Forum	Title	Content	Member	Sex	Country	Date/Time
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	Volgograd, Russia - real estate?	In my opinion - better rent a flat for your wife to live now and save the money for your life together in US. I agree. Only she's convinced that we're wasting money, throwing it away, if we rent. Because she thinks we can always sell and make a profit later. Sorry if I was a bit harsh in my post earlier. My wife read it though, and agreed with my opinion. US or Russia, in the end, having money is not the same as being happy. Harsh? No. Honest? Yes. I agree about being happy. I've never been rich, but I've been poor and happy!! Everyone... Thanks for all the info & comments. I'm sure we'll end up only renting since I can't afford to buy anything now anyways. I think was only curious if it would be slightly realistic to even think about buying.	Austin_Volgograd	Male	Russia	2006-04-30 10:34:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	Volgograd, Russia - real estate?	They are very confrontational and since we married, they don't want her to live with them any more. They tell her it's my responsibility. I wonder what would have happen if your wife married an average Russian man who like your wife is also unable to buy an apartment. Without a doubt, they would want her to move out. They are tired of their granddaughter when she cries. They want to live alone, quiet. My God! My stepdaughter is only 2 years old! Geez! They wanted my wife to marry a Russian man - her EX! They like him. He has a good salary, and has his own apartment. blah blah blah... They want her and her child to stay in Russia. They don't want to "lose" their granddaughter. I would try to come to some understanding with her parents. Easier said than done! They seem to have high expectations for American men. You should clue them in about what is going on around them in terms of newly wed Russian couples being forced to live with their parents because there is almost no conceivable way two people earning 6000 rubles or less a month can afford a 1 million ruble apartment. Yes. They think all American men are rich beyond belief. They don't care that I love my wife and step-daughter. They don't care that I do and will always take care of them. They want to sell their current apartment and buy a new one. They were expecting my wife to help them buy a new apartment! And she won't even be there. Ummm... Clue them in?! Yeah... Right! It's a nice gesture, but they're just downright EVIL! We're just biding our time, trying to hang in there, until my wife and step-daughter can come to America. Edited by Austin_Volgograd, 27 April 2006 - 11:50 PM.	Austin_Volgograd	Male	Russia	2006-04-27 23:45:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	Volgograd, Russia - real estate?	Austin Volgograd I'm a russian girl and I live close to Volgograd. About one month ago I was checking newspaper with prices for apartments in Volgograd because me and my mother were thinking to probably move there. I was looking for 2 rooms apartment. I can tell you that prices were already much higher that your wife mentioned. Something not expensive was not less than 1.2 million rubles, but it was not the center and not that nice. Nicer flats were higher. I guess your wife's parents bought their flat some time ago. Here prices for real estate grow very fast. And dollar also is falling down now in Russia. I am not sure if foreign citizens can buy a flat, I think Satellite is right - you may need to buy a flat on your wife's name. Think twice about it before you do it. Do you speak any russian? How strong is your relationship? Just be safe about it. Here people really live with their parens. I live with my mother for example. When my fiance comes here for a visit we just rent an apartment and it is nice. I think it is much cheaper to rent an apartment in Volgograd than in Moscow for example. But if you still want to buy a flat have your wife to look at usual russian newspaper like VDV (??? ??? ???). She should know about it. Also this newspaper is online too. There are lots of offers with flats, prices etc. Thank you very much for your reply. Yes, it was quite some time ago that her parents bought the apartment. I know we cannot afford to buy an apartment, but she says she can buy a room in an apartment for less money. She thinks maybe 250,000 roubles. Or maybe a very cheap flat, 1 room, for maybe 300,000 roubles. Does this sound reasonable? I speak and understand only a little Russian. I do not know enough to be conversational yet. But I am learning more each day, with my wife's help. My relationship is very strong with her. We really don't want her to stay with her parents. They are very confrontational and since we married, they don't want her to live with them any more. They tell her it's my