My Wild Ride with Yandex's Digital Rentals: No Realtors, No Deposits, But a Contract Nightmare and Ongoing Fees - My Moscow Apartment Hunt Story

Hello everyone!

I had one of those crazy situations at the end of 2023 where I had to move out of my apartment super quickly. I'd always had at least a month to think things through and find the perfect place, but this time I was on a tight deadline. To make matters worse, I'd just changed jobs and was in the middle of training, so I wasn't getting paid yet. I couldn't afford to just pick any old place, especially with all the fees and realtor commissions involved. I needed to find a spot that met all my criteria, ideally straight from the owner, and stay there for as long as possible. But it was tough - I was looking with a family member who'd just moved from the regions, and she had a cat. Most landlords wouldn't rent to people with pets. It seemed like a dead end. That's when I stumbled upon Yandex Rent in a Google search. I'd never heard of it before, but it looked like the perfect solution.

To be honest, the site seems to be more focused on attracting property owners, luring them with promises of various perks. They claim to handle everything for you: evaluating the property correctly, taking decent photos, setting up viewings without your involvement, drafting a contract, and delivering keys via courier. It sounds like a breeze to rent out your place without lifting a finger, even if you're on the other side of the world. And the best part? The tenant would be the one paying the commission, not you. Sounds too good to be true, right? But in reality, based on reviews and my personal experience, things aren't as rosy for both parties. My review will be from the perspective of someone looking for a place to rent.

So, how does it work for the tenant?

They offer a super convenient 3D model for viewing properties online; You can communicate and resolve any issues directly through the app, without having to deal with the landlord's calls and visits; They provide legal protection in case of unexpected problems; Their managers are available to help with any disputes; And the best part? No additional commissions, realtors, or deposits. Or so they claim. I've gotta say, the service is available both as a website and an app. If you're browsing on your phone, the website will constantly try to redirect you to the store, hoping you'll eventually get fed up and download the app. That happened to me too, but luckily it's not a huge file, and with 1 TB of storage, I can afford to download a few unnecessary things. But I can imagine it might get annoying for people with limited storage. Spoiler alert: even if you find a suitable option, you'll still need to download the app.

That's what the Yandex Arenada app looks like in the App StoreThe search and rental process on both the website and the app is surprisingly easy. You just need to choose the number of rooms and your desired price range, and then you'll get a map or list showing available options in specific areas.

I've gotta say, the main drawback for me is the limited number of apartments available, especially when you compare it to Avito or Cian. By the end of 2023, I was only seeing Moscow and the surrounding area, plus St. Petersburg. Now, the selection has expanded with new regions added, but it's still pretty limited compared to the competition. Plus, there are tons of apartments listed with prices that are just way too high, even for places in the most desirable areas. Take this one for example: who in their right mind would rent a three-bedroom place in Domodedovo village for 150,000 rubles? Yeah, I've seen ads like that. xa0

Recently, they've also added the option to add a deposit if the owner wants, which further limits the selection and basically negates any benefits of using the service. But, I mean, you can still find something decent. Problem is, the good options get snatched up in just a couple of hours, so don't expect to have too much time to think about it.

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Each apartment listing has a ton of info, including the tech specs, year of construction, price history, and conditions for renting. It's all pretty detailed, although I'm guessing it depends on the manager.

I have to admit, the listing wasn't always 100% accurate. For instance, it said the owner was against pets and internet usage, and that there was no washing machine in the apartment. But it turned out that was all a load of rubbish. The owner was actually a pretty laid-back guy, and as long as you paid on time, he didn't really care what you did with the place.xa0

One of the genuinely cool features was the 3D tour. It's a super-realistic and informative floor plan that lets you explore the apartment on your phone or computer. It's like being there in person, checking out the place for yourself.

