House exchange and housesitting: 10+ lifehacks to save on your vacation in Russia

About the correctness of terms

First of all, it is necessary to make a reservation that in fact the word “exchange” implies a transfer of the right of use and refers to cases where we are not talking about the owners, but about tenants (for example, municipal apartments).
In a market transaction, it is more correct to talk about me. At the same time, the exchange agreement in its main provisions differs little from the standard purchase and sale agreement. Moreover, in practice, instead of barter, a double transaction for the purchase and sale of real estate is often carried out - this form is more familiar to all parties and has fewer risks.

What rights does municipal housing provide?

Is it possible to exchange a non-privatized apartment?

Another possible scenario is an alternative deal. Its advantage is that there is no strict mutual binding between the seller and the buyer, so the parties have a comfortable “room for maneuver”. The seller gets rid of the apartment he no longer needs and invests the money he receives in purchasing another home.

How to save money on the road

By plane

Buy tickets on sales. You can search for them on the Aviasales website. Indicate which city you are departing from and where you are arriving, and the system will automatically select a promotional offer.

For example, from Moscow to Vladikavkaz there are tickets for a promotion for 6352 ₽ per person in both directions. The flight date can be any time before December 19, 2021.

Let's compare it with the price of a ticket from Moscow to Vladikavkaz without a promotion. The cheapest ticket will cost 8,700 ₽, and you will fly with a different airline.

Use promotional codes and get discounts on tickets, luggage or a seat on a plane. Look for promotional codes on special websites: promocodes.net, skidkov.ru, promochan.club.

Most airlines are represented on the website promo codes.net.

For example, Aeroflot offers discount coupons from 2% to 30% on ticket purchases. Coupons are updated every month.

Subscribe on social networks to VANDROUKI.RU - this is an aggregator with current promotions on tickets and tours. The information is updated daily, there is a large number of inexpensive tickets from Moscow to various destinations.

Look for tickets with a stopover of more than 20 hours. The difference in money is small, but in one trip you can see two cities at once. The transfer time is enough to get to the city center and see the main attractions. At the same time, you don’t have to spend money on a hotel.

For example, a direct flight from Moscow to Makhachkala from May 25 to May 30 costs 7,570 rubles.

And with a transfer in Rostov-on-Don - 8775 ₽.

By train

Please note that when traveling on long-distance trains, you can make one stop for up to 10 days in any city, and then travel further using the same tickets. This is stated in the order of the Ministry of Transport of Russia dated December 19, 2013 N473.

If you decide to get off the train and make a stop, you must make a note about this at the Russian Railways ticket office within three hours. It is possible to resume the trip on the same train and in the same carriage that was specified when purchasing the ticket. The cost of the so-called reserved seat (the cost of a seat in the carriage) and a fee for re-issuing the document are paid. In 2021, the cost of a reserved seat was no more than 150 rubles per person. Now it is better to check the current amount at the Russian Railways ticket office.

It turns out that with one ticket you can see two cities at once, which is more profitable. For example, on the route Moscow - Irkutsk you can make a stop in Krasnoyarsk for up to 10 days.

Choose overnight travel to save on hotel room costs.

Look for tickets the day before your trip. Their prices are several times cheaper than 30–45 days before departure. But if you bought tickets in advance, for example, for 10,000 rubles, and on the eve of departure you saw tickets several thousand rubles cheaper - return the ones you bought and buy new ones at a better price. Returns can be processed in your personal account. This will take two minutes. Within 10 calendar days the money will be returned to the card. The fee for returning a ticket is only 2 ₽ 20 kopecks.

By car

Consider traveling together as a way to travel on a budget. On special websites - for example, edem.rf or tourweek.ru - you can find travel companions or a driver who is going to the city you need. Gasoline costs are divided in half. By agreement, you can also make a stop in a city, see the sights, or spend the night in a hotel or in a tent.

