The insurer called the problems when buying a home in the secondary real estate market

Buying an apartment in the secondary housing market is very common and has a lot of benefits, but sometimes it also brings unpleasant surprises. Yulia Serova, Head of Rosgosstrakh's Property and Liability Insurance Department, told Izvestia on August 22 about the most common risks when buying a home on the secondary market and how to protect yourself.

"Previous owners may leave behind utility bills or problems related to illegal apartment redevelopment. But there are even more serious risks — when, a few years after the transaction, a person suddenly appears who decides to challenge ownership. It sounds like a scene from a movie, but it really happens in reality," she said.

According to the expert, it happens that the seller inherited the apartment, while not all relatives were involved in the process and knew about it. After some time, one of them can prove through the court that he is entitled to his share in housing.

"Inheritance problems are one of the most common cases among real estate litigation. For example, a person inherits an apartment from his father and soon sells it," Serova said.

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If children or people with disabilities were registered in a municipal or state apartment, who were not included in the privatization and their interests were not subsequently taken into account when selling, then such transactions are challenged in court. And if the seller was married and sells the apartment without the consent of the spouse, the transaction may be declared invalid. Even when an apartment is designed for one person, it is sometimes considered a jointly acquired property.

"It is worth paying attention to apartments that have often changed owners. Sellers could have obtained housing on dubious grounds, for example through fraud or forged wills. There may be inaccuracies in the EGRN statement: in the names, areas, and grounds for the transfer of rights. And these mistakes are used by the previous owners as a reason to challenge the deal," she added.

In addition, the former apartment owner may be declared legally incompetent a year or two after the transaction (including at the time of the apartment sale) and his representatives come to challenge the deal.

Before buying, it is necessary to check who the owner is and whether there are restrictions (arrests, liens), how long the person has owned the apartment (if less than five years, then be careful), whether there is a spouse and whether he agrees to the transaction, whether all the title documents are in order: purchase and sale agreements, donations, privatization, a registration certificate, a cadastre, whether children or incapacitated citizens were registered in the apartment, whether the apartment was involved in disputes, inheritances, divorces, how many times the apartment was resold, a power of attorney (if the seller acts on it).

"Before you purchase an apartment, you must request an extract from the Unified State Register of Real Estate (USRN). A notary and a lawyer can also help with the transaction and check the legal purity of the property. However, not all risks can be foreseen and taken into account," Serova summed up.

Andrey Serdyuk, a real estate market expert and author of the Telegram channel Realtor Academy, named the main payback factors for real estate in Moscow in an interview with Izvestia on March 29. According to him, the top 3 properties with the highest profitability and quick payback include studios and one-bedroom apartments in new buildings (up to 35 square meters), apartments in hotel complexes and apartments for daily rent (near the metro, near the TTK).

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