It's no secret that many houses, dachas, cottages are built in collaboration with relatives: brothers, sisters, nephews and parents. It is much easier to build such a house together, and most importantly, less expensive. As a rule, without using the services of construction companies and doing all the necessary work yourself, you can save up to 50% of money. But life, as we know, goes on as usual, and after some time, happy new residents can turn into irreconcilable enemies due to the division of a once amicably built house. Lawyer Oleg Sukhov talks about what you need to know during joint construction in order to avoid problems when claiming rights to it in the future.
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A simple agreement between difficult comrades
First of all, in order to avoid conflicts, it is necessary to conclude a simple partnership agreement (Chapter 55 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation), which gives rise to a regime of common shared ownership between relatives pooling funds and efforts for a common goal - the construction of a residential building. So, partners make contributions that are assumed to be equal, unless otherwise specified in the agreement. The contribution of each of the construction participants can be not only money, but also any other property: for example, the land plot of one of the partners on which the future structure will be erected, or building materials left over from the dismantling of a residential building belonging to another relative, and even professional skills in construction or business connections of one of the relatives. Each comrade must contribute to the common cause.
What to include in the contract
“When concluding an agreement, it is necessary to describe in detail the contributions of each participant and the forms of the contributed shares, the terms and procedure for contribution must also be indicated, since the determination of shares in common property is based precisely on the assessment of contributions, says lawyer Oleg Sukhov. - In addition, do not forget about the clause regulating the conduct of joint activities and accounting for joint operations. However, the general-purpose nature of relations in a partnership of relatives does not mean at all that they are not responsible to each other for the proper fulfillment of obligations. If one participant has undertaken to transfer property for use as a contribution, and the other party participates in the contract by performing work, then the first is responsible for the timeliness of the transfer and compliance of the transferred property with the agreed conditions, and the second can be subject to demands on the quality and timing of construction. Thus, if losses are caused by one of the construction participants, then they should be compensated by them, and not distributed among all parties. Thus, in one of the cases, the Moscow City Court, overturning the decision of the court of first instance on the distribution of the amount of the increase in construction costs between all participants, indicated that since the increase in construction costs was caused by the actions of only one of the participants, who was late in the transfer of construction materials, it is he who must compensate for the losses caused by this to all the others “- notes lawyer Oleg Sukhov.
Involving outsiders in construction
If fellow participants intend to invite third parties, for example, builders, and enter into a contract for the construction of a house, then everyone should become a customer, since upon completion of a large construction project the house will be divided into predetermined shares. Both all partners and one of the participants can sign the construction contract itself and monitor its implementation; in this case, the authority of this partner to make transactions on behalf of all the others is certified by a power of attorney.
If construction stops
It often happens that a once close-knit team of relatives decides to stop construction halfway and not finish building the house at all. What to do in this case? What are the consequences for partners of terminating the contract?
“If a decision on early termination of the contract is made in relation to all partners, then each acquires the right to a share in an unfinished construction project, the fate of which must be determined according to the rules of Article 252 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. Here is a striking example from judicial practice: the brothers entered into an agreement on joint activities to build a residential building, and each made a contribution stipulated by the agreement, but as time passed, they decided not to finish building the house and the agreement was terminated in court. After this, one of them filed a lawsuit to recognize his ownership of a share in an unfinished house and to allocate this share in kind. The court of first instance rejected the claim, citing the fact that in connection with the termination of the contract, the plaintiff has the right to demand only the return of funds transferred to the partner during the period of validity of the contract. However, the Presidium of the Moscow City Court, canceling this decision, rightly pointed out that an unfinished building in the event of termination of the contract becomes the object of the right of common shared ownership of the partners. Termination of the contract does not entail the termination of the right of common ownership, therefore, each of the former comrades has the right to raise the question of determining his share and its actual allocation,” emphasizes lawyer Oleg Sukhov.
A friend leaves a construction site
Another situation arises if the contract is terminated in relation to only one of the partners, but remains in force in relation to the others. However, when determining shares in property rights, judicial practice is ambiguous: some courts proceed from the ratio of contributions actually existing at the time of termination of the agreement, which is absolutely fair, others - from the ratio provided for in the agreement.
“I’ll give you another interesting case from practice. Three relatives teamed up to build a country cottage, where each had to finance a third of the construction cost. Accordingly, upon completion of construction, everyone received 1/3 of the share, that is, everyone’s contributions to the joint activity were determined to be equal. Two fully financed their share, and the third - only half. The court decided to terminate the contract in relation to this participant and return to him the amount that he transferred according to his contribution (50%). After the house was completed by the remaining two, the third partner filed a claim in court to recognize his right to a share in the built house corresponding to the contribution made, and to allocate it in the manner of dividing the common property. The court rejected the claim, citing the fact that the termination of the contract and payment of compensation excluded the possibility of him acquiring ownership of the result of joint activities in the future,” sums up lawyer Oleg Sukhov.