If you have a car and are an experienced driver, check out the nearest cities that can be reached by car. It is better to travel with children at night, so they will better survive a long trip, and you will not have to spend money on a night in a hotel.

Combine airplane + car. See where it is profitable to fly from your city. You get there by plane and relax in one city for several days. Then you rent a car and drive to the nearest cities. So, for example, you can fly from Moscow by plane to Kaliningrad, and then rent a car and drive to the cities of Svetlogorsk and Baltiysk. Or take a promotional ticket from Moscow to Novosibirsk and travel by car to Lake Baikal. This will be more profitable than taking an excursion tour from Moscow to Baikal. A round-trip ticket from Moscow to Novosibirsk from August 14 to 21 can be purchased for 13,050 ₽. Renting a car costs 1,500 ₽ per day, the distance from Novosibirsk to Baikal is 1,909 km, travel time is 1 day. Rent for 6 days = 9000 ₽. Gasoline costs (round trip) - 20,000 rubles. Together with air tickets it will be 42,050 ₽. A summer tour costs from RUB 79,800 per person.

You can find a car for rent in any city on special websites: OneTwoTrip, Bookingcar.su, Rentalcars.com.

Is it that simple?

Exchange (we will use this well-established term) is considered a rather complex operation. The point here is not the procedure: the set of documents is no different from the sale and purchase.

The main difficulty arises when selecting an adequate object (one or several). On the secondary market, a more or less close equivalent is rare. A combination of a large number of parameters (including the age of the house, redevelopment, the need for repairs, the nature of the finishing, the presence of faults, the reputation of neighbors, etc.) makes each lot, if not unique, then much less standardized compared to housing in new buildings. Linking to a specific area, altitude, or building material further narrows the sample. In addition, the tastes and goals of the people participating in the exchange rarely coincide. And this is another reason why direct exchange is giving way to alternative types of transactions.

What if the price of the apartments during the exchange does not match?

Most often, the price of apartments during exchange must be balanced by an additional payment from one of the parties. The amount of the additional payment is determined based on the results of the assessment procedure. It is important to say that the additional payment is not necessarily money: it can be furniture, new renovations, movable property, non-residential objects (garage or parking space, utility room, storage room), etc. In some cases, several lots are sold in order to use the proceeds buy one, and vice versa. Thus, the transaction involves a whole range of various property, which must be described in the contract. Such a document can only be correctly drawn up at a real estate agency, since it requires the participation of qualified realtors, appraisers and lawyers.

What are the risks when exchanging a privatized apartment for a municipal one?

Is it possible to exchange housing between cities?

Vacation home exchange

Progress. Progress. Everything in the world moves forward, and every new day offers us something new, something special. Not all lovers of travel and tours abroad know about this wonderful innovation.

Surely many of you have watched the film “Exchange Vacation” where the heroines Winslet (Iris) and Diaz (Amanda) find each other online and exchange their housing for the duration of the vacation. Do you think this is an unreal story? No matter how it is!

Today there is a new way to spend a holiday abroad - home exchange. You can exchange houses with one of the families in the country you want to go to. This type of holiday has its advantages. Isn’t it attractive to have the opportunity to exchange your daily life with another family during the holidays? See how people like us live in another country, compare their life with our life. The two families agree on an exchange and discuss all the details. After the agreement is concluded, families go to the vacation destination.

What is this, house swapping? The two sides exchange everything except personal clothing. When you go on vacation, you leave everything you have at home. Your cars, boats and motorcycles will be used by your guests during their vacation. If you do not want any material assets to be used by guests, be sure to establish the necessary rules under which the things you specify will remain untouched. All terms of the contract are drawn up by mutual agreement of the two parties.

For many people, a home exchange is a great opportunity to go on holiday abroad. When arriving in another country, you must be fully aware that you will have to live according to the laws of this country and lead the lifestyle that the locals lead. When discussing an exchange, leave your guests a list of interesting places they can visit and ask them for the same list. After all, during your vacation you will want to see the local attractions.