This thing is ridiculously cool and super useful. You can't always tell how a place looks from photos, but here you can get a good look without even getting up from the couch, and check out all the nooks and crannies. Next, you need to fill out the tenant questionnaire. For that, you'll need a Yandex account. The requirements are pretty straightforward: you've got to be over 18 and have a Russian passport. They'll ask for your passport details, plus a photo of the first page, your address, and a selfie with your passport. After they've checked that, you'll get a regular questionnaire for the owner. It's got a few questions: where you work or study, why you want to move, a bit about yourself (bad habits, work style, hobbies), and a list of who you'll be living with. You can add a photo to increase your credibility. If you're not the only one moving in, you'll need to send a link to the others so they can fill out their own questionnaires and attach a photo of their passport. All this info gets sent to the owner, who'll then decide whether to rent the place to you or not. We got two rejections before we finally found a place. After a rejection, the apartment is 'closed' to you, and you can't submit a new application. But if the owner agrees, congratulations - it's time to sign the contract. And by the way, it's always for 11 months. When I signed up, I had to review the terms and conditions, and if everything looked good, I just signed up via SMS code. No contact with the owner was necessary at that point.

After paying for the first month, I was able to schedule a pickup with a courier, who would hand over the keys. But it seems we weren't worthy of such innovations, and I ended up having to trek out to the owner's place on a cold winter evening, just to get the keys. After meeting the courier or the owner, the app will display an inventory list, which you can either agree to or dispute within 24 hours of receiving the keys. The owner will list everything that's in the apartment, so in case something goes missing, they can hold you accountable. I didn't have any issues, but everyone's different, so I highly recommend carefully reviewing the list and comparing it to what you actually find, to avoid any potential disputes down the line.

I've had a situation in the past where we rented an apartment through a realtor, and one of the kitchen shelves was missing glass. When we were leaving, the husband of the homeowner demanded compensation, and it was only a video I took on the day we moved in that helped convince our friends and family.

By the way, a bit more about the contract. Even if you're living with someone who's an adult and fully capable, the main tenant will only be considered to be one person. The contract will be drawn up in their name, and they'll be responsible for everything. This also means that the others will have limited access to the app and other features, like checkout. I'm getting ahead of myself, but in our case, my relative was the one who initiated the process. Despite her being the one who handled everything, Yandex consistently ignored her requests and only communicated with me. Keep that in mind.

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▶OUR EXPERIENCE

As I mentioned earlier, we got two rejections before finding this place. Initially, we were only looking at the south of Moscow and the surrounding areas, like Podolsk, Domodedovo, and Vidnoye. But there were very few options, and most of the owners were dead set against pets. Time was running out, and we eventually started considering less-than-ideal options. That's how we found our great but really inconvenient two-bedroom place between Podolsk and Vidnoye.

The place was huge, spacious, and well-furnished, with a massive closet, real beds, and even orthopedic mattresses. The only downsides were the noise - it's a panel building - and the infrastructure. Public transport was pretty limited, with only a bus that runs about 10 times a day, and a train that's a 30-minute walk through the woods. The train wasn't super frequent, and it didn't run for three hours a day. Delivery was also a bit of a challenge: we couldn't get our usual food delivery services like Samokat or Dodo Pizza, and the supermarkets that agreed to deliver were only willing to do so the next day. But, we could move in on any given day, and the owner was totally cool with our cat. Overall, our stay was pretty hassle-free, with no issues at all until we checked out, and all payments for rent and utilities were handled right through the app. ▶HOW THE APP IS SET UP It's all pretty straightforward and intuitive here. The interface isn't super user-friendly, but when it comes to monthly payments, it's hard to get lost. You'll get multiple reminders about upcoming expenses, starting way before the due date. We paid on the 17th, but we started getting notifications from the 1st. On the day of the rent, we'd both get a push notification and an SMS.

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Something that caught me off guard was the need to pay rent by the end of the day, or face a small penalty for each day of delay - less than 1% per day, but still a bit of an overpayment. The owner doesn't notify you about this if you manage to pay within 2 weeks, but after that, it's a contract termination. Interestingly, the renter still gets their money back; if you don't make the payment by 6 PM Moscow time, Yandex transfers the funds to the owner from their own assets, and you're essentially no longer the owner, but the company. The maximum allowed delay, as I mentioned earlier, is 2 weeks.

