Hi Everyone,

At the end of 2014 Russians and Ukrainians faced an unpleasant surprise: their local currencies became much cheaper compared to the dollar and euro. The logical step for those of them who kept their savings in local currencies and thus became poorer was to start cutting expenses.

The first foreign companies to be affected are of course travel agencies and hotels in the countries that traditionally depend on Russian travelers. And they react immediately: hotels in Egypt and Turkey offer 50% discounts for Russian guests, Turkey is going to subsidize air travelers from Russia, Egypt is going to accept Russian rubles as payments, etc.

Now, let's see how foreign realtors deal with the Russian currency crisis. Some of them have already reported the downturn in the number of buyers in such traditionally strong Russian buyers markets as Bulgaria, Montenegro and Spain. Russian portal Prian asked realtors from 5 countries - whether they have some special deals for Russian buyers and here's the summary of their replies in English for your attention.

1. Bulgaria. Russians own more than half a million properties in Bulgaria, but lately Russian buyers are less active. So, Bulgarian developers and realtors offer some specials to stimulate Russian buyers, such as allowing them to pay in rubles at fixed rates, extending the loan times, changing the banking policies to providing loans for physical persons from Russia (while in the past one only had to start a business in Bulgaria to get a loan).

2. Montenegro. The real estate market in Montenegro is waiting for the law allowing foreigners to obtain residency by buying properties. Analysts believe that this will bring more international buyers to Montenegro. Up to the recent moment about 70% of the local real estate market is owned by Russian buyers. Ukrainians buy more now - trying to escape from their country where the civil war doesn't stop, criminals take over cities and economy goes down more and more. But Ukrainians buy cheap properties and the number of the new Ukrainian buyers does not compensate the lost Russian buyers and the real estate prices in Montenegro go down, so developers and sellers do not really want to make any further discounts.

3. Spain. The real estate market in Spain shows signs of recovery. Realtors hope for the return of British and Scandinavian buyers and do not really want to stimulate Russian investors in any specific ways.

4. Turkey. Developers and realtors follow the suit of Turkish hoteliers and offer Russian buyers things like a new TV or air-conditioner when buying an apartment or even a car if it is a luxury property.

5. Greece. The real estate market in Greece keeps going down in terms of prices, but Russian investors still buy to get residency. No special incentives in real estate for them while tourist services are inclined to provide some.

So, all of the above was concerned mostly with companies of developers and realtors, but what can you do as a private seller to attract Russian buyers in these difficult for them times? Look at what you are able to include in the price and advertise accordingly: will sell my property furnished, many garden equipment and tools including, etc., etc.

To your best business success,

Sincerely,