getting an apartment

[KyivTrip]

Hi Everybody,
I'm not an expert, but I have my ways ;-)  I prefer an apartment to a hotel for a couple of reasons: less expensive, I like to cook and I like to make my own cappuccino in the morning with my own little espresso pot, aerolatte and cafe Bustelo.  I hate getting up, getting dressed and going to look for GOOD coffee.  The women are impressed when I cook for them.

My first trip to Kyiv in 2005 I had a very nice apartment on Krasnarmeeska for $40.  It is now, $90.  Ouch !!!  I met the owner when she came over to show me how to use the washing machine.  She is now one of several "personal" resources I have in Kyiv - including a cab driver friend.

In 2006 I went to Kyiv and Yalta.  I had located a couple of apartment resources on the Internet and on these boards and lists.  I learned when I went to the bus station in Yalta (to take an excursion) that there are a bunch of people standing around there with apartments to rent !!!
This is also true of the train station in Kyiv - the McDonalds side. 

In Zaporozhye in 2007 I checked into a hotel, first, on both visits.  Then the lady I was visiting and I got a newspaper and called a half-dozen apartments for rent.  The first one we looked at was probably the nicest apartment I have ever stayed in in Ukraine.
$40 and completely new - tile or hardwood floors, persian rugs, new appliances, jacuzzi tub, TV in the bedroom, TV on the wall between the living room and kitchen.  Similar experience on my second visit, but paid $45.
The same in Vinnitsa.  Checked into a hotel and got a newspaper the next day.  The second apartment we looked at was HUGE - 2 big bedrooms, big kitchen, but a little older.  It was OK.  I think because I was foreign, they asked for 250 hrivna.  I offered 200 and we settled for 210 - about $42.  Did this twice in Vinnitsa.  Someone I know in Kyiv who is from Vinnitsa told me it couldn't be done !!!

In Dnepropetrovsk it was the cab driver who was actually taking me to a hotel - he asked if I would prefer an apartment - BINGO.
They wanted $60 for 3 nights.  I took out $150 and said, "take it or leave it".  They took it.  Obviously, it is harder to negotiate a better price for 2 or 3 nights than it is for a week.  Sometimes they will turn you down thinking they will get more from the next person - I don't quite understand this, but - hey - it's their apartment - if they want to leave it empty tonight it's OK with me.

It seems that Westerners can expect to pay well over $100 a night in Kyiv.  I paid $80 in September/ October this year.  I stayed in 2 different apartments - both very nice.  I tell them I have a budget and I am not afraid to negotiate - or call someone else, if necessary.  I have been standing in the apartment, taken out my money, and made a deal when they had stopped negotiating.  When they see the cash, they might get motivated.

Go for it !!!

Ciao,
David

[kievstar]

The reason they turn you down on the price as you probably come across as someone who may destroy their apartment.  Cheaper for them to leave it free.  There is a cost of renting and not renting it.  Sometimes leaving it open is cheaper.

I used to flip apartments in Kiev and sometimes rent them out.  Stopped renting after getting some bad tenants.  A bad tenant can cause a lot of damage.  One tenant posed as a couple but when I checked on them I found about 10 construction workers staying there.  Legally they could stay there but I know what 10 drunk dirty construction workers do to an apartment in a 3 week period.  Thanks for bribes as the local police got them out right away. 

[KyivTrip]

Hi Kievstar,
I can see you have had some problems and I have also noticed that some tenants prior to me have been less than respectful to the property and have heard many stories about them stealing and such.  I know that, in some cases, the prior tenants were Ukrainians or Russians.  I can understand that you must be careful.
I am 58 years old, speak and write well.  I often have the apartment person contacted by a friend in Ukraine who can vouch for me, look at the apartment and provide a deposit. 
I think it is unfair to say that I "probably come across as someone who may destroy their apartment".  I can't imagine how someone could jump to that conclusion based upon whatever it is they know about me.  I am from the US and, obviously, spending thousands of dollars to visit Ukraine.  That they know for sure.

I think that it is more that they see that I am not a "pushover" and that they can rent the apartment without negotiating to another.  Maybe they think I will complain if there is no hot water - and they are correct.  Customer service seems a bit lacking in Ukraine.  My feeling is that it is my duty to resist the constant price increases and try to get the apartment people to be more reasonable and to negotiate.  There are 3 people in Kyiv that I have rented more than one apartment from and they seem to understand me, now.
David

[kievstar]

The couple who posed for my apartment were from USA.  These construction workers were working on their apartment.  Kiev has (now had) a shortage of construction workers so they come from far away villages. They drink a lot so best to put them in housing and give them booze.  That way you know where to find them in the morning when you take them to the store to buy supplies and make sure they start working.  If you let them go home, they may never come back and construction is delayed.   

I did not mean you would do this but maybe that is what the landlord thought.