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To avoid this, there's a handy feature that allows you to split the payment into two parts for a fee of 1000 rubles. We've used this function a few times, as both my partner and I work as freelancers, and our incomes aren't fixed or tied to a specific number. It was more comfortable to pay a bit extra and delay the payment for two weeks rather than paying the full amount upfront and then cutting back on expenses. One downside is that Yandex has started notifying the owner about this feature, which they previously claimed didn't exist. Not all landlords are aware of this feature, and they might start getting anxious.

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Another thing I noticed is that Yandex would sometimes claim that the payment was late, even when it wasn't. I'm not sure what the impact of this is, but it was still annoying.

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▶WHAT ARE THE MAIN MINUSES AND HIDDEN STONES?

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As usual, nothing in life is perfect, and Yandex is no exception. The service's sweet promises were too good to be true, and there are a few downsides that can either spoil or completely negate the benefits for some people. Specifically:

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1. You can't just break the lease before 10 months are up, or you'll be on the hook for penalties. It's not exactly a secret, and it's clearly spelled out in the contract, but I'm sure some people will gloss over it or not bother reading it. Of course, it's a nice perk for the landlords, but it does limit the freedom of the tenants, since the fine is pretty steep.

The penalty is a fixed amount that decreases each month: in the first month, you owe 100% of the rent, but by the middle of the lease, it's down to around 20%. We ended up leaving right at the end of the year, so we didn't have to pay anything. Our previous tenant, a guy with a kid, lasted only two weeks and opted to pay the full penalty just to get out of the lease. Honestly, I'm not sure what his thinking was - aside from the terrible location, the apartment itself was really nice and objectively worth the cost.2. Fees. All the perks that Yandex promises to the owner and the tenant come at a cost, which is paid by the renter. That's a whopping 10% of the rent. In our case, that's 3,500 per month. But we were renting a pretty budget-friendly place, especially for two people, and now prices like that are hard to come by. So, on top of the already inflated rent prices, you'll be adding another 5+ thousand bucks every month just for Yandex's supposed help. That's a pretty penny, especially when you consider it's a non-refundable deposit. And you'll be paying it for the entire time you live there – that could be a year, two years, or five. So, is it really worth renting through Yandex.Apartments in the long run?

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3. I've gotta say, Yandex didn't exactly do their due diligence. Or they did a super superficial check. In our case, it turned out that the owner, despite all his good qualities - he's a guy who systematically doesn't pay his utility bills. He didn't give us the keys to the mailbox, but someone broke the lock (judging by the fist print, in a fit of rage), and we found a ton of old and new letters from the utility services. The debts were in the hundreds of thousands. Even a small payment for the intercom he managed to rack up to thousands. They even successfully collected money from him through court a few times, but he still didn't start paying and just kept racking up new debts. Meanwhile, he'd successfully take money from us every month for water, gas, and electricity. Honestly, after uncovering this fact, we were on edge because we were worried that at any moment the collectors would show up or we'd just be cut off from all civilization. Luckily, we found out almost at the end, so we didn't get too worked up or suffer any consequences. But I feel for the next renters.

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4. Yandex just doesn't care what you or the owner want. They've got their own rules. So, the move-out was just as spontaneous as the move-in. At the time, I was in another country, we'd gotten into a fight with my aunt, and she'd decided to move out in a hurry. I didn't see it coming and wasn't prepared, plus objectively, such a quick move would've hit her wallet hard. It was a lose-lose situation for everyone. But she was dead set on it, refusing to wait even 30 days, which is what the contract requires for notifying the owners.

After some thought, I decided I didn't want to stay in this place anymore. At the time, I hadn't realized that prices for rent and everything else would skyrocket soon, so I figured it'd be smarter for both of us to move out, store our stuff, and then rent a smaller, more modest place closer to civilization when we got back. Paying 40,000 rubles a month just to store my stuff wasn't something I was willing to do, especially since I'd already lived abroad for six months and the total bill was getting pretty hefty. We wrote to the owner, letting him know our intentions, and he agreed, saying we didn't need to pay anything extra. But Yandex had other plans.

First, they charged us a penalty for moving out equal to 100% of the rent, completely disregarding the owner's refusal to accept it. Here's a screenshot of my cousin's email exchange with customer support.

This is just ridiculous. People had come to a mutually agreeable solution, but Yandex still decided to force us to pay the landlord anyway. I guess that's why we ended up paying them a total of 42,000 rubles in the end.