You can go on an exchange vacation with your whole family without having to think about the problems of accommodating all family members in hotel rooms. Both children and adults can stay comfortably. With the right exchange, everyone will have a separate room. There is enough space for convenient storage of luggage. You will be able to calmly deal with everyday family issues and relax without unnecessary fuss. During the exchange, many issues related to the stay of a large family in another country will automatically disappear.

First of all, you will save a decent amount of money on paying for hotel rooms and services in them. Your holiday will be more relaxing when you have the comfort of home. After all, the whole family will live in a nice, spacious house, and not in small hotel rooms. You can also save on visiting restaurants every day to satisfy your hunger. Once you have purchased your groceries, you can prepare everything in your kitchen. There is something in this and, perhaps, it is worth trying a new type of recreation.

How to exchange an apartment for another?

In general, to exchange apartments you need to do the following:

1. Find a potential counterparty with a suitable option for exchange (through a real estate company).

2. Draw up an exchange or sale agreement that contains all additional obligations for additional payment and the exact characteristics of the objects involved in the procedure.

3. Collect a package of documents:

passport,
title documents,
extract from the Unified State Register,
cadastral passport,
certificates of absence of debt on property taxes and utility bills,
certificate of family composition,
certificate of registration or divorce,
written consent from the spouse,
draft agreement,
receipt of payment of state duty,
application for registration of a transaction.

4. Submit documents to the MFC or directly to Rosreestr.

Transaction procedure

In such a transaction, an exchange agreement is concluded between the parties. It is regulated by the Civil Code of the Russian Federation (Articles 567-571), if the objects are privately owned, and by the Housing Code (Articles 72-75) - for municipal real estate.

Stages of the procedure

The exchange of living space is carried out in several stages:

First of all, it is necessary to clarify what type of apartments they are: whether they are privatized or municipally owned.
For private property, it is allowed to conclude an exchange agreement or two purchase and sale agreements. Usually, if there is a significant difference in price between objects, the transaction is carried out through purchase and sale.
The next step is collecting a package of documents. Its composition does not depend on the type of contract concluded.
Next, the parties should resolve the issue of the cost of the apartments and decide how the transaction will be carried out.
After this, the parties must enter into an agreement.

Important. The exchange of real estate ends with the registration of the rights of the new owners in Rosreestr. To do this, you must first submit an application. To obtain documents for a new property, you must pay a state fee and submit a receipt to Rosreestr.

After the transfer of rights, if necessary, the tax is calculated on the basis of the Tax Code and paid within the established time frame.

Where to contact?

It is mandatory to contact a notary, since some documents can be accepted by Rosreestr only after notarization (for example, the spouse’s consent to the transaction). In addition, it is better to enlist the help of a lawyer who specializes in real estate transactions.

This procedure is quite complicated, and it is easy to make mistakes in the execution of the procedure. After collecting the papers, you need to contact the MFC or Rosreestr for registration.

Documentation

All documents can be divided into two categories: mandatory and additional.

Mandatory ones include:

certificate of ownership of real estate (or extract from the Unified State Register of Real Estate);
a document on the basis of which a person received ownership of his object (sale and purchase agreement, exchange, donation, inheritance, etc.);
passports or other identification documents of the owner of the property, as well as all co-owners;
technical certificate;
extract from the house register/certificate of family composition;
a certificate confirming the absence of debts.

In some situations, additional paperwork will be required:

consent of the spouse to conduct the transaction;
if minors are registered in the apartment - consent of the guardianship authorities;
for apartments pledged by the bank - consent of the credit institution to the alienation.

Important. If the parties exchange municipal apartments, then a copy of the financial personal account, the consent of those registered and the owner, and a social tenancy agreement will be required.

Conclusion of an agreement

When the parties have discussed the transaction issues and collected documents, they begin to conclude an agreement. Regardless of whether it is an exchange agreement or two sales and purchase agreements, you will first have to evaluate the housing and indicate these figures in the agreement.