responsibility. We cannot talk for 5 minutes without her parents yelling at her to get off the telephone! It's making us both crazy!!! I wouldn't mind renting an apartment, but with the amount of time we plan to spend in Volgograd, we think it might be better to buy something. If we do buy something, we'll definitely buy it in her name. Thanks for the info about the newspaper. That's the newspaper we've been looking at. I didn't even notice the internet address at the top of the pages! There is a capital gains tax on real estate in Russia - this is different for Russians and foreigners. (my knowledge of this is old, things may have changed). If anyone has any more information about this tax, I'm definitely interested to know more! Thanks! We might consider renting it out, but that would complicate visiting. I'd hate to throw the tenants out whenever we wanted to go visit! Thanks for the info. I'd be happy to hear from anyone else with any more info.	Austin_Volgograd	Male	Russia	2006-04-27 21:55:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	Volgograd, Russia - real estate?	Hi All! My wife and I are considering buying an apartment or house in Volgograd, Russia. Yes, she'll be joining me in our home in Texas, but we'll be visiting often enough that buying something while she's still there makes a LOT of sense. I'm curious if anyone is in Volgograd, or has current knowledge about real estate prices there. For example, how much can we expect to pay for a small house (1 bedroom), or a room in an apartment, or an apartment? My wife said her parents bought their current apartment for about $1 million rubles (approx $35,000). It's fairly close to the center of the city (maybe 5km) and pretty nice condition, with 2 bedrooms. Their address is: ul. Dvinskaya 20. Something not to far from her parent's apartment is what we're interesting in finding. We're not looking for the most expensive place, just some place reasonable for her to stay now, and for us to use when we visit. And I've got a friend at work who would probably be interested in using it as well - and renting it from us when he and his wife go to visit. Anyone have any ballpark figures? Or know of any web sites that might have info and/or listings? thanks much! Michael	Austin_Volgograd	Male	Russia	2006-04-27 00:45:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	DS-157 - required in Moscow?	Waste of money. Seriously, this VJ stuff is pretty simple. I knew that then, and I still know that now. Lawyers: TOTAL waste of money. You're right. The visa stuff was very simple. All you need to be able to do is read, and follow instructions. Very simple. The only reason I hired an attorney at the time was to help my (now ex-) wife feel better about the process. The lawyer had a representative in Russia that was a lot better than the lawyer herself! (At least I paid the lawyer by credit card which was discharged in my bankruptcy.)	Austin_Volgograd	Male	Russia	2011-10-27 17:13:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	DS-157 - required in Moscow?	It's not on the list but our attorney included it in the packet of docs they sent us (which were, as usual, full of errors). Why is it that immigration lawyers can't get this immigration stuff correct? I had the same error-ridden documents from my immigration lawyer when I did everything for my (now ex-) wife. I ended up doing all the documents all over again because of all the mistakes, as well as submitting extra documents that she had no idea were needed. The night before the interview, I found out that another document was needed. I ended up running back and forth (in the snow) between the apartment and Marriot hotel in Moscow to get the darn thing printed. It was late October and a bit cooler than the usual 80+degrees I was used to in Texas. Been divorced over 3 years now. Don't know if I would ever want to go through all that again. All I do know is that I would *never* hire a lawyer to do it.	Austin_Volgograd	Male	Russia	2011-10-26 01:05:00
Europe & Eurasia (except the UK and Russia)	For France : et les impôts ??!!	I only see your email now in August so I think by now you have solved your problem ... Otherwise send me a note, I learnt a lot about Taxes ... I am French and live in Texas now. The Centre des non-residents moved to Noisy le Grand Tel : 01 57 33 83 00 but the first year of your move you are correct you should still send your Declaration to your French Income Tax same as always who will transfer you to Non residents and then you should have got or will soon get the Avis d'Impot sur les Revenus de 2006 ... I just did ! Do you still have earning in France ? otherwise it is a little more complex ... If not once you pay to the non residents whatever you owe them you are done with them until you return Home Chanchan	Chanchan	Female	France	2007-08-17 16:46:00