october will be a bear. Very cold....and "ify" with the weather..
October is "not bad" as far as weather goes. The weather doesn't really start to turn until mid to late November.
The last 2 winters, for that matter, have been relatively mild. We're talking about -10C on average in January and February.
As far as flats, I recommend doing a google search as you're likely to find better options than Moscow Rick (who's only OK in my book). I still wonder why he gets such a big endorsement from these boards. Better offers abound. But, again he's OK and you could do worse. Good luck.
chivo