How to arrange a menu with additional payment?

If the real estate objects are not equal in value, then the following information must be specified in the contract:

details of the parties to the transaction;
addresses of apartments, detailed technical description of each of them;
the cost of each object (official valuation reports can be attached);
amount of additional payment, term and method of transfer;
the basis on which one party transfers a surcharge to the other;
an indication of which party bears the costs of completing the transaction;
the period when the objects must pass to new owners.

The technical characteristics of the objects specified in the contract must coincide with the data in the technical passports.

Based on the results of the transfer of apartments, the parties draw up an act of acceptance and transfer of objects. At the same time, the agreement defines the procedure and timing for drawing up this document.

We do not recommend completing the documents yourself. Save time - contact our lawyers by phone:

8 (800) 302-76-94

Exchange without extra charge

The procedure for concluding an agreement in this case does not differ from that indicated above. Only the obligation of one party to transfer the additional payment is not indicated.

Important! To avoid future litigation, the contract must indicate equal values of both properties.

We do not recommend completing the documents yourself. Save time - contact our lawyers by phone:

8 (800) 302-76-94

Timing and cost

The cost of the transaction consists of payment of state duty and notary services and payment of certificates. Preparation of documents by a notary and their certification is within the following limits:

document preparation – on average 5 thousand rubles. (depending on the office, region and complexity of the situation);
certification of the contract - 0.5% of the amount of the object (within 300-20,000 rubles).

In addition, you will have to pay for an extract from the BTI and the Unified State Register. The cost of the first is 200-540 rubles, the second – 350-870 rubles (depending on the information provided).

State registration

Having prepared all the documents, the parties go to state registration of the transaction.

Important! The package of documents must include a receipt confirming payment of the state duty. Otherwise, registration will be denied.

You can submit documents either directly to the Rosreestr branch or to the MFC. An employee of the institution checks the provided papers. If there are no complaints about their execution, then at the end of the specified period the documents will be ready. The parties only need to come for an extract from the Unified State Register of Real Estate and then draw up an act of acceptance and transfer of real estate.

How does a mortgage apartment exchange work?

The law does not impose special restrictions on the exchange of an apartment or house with an outstanding loan. But such a transaction must necessarily involve the bank that issued the loan. And this procedure is far from formal. From the bank’s point of view, the collateral object is changing, and the new object must be no less liquid and of high quality than the previous one. Banks are more willing to agree to an exchange if the borrower has been making payments accurately for at least two years. Bank employees must ensure that the property is legally clean and in good condition.

The borrower contacts the bank with an application to approve the exchange or sale. The application must be accompanied by a passport, identification number, marriage certificate, passport and written consent of the spouse, as well as a document confirming the absence of debt on mortgage payments.

Alternative deal: how does it work?

What are the advantages of an alternative deal?

If we are talking about a direct exchange, the bank imposes a mortgage encumbrance on the new property and removes it from the previous one.

If the borrower moves to a more expensive apartment, they use a different scheme based on the purchase and sale agreement. The client submits an application for approval and an application for a new loan - the bank places an encumbrance on the new loan on the new object (all documents must also be collected for it) and removes the encumbrance from the previous object, which the counterparty receives under the purchase and sale transaction.

The most difficult option is to exchange for an apartment of a smaller area with an additional payment. Banks rarely agree to such transactions because the value of the collateral decreases. The solution could be a consumer loan that covers the balance of the mortgage debt. The additional payment received as a result of the exchange will somewhat soften the costs.

