment asset

Whether to sell or rent out an unused apartment, house, etc., is an investment decision.

Need to run a financial analysis to determine what course of action  to take.

This analysis will involve predicting the future values for a lot of variables: rental income, maintenance expenses, fire and war risks, taxes, opportunity cost (what rate of return the sales proceeds could earn in an alternative investment), etc., etc.

It's what I do . . . but I have no info on the values of the variables in Russia . . . and, in any event, have no time to do such.

But no automatic red flag to want to keep an investment asset.

[Boethius]

You also specifically asked, in your first post, if this was a red flag.  If you are thinking this way on the eve of your marriage, it is not a good sign, IMHO, and I am not being a smart ass about it.

Hi guys!

I'm new here but have an interesting question.  My Russian fiancee is coming here to the US to marry me but is only going to rent her apartment in Moscow, not sell it.  Why?  We won't be going there to live ever!  Is it some sort of safety net or is it a Red Flag?

 
 

[Muzh]

Ken, it's not a red flag. Unless of course you had some idea to liquidate it. Then that's you raising a red flag to her. If she can rent it out and generate an income with it, why not?

My advice, forget about her apartment for now. Work on the marriage and helping her to transition into her new surroundings. The time will eventually come when the apartment needs to be dealt with. For now, it's hers and hers to do with as she sees fit

Egg xatly what I said. 

[LiveFromUkraine]

I was just asking if this was normal.  I get the reason why.  Relax.  I didn't come here to be judged, I just had a question.  In the big scheme of things, your opinion means nothing.  I just wanted to ask something.

Asking if it was normal and asking if it is a red flag are very different.  Oh, man, I am more than relaxed so don't worry your little heart.  I am not the person asking for advice about my fiancee's intentions so there is nothing for me to be upset about. 

[Muzh]

Ken, that is nothing in the grand scheme of things.  You will have someone who will be completely dependent on you.   Try to imagine swapping roles and you going to live in Russia having to completely rely on her.  Would you want to keep your house or sell it before you even go there?


You can pass these off as smart ass comments but your line of thinking is way off and you need to understand why.  You are obviously thinking of yourself here otherwise you could see why she wants to keep her place.  At least until some time has passed where she was more established in America.


Now, if we had all said it was a red flag, what would you have done?

The man is blind.


Another statistic.

[LiveFromUkraine]

The man is blind.


Another statistic.

I'm trying to understand why people think the responses were simply smart ass comments.  Red flag questions are about intent and the responses addressed that.  Damned if you do...  haha

[Muzh]

I'm trying to understand why people think the responses were simply smart ass comments.  Red flag questions are about intent and the responses addressed that.  Damned if you do...  haha

As we say back home, there's no worse blind than the one who will not open his eyes.

[Gator]

I agree with the general opinion that keeping her flat is normal for a RW. Besides the security blanket, Russians consider real estate their best investment opportunity. 

Today's market is perhaps changing this perception.  I doubt his fianceé would receive much in dollars from selling today, even in Moscow, especially compared to what she would have received a year ago.  A better time to sell could be 5-10 years from now when Putin has been eliminated or constrained.   Meanwhile, she is receiving rental income.  BTW, Utah remember to declare the income on your 1040. 

There is the issue that one day soon Putin may stop the flight of money from Russia.  So if his fianceé  wanted the money, I am not sure what financial advice I would give regarding whether to sell and when.