After going back and forth with the property owner and managers for what felt like an eternity, they finally managed to get the fine waived, but then they hit us with another charge - a 2-day penalty for overstaying our rental period. It wouldn't have been a big deal if it wasn't for the fact that it was calculated in a super weird way. We'd paid 35,000 rubles for the month, excluding utilities and commission, and then suddenly we're expected to cough up another 4,450 for just 2 days. That's almost double what it should have been.

The owner was understandably upset about this, and he reached out to Yandex to complain. But Yandex just shrugged it off, saying that's how the rules work. It's just absurd. In the end, we decided not to pay it, and a few weeks later the debt just disappeared. Thanks, I guess.

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▶DRAWING THE CONCLUSION,

I'd say that the service has a right to exist, but it's definitely got some kinks to work out. The idea itself is actually pretty solid, but it's just not being executed very well. It's a lot more beneficial for property owners, who get to delegate all the hassle to managers and get financial and legal protection, while the tenant pays for it all. But in theory, we tenants shouldn't be left out in the cold, enjoying perks like no deposit and no realtor commissions, and a super streamlined rental process. But in reality, it's not quite that simple. The concept is good, but the execution is lacking. They really need to take a page out of the international playbook - over there, they actually check up on property owners to make sure they're on top of their utility bills, and the fines are capped by law, not just arbitrary. And the commission is either paid by the owner or split between the owner and tenant. That just seems like a much fairer approach to me.

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I've gotta be honest, I can recommend the service, but only if you're crystal clear on what you're getting yourself into. You've got to be prepared for the inevitable hit to your wallet, and the fact that you can't just bail whenever it's convenient or not. That's especially true in the world of digital subletting, where problems can pop up that you won't even see coming in a 3D model. I'm talking about things like pests, weird neighbors, and massive debts – we've been there, done that. And I'm not convinced, given my experience with Yandex's customer support as both a client and an employee, that they'll be super interested in helping you out when you're unhappy. They'll try to lure you in with promises of payment, send you a ton of notifications about how great everything is, and even try to get you to engage with their chat. But as soon as you sign the contract, your value plummets and suddenly no one's all that eager to help. Even a simple question or a basic issue I had with them, they were completely unable to resolve. At first, they just gave me the scripted response, and then when I'd invested time in the conversation, it turned out they weren't even equipped to handle it.

I had the same experience trying to resolve the issue via WhatsApp chat, where they just kept sending random responses and then suddenly stopped responding, only to send me the owner's phone number. Great support, if you can call it that. I'm not surprised they'd leave you hanging in case of a real problem. I'd expect nothing but a generic response and a hefty fine if you try to resolve it yourself.

Personally, I'm unlikely to use the service again and would rather stick with good old Avito or Cian. Sure, it takes more time, money, and effort, but at least you have more freedom, fewer overpayments, direct contact with the owner, and a chance to get your money back if you have a contract. Paying 10% of your rent every month, only to fight with the owner for fairness, just for the privilege of using a 3D tour and paying through an app, is not worth it to me. In reality, the whole service is just a rehash of the same old 'traps' – just packaged in a digital format and tied up with unnecessary commitments to third parties. Is it really worth the hassle?

▶PLUSES:

✅Digital renting. Everything's online, from viewing to signing the contract;

✅3D models of apartments;

✅Quality housing, with most listings featuring nice apartments with European-standard renovations and a full set of appliances, unlike the 'grandma's attic' options on other services;

✅All payments and invoices in the app;

✅Option to break down rent payments;

✅No deposits or realtors;

✅ Theoretical support is a plus.

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▶ MINUSES:

❌ The commission fees are pretty steep – they're charged to the tenant, and you can't avoid them;

❌ The penalties and fines are a given, no matter what the landlord thinks;

❌ The customer support is pretty unhelpful – they just recite a script;

❌ The owner verification process is a bit shady;

❌ The other tenants have pretty limited options, unless you're the primary renter;

❌ There aren't many options, especially in rural areas;

❌ It's only available to Russian citizens.

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I wish all landlords and tenants were on the same page!