How the exchange itself is carried out: the main stages

Determination of basic exchange conditions

Before you begin the exchange itself, you need to clarify a few points:

what status does the exchange apartment have: is it municipal or privately owned. This can be done by receiving an extract from the Unified State Register or simply inquiring from the relevant authorities;
if everything is in order with the property rights, make a decision, according to what scheme
exchange will take place. This may be a purchase and sale agreement or an exchange agreement.
It is worth considering that, according to Article 567 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, an exchange agreement and a purchase and sale agreement are equivalent to each other.
A purchase and sale agreement is drawn up if there is a difference in the cost of the exchanged apartments. An exchange agreement is concluded if the prices of the apartments are close or slightly different. The method of exchange itself is chosen by the parties to the agreement.
collect a complete package of necessary documents for your living space, and ensure that similar actions are carried out by the other party to the transaction.
draw up an agreement of exchange or purchase and sale (depending on the agreements between the parties).

Further actions are carried out in the presence of a notary and lawyers.

It must be remembered that when concluding an exchange agreement and a property purchase and sale agreement, you will have to pay personal income tax

– 13% or 30% of the cost. In other words, even if the apartment was simply exchanged, the exchange agreement still indicates its value, and on its basis the personal income tax payable will be calculated.

Collection of necessary documents

An apartment exchange transaction is a legally significant action, after which ownership rights arise. Therefore, to guarantee the legality of the exchange, you need to collect a fairly large package of documents:

title documents for housing.
This may be an agreement for the transfer of property into ownership, a gift agreement, a purchase and sale agreement, and similar ones. They will be needed to check the property for the presence of heirs who could subsequently lay claim to the property. Quite often, after purchasing a new apartment, heirs appear who try to challenge the purchase and sale agreement in court. Judicial practice is such that quite often the decision is made in their favor.
documents confirming ownership of the apartment. They provide an extract from the Unified State Register or a certificate of ownership;
identification documents of all participants in the investigation. This can be a national or foreign passport. You will need a certificate of family composition (a list of everyone registered in the apartment). Most likely, before the transaction you will have to register everyone so that the future owner does not have problems registering the apartment in his name;
technical or cadastral passport for the apartment. It indicates the area of the property;
an extract from the house register;
receipt of payment of state duty for registration of property rights;
document on the assessment of living space: the assessment is carried out by specialized organizations, and this is paid.

In addition to these documents, you may be asked to provide your spouse’s consent to the exchange or sale of common property. Such consent must be notarized (and this is an additional cost).

Consent to the sale of property from potential heirs may also be required (for example, if at the time of the exchange transaction the owners of the living space had minor children). Sometimes in such cases the consent of the guardianship authorities

If the apartment is pledged to the bank

, you will have to take his consent to the alienation of such property. But, most likely, the bank will refuse - or will agree with the condition that after the exchange the new apartment will also be registered as collateral.

Drawing up a purchase and sale or exchange agreement

As soon as the package of documents from both sides is collected, the parties proceed to the actual execution of the transaction. To do this, two sales contracts

(if this exchange method was chosen). It must contain the following items:

cost of housing (each contract has its own amount);
the amount of additional payment by one of the parties (if present);
facts that third parties do not have the right to claim property in the future;
other details of the parties;

All this data is indicated in the exchange agreement

. You can also add a clause about the estimated value of both apartments, but it is included by agreement of the parties.

In addition, the technical characteristics of the apartments are specified in the contract: total area, living space, number of rooms and other housing parameters. All this data must coincide with the cadastral or technical passport, otherwise the transaction may be declared invalid.

An approximate example of an exchange agreement can be downloaded right here:

“ Sample exchange agreement ” Downloading will begin immediately after clicking on the PDF icon

“ Sample exchange agreement ” Downloading will begin immediately after clicking on the Word icon

Do not forget that you need to indicate the timing of the transfer of rights to property and the amount of additional payment

. That is, indicate: the apartment becomes property on such a date, and the additional payment is made until this date. It is also indicated which of the parties is ready to undertake obligations to pay for the transaction. If desired, the parties can pay for notary services together.

After this, an act of acceptance and transfer of property is drawn up, which is signed by both parties. If the transfer of ownership of apartments does not occur immediately, the date of transfer is indicated in the act.