Buying real estate in ukraine

[Glyn Thomas.]

he Ukrainian real estate market made significant go since late 90-s and has slowed down since crisis in 2009. Nevertheless prices light declining during past few years didn?t cross out its rapid surge before. At the moment real estate objects in the most popular destinations ? Kiev, Odessa, Crimea Southern Coast ? are considered overestimated corresponding to the European market. Situation in small towns and unpopular locations is the opposite. If you are a country life fan and not conscious about city comfort you can buy a country house almost for a penny ? there are plenty of deprives villages all around Ukraine, where a half of the residences are completely deserted.

National regulation allows any non residents to buy such property in Ukraine as:

• Private apartments and houses (new or privatised)
  Land for non agricultural purpose.
  See also the feature in Business Ukraine here on registration

Real estate agency or DIY?

The Ukrainian real estate law is rather tangled and complicated, so facilitation of solid local real estate agency or broker simplifies your task and saves time much. You may look up for some options on one of the numerous relevant sites and then visit Ukraine to view them personally. It takes about 2-3 days for options revision and 3-4 days (up to 15 days) for making the bargain. The agency?s facilitation is of great value due to the option to buy should be checked for its legal accuracy. There are plenty of financial frauds with land plots in Ukraine, so this matter claims extremely attention.

Another option - but very risky - is to purchase property on-line, avoiding a trip. In this case you should hire the local real estate agency, set a bank account in one of the Ukrainian banks and transfer money. It works, but we would recommend you to visit the object before signing up the contract personally anyway.

Additional cost for purchasing and selling

This is an approximate calculation of additional expenses on purchase or sell:

For buying:

• 3-5% - real estate agency fee. May be split by a seller and a buyer.
  1% - property insurance (voluntary for a buyer);
  1% - state tax on property purchasing (not for a plot);
  1% - payment to the Ukrainian Pension Fund;
  Up to USD 400 ? a notary?s fee.

For selling:

• If the residence is the second to be sold during one year term ? additional 5% gain tax.
  The same for the residence of more than 100 sqm, even if it is sold for the first time.
  For a plot: 1% government tax plus 5% gain tax.
  House with a plot: 1% - for Ukrainian Pension Fund and 1% -state tax (if the house is up to 100sqm).
  1% of cost of land - state tax. ? Everything is valid for the first sell during the year.
  The list of documents

you need to buy-sell real estate property is here.

If you fancy building your own house, many have tried and been successful. Building a House in Ukraine is a popular forum subject ....

[frank1010]

National regulations allow non-residents to buy ....  yes, anyone can buy. But it maybe worthwhile to let readers know that buying property does not entitle you for a residence permit whatsoever (temporary or permanent). Meaning that if you buy property you will have to leave the country after 90 days (or when your visa expires). So what is the motivation for buying property here? Gambling? Having found a nice blondinka and get married?

[Glyn Thomas.]

Even if you are 90/180 it still makes sense to own your own place.

Plus you can always invest if you're brave.

The info is there to inform not suggest it's a good idea for everyone.

[frank1010]

Even if you are 90/180 it still makes sense to own your own place.

Plus you can always invest if you're brave.

The info is there to inform not suggest it's a good idea for everyone.

Being here on the 90/180 basis makes it cheaper to rent in my opinion. Bearing in mind that there is a lot of cheap rental available. Of course not in prime areas in Kiew. Investing in Ukraine is not for faint at heart.

[Reggie]

For purposes of buying a home, it makes the most sense if you have children here because you can get permanent residency on that basis; it gives you strong footing because your children can't divorce you.  And your kids need a place to live.

You can get PR from marriage, but in the event of divorce, it seems you can lose your PR status.  Marriage alone, is a less good reason.  If you've been in a stable marriage for 10 years or so, then it makes more sense. 

Indeed, Ukraine's cumbersome residency permit system and Ukraine's desire to sell land and homes to foreigners don't harmonize well together.

If you're on the 90-days in, 90-days out program; then buying makes little sense because of the availability of cheap rentals and the cost of upkeep for a home that you will not be in 1/2 of the year.

If you get the 1 year TRP, and have a real possibility to renew it with little hassle and little cost, then owning your own place starts to make more sense because it's good to have a bit of the earth to structure your life rather than living like a perpetual tourist.  Unfortunately, there is hassle and cost involved in renewing the TRP on a yearly basis.   If the TRP was granted for every 2 or 3 years, it would make more sense.

For most people, bringing money to Ukraine for the sole purpose of investing in Ukraine makes absolutely no sense whatsoever because the economic system is highly regulated against competitors and structured to avoid prosperity.  Simply put, for most people Ukraine is not a place to bring their money in the hopes of making more money.     

[Carlusha]

If you get the 1 year TRP, and have a real possibility to renew it with little hassle and little cost, then owning your own place starts to make more sense because it's good to have a bit of the earth to structure your life rather than living like a perpetual tourist.  Unfortunately, there is hassle and cost involved in renewing the TRP on a yearly basis.   If the TRP was granted for every 2 or 3 years, it would make more sense.
   

Reggie, what's this? Yearly renewal? Would that apply to those working because it certainly doesn't apply to those seeking PRP through marriage/children. In such a case, TRP is granted, renewed once and then at the end of the second year, PRP is yours.

The only major cost, depending upon from where you hail, is that initial application for the "D" visa.

As I understand it, "Permits" are renewed in Ukraine without any great financial cost.

[Reggie]

If you get the 1 year TRP, and have a real possibility to renew it with little hassle and little cost, then owning your own place starts to make more sense because it's good to have a bit of the earth to structure your life rather than living like a perpetual tourist.  Unfortunately, there is hassle and cost involved in renewing the TRP on a yearly basis.   If the TRP was granted for every 2 or 3 years, it would make more sense.
   

