I came, I saw, I bought: how to fall in love with a flat and buy it at once
Muscovite Vladimir Kolesnik used to travel
— Vladimir, when did you decide to buy property overseas?
— It struck me first back in 2007. I realised I needed a vacation retreat for the whole family: my wife, my children and myself. We bought an apartment in Montenegro, right beside the beach, so we could go off to the seaside in a warm sunny place once or twice a season. It is so much easier to have your own flat by the sea than to stay in hotels like a tourist.
Recently, we have been spending summer holidays in our “summer home” in Playa del Moncayo, in Spain's Guardamar del Segura.
And now we have another flat in Germany for romantic getaways with my wife and short trips for the whole family. We are way too busy to visit it as often as we'd want to, and all in all we only get to spend about two or three weeks a year there.

What sold it:
— Why did you choose
— The beautiful landscape. We’d always dreamed of owning a home in Germany, especially
We used to stay
— How did you choose and buy your home?
— I contacted the managers at Tranio.com and they introduced me to a German real estate firm. So I came to Germany, spent all day with a realtor visiting a dozen of properties from the city centre to the outskirts. When I saw this apartment, I knew I had to buy it. It is a spontaneous piece of business, not a conscious choice, isn't it?
By the way, we only understood it afterwards, but it was the right choice to buy a small apartment: we spend little time there at the moment, so it doesn’t make sense to have a large house and then pay maintenance fees.
— What did you like in that apartment?
— I wanted a home in a picturesque place, away from the busy city centre and the tourists. The view was crucial: I really wanted to have
Curiously enough, my wife did not visit the flats with me, so I sent her pictures of three apartments that were similar in size and location, and she chose the one I liked best.
Eventually, we bought this apartment on the first floor of a small building. The windows here overlook scenery in two directions: a scenic meadow, forest and river on one side, and an old town, church and an apple orchard, on the other.

A scenic meadow, a forest and a river (see above) border the building where Vladimir Kolesnik bought his apartment on one side.
The other side: an old town, a church and an apple orchard
— How often do you visit
— Several times a year on various occasions. We always spend Christmas there with the children, but really
— Germany is popular with the Russians because of the mortgages available. Did you get a mortgage?
— We knew we could, but we decided not to as we had enough money to purchase the apartment without a loan. In any case, it’s good to know about these opportunities, they could come in handy for people buying property for investment purposes.
— How much does your home maintenance cost?
— To my knowledge, the resort status does not really affect apartment maintenance costs. We pay
— What do you like most of all in and
— Some places were already my favourite before I bought the place. There are many landmarks in and
If we could recommend anything, it would be the walking tour around

— How did you hear about Tranio.com? Why did you choose us?
— I heard about George Kachmazov's company from a friend of ours and came to you because there are far too many real estate companies in the European property market and it is difficult to understand who is the best to deal with. Tranio.com's assistance with finding a reliable partner where we wanted to buy came at a good time.
— Will you recommend us to your acquaintances and colleagues?
— Sure, I will and have already recommended. My friends bought a house in a ski resort in Italy via Tranio.com and are happy with the service. Now Tranio.com is helping me sell the flat in Montenegro, as we have not used it much of late.
— Do you plan other property acquisitions in Germany or other countries?
— Quite possibly, but this time as an investment since property acquisitions in Europe are as profitable as in Russia now if not more attractive because you don’t have to think about the political and economic environment. I am sure that Tranio.com will help me find the right property to invest in.
Artyom Milovanov, Tranio.com
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