Reggie, what's this? Yearly renewal? Would that apply to those working because it certainly doesn't apply to those seeking PRP through marriage/children. In such a case, TRP is granted, renewed once and then at the end of the second year, PRP is yours.

The only major cost, depending upon from where you hail, is that initial application for the "D" visa.

As I understand it, "Permits" are renewed in Ukraine without any great financial cost.

hi carl.  sorry bad hand injury today; need to get stitches. sorry about the crap typing.  i will explain more when sewn up.   i meant in cases where an expat comes on a business visa trp, then next yr. trp again, and again.   but yeah, you're right about marriage. 

thankfully i can still still play with the trouser snake, as it was my left hand.  but my typing has gone to hell.

[Carlusha]

thankfully i can still still play with the trouser snake, as it was my left hand.  #

   

[Paulenko]

@ace123, you made some excellent points. I have found properties in the cities in countries like Bulgaria, Latvia and Estonia(all countries in the EU) to be cheaper than properties in the major cities of Ukraine. Kiev and Odessa seem to be particularly expensive when it comes to buying properties in these cities. However, I have noticed that many properties for sale in Lviv look pretty reasonable.

As for buying properties in the countryside. Your right, they are dirt cheap. But what I have found is that the properties with land in the rural villages and towns are usually in pretty bad condition. Occasionally you will find a decent property in the rural villages/towns, but you will never find a relatively new or modern property in such areas. That's just my impression from going through the real estate websites that are online. This differs in a country like Bulgaria for example. There are many modern houses that can be found in the rural areas and they are being sold at very reasonable prices.

I also find the English Websites selling property in Bulgaria to be much better than the Ukranian versions. The Ukrainian websites selling properties for sale are usually more difficult to navigate and don't have the best layouts. But more to the point, they do not usually give you all the necessary information that most buyers seek about the properties on sale. Things like limited photos of the properties in question and limited information about them can be found on most websites selling Ukrainian properties.

Moreover, a lot of the properties in the Ukrainian villages(especially in the Carpathian regions) are made of wood. That's fine for people interested in that type of property, but I would guess that most people would not be interested in buying a wooden house and all the problems that come with having such a property.

It seems to me that there is huge potential in Ukraine when it comes to buying real estate, but it just seems that the properties for sale are not marketed properly or marketed enough.

I know this thread is a few months old, but I just found it quite interesting.

[Paulenko]

@Reggie, you mentioned that it would make little sense for those who don't have residency in Ukraine, to buy property in Ukraine, because of the cost of the upkeep of the property. However, as I understand it, there are no taxes to be paid when a person owns a property in Ukraine. One typically only has to pay their utility bills and that is it. So I don't think that it would be too much of a hassle for foreigners to own property in Ukraine, even if they do not have residency in Ukraine. As far as I know the upkeep costs are very limited and owning a property in Ukraine could be very convenient for those who regularly visit the country on their 90 days in and 90 days out program. Such properties could also be rented out if the owners wished to do so.

[Fraucha]

@ace123, you made some excellent points. I have found properties in the cities in countries like Bulgaria, Latvia and Estonia(all countries in the EU) to be cheaper than properties in the major cities of Ukraine. Kiev and Odessa seem to be particularly expensive when it comes to buying properties in these cities. However, I have noticed that many properties for sale in Lviv look pretty reasonable.

As for buying properties in the countryside. Your right, they are dirt cheap. But what I have found is that the properties with land in the rural villages and towns are usually in pretty bad condition. Occasionally you will find a decent property in the rural villages/towns, but you will never find a relatively new or modern property in such areas. That's just my impression from going through the real estate websites that are online. This differs in a country like Bulgaria for example. There are many modern houses that can be found in the rural areas and they are being sold at very reasonable prices.

I also find the English Websites selling property in Bulgaria to be much better than the Ukranian versions. The Ukrainian websites selling properties for sale are usually more difficult to navigate and don't have the best layouts. But more to the point, they do not usually give you all the necessary information that most buyers seek about the properties on sale. Things like limited photos of the properties in question and limited information about them can be found on most websites selling Ukrainian properties.

Moreover, a lot of the properties in the Ukrainian villages(especially in the Carpathian regions) are made of wood. That's fine for people interested in that type of property, but I would guess that most people would not be interested in buying a wooden house and all the problems that come with having such a property.

It seems to me that there is huge potential in Ukraine when it comes to buying real estate, but it just seems that the properties for sale are not marketed properly or marketed enough.

I know this thread is a few months old, but I just found it quite interesting.

Find the land you want, find out what it will cost to have sewage, electricity, water and landline phone(if you need it) laid in. Destroy the crappy house on the property and build your own. It is that simple. Right? Well, ok it is Ukraine so the building part is not that simple, but it can be done. 

[Paulenko]

@Fraucha, that had crossed my mind actually, but like you said, the building part seems like it won't be so straight forward. Especially if the property is in a very remote area.

[Glyn Thomas.]

I built my own house in the City suburbs and it worked out ok ... see blog at www.kievlife.co.uk ... others have built all over Ukraine and can chip in with their own views....

Ukraine is difficult - but has got a lot easier in recent years.

[Paulenko]

@ace123, interesting, thanks for the link to the blog, it sounds like it will be an interesting read. 

[Paulenko]

@ace123, I have looked at your blog and the end result looks great. I'd like to ask, did you build the house from scratch(buy a piece of land and then build on it) or did you buy it in a shell condition and then complete the building of it? In any case, you must of felt a great sense of achievement after reaching your target and completing the building of the house.

As you explained, you had this house built in the suburbs of Kiev. I suspect that getting/finding workers to help build a house in a more rural region of Ukraine would be a bit more problematic. Well done on building that lovely house, I bet it's now worth about double the price you paid to get it built.