Thus, a well-drafted agreement between relatives should provide not only a detailed description of each person’s contributions and the procedure for determining shares in the common property right upon completion of construction, but also the consequences of terminating and amending the agreement, which will help significantly reduce the likelihood of long litigation between relatives during joint construction of real estate .
It is better to live in a rented apartment (as well as in your own) if this apartment is completely at your disposal. But not everyone has enough money for such a comfortable existence, and then they have to share rent. Like this? “Sob.ru” tried to understand this topic.
The described phenomenon has a very long history. For example, two popular literary characters, Holmes and Watson, met precisely because they could not pay for the apartments on Baker Street on their own - their joint financial efforts were required. Well, in the second half of the twentieth century, with the increase in the general mobility of people, in the USA and Europe (especially) it became completely normal to cooperate with acquaintances, strangers, and sometimes complete strangers for joint rent.
In our country there is a similar practice, recalls Maria Zhukova, director of the MIEL-Arenda company , appeared in 2007 - it became a reaction to the sharp rise in prices for rented Moscow housing. After 2014, the original reason (high cost) began to decrease. However, the income of potential tenants has decreased even more, so the relevance of joint tenancy remains. Today, according to real estate companies, up to 30% of requests to them come from potential renters who would like to find housing together with other people. There are fewer real transactions, primarily because property owners do not welcome such practices. However, the real situation on the market leads to the fact that many of them (especially if the apartment is large, located in a bad area and with not the best renovations and furniture) eventually agree. The understanding that it is better to rent out an apartment to such a company than not to rent it out at all usually comes after 3-4 months of unsuccessful attempts to find “normal” tenants.
Lonely shooter wants to meet
Who to shoot with? The easiest way to answer this question is for those who already have similar acquaintances. Students solve problems very easily - ask around in your group or on the course. What if you don’t have such friends? Or do you deliberately not want to interact with those you study/work with? In this case, the easiest way is specialized Internet sites. For the query “shared housing rental in Moscow,” the search engine instantly returned several dozen web sites where relevant advertisements were published. On some, they are not even just “lumped together” - there is also sorting by gender, age, and occupation.
True, as knowledgeable people say, finding companions is far from the most difficult thing. It is much more difficult to choose from among them those with whom coexistence will not become torture...
What to discuss with your neighbors?
The potential conflicts that can plague a joint tenancy are well known:
- sexual harassment. The option, by the way, is not very common, but it is “difficult” - in the sense that it is hardly possible to come to an agreement later, the only option is to move away from such a person. It is worth noting that most people who take photos want women as their companions. Usually the reasons here are completely different (the fairer sex is generally neater, cleaner - although exceptions are possible, of course), but in each specific case you must definitely explain why your potential companion needs a woman, and what meaning he puts into the words “cohabitation” ;
— sizes of payment shares. Rooms in apartments are rarely exactly the same in size and furnishings - therefore, the question of who pays what can also become a source of disagreement;
- life schedule. One person is used to going to bed at 22.00 every night, for another it’s normal to feast all night long. It cannot be said that one’s position is “correct” and the other’s is not. It’s just better for such people not to live in the same apartment;
- maintaining cleanliness. Some people think that they need to wash the floor every day, while others think that dusting once every six months is too often. Everyone, of course, has the right to live as he likes in his own room, but the apartment also has a kitchen, corridors, bathrooms, etc., and the order of cleaning them will certainly become a source of conflicts;
- personal life. There are people who believe that a rented apartment is completely “closed” in this sense: you can’t invite anyone, all adventures happen somewhere else. Others see nothing wrong with inviting someone into their room. Again, we won’t take sides - we’ll just note that coexistence here will be complicated...
“Since living together with several different people can lead to conflict situations, neighbors should, at a minimum, lead approximately the same lifestyle, have similar tastes and hobbies, and not suffer from manic cleanliness syndrome,” concludes Maria Zhukova . We would like to add that all the questions listed above should be discussed in advance with your potential partners. It is much better to immediately and honestly dot all the i's than to be embarrassed and then either suffer or look for a new home.
About the benefits of independence
And in conclusion, a few words about the relationship with the owner of the apartment. Since property owners, as already mentioned, are not very fond of renting together (and sometimes they agree, but demand an increased fee for this), renters are tempted to declare themselves a big family. However, experts advise not to do this. The fact is that information about the composition of residents is recorded in the lease agreement. So replacing a tenant in even one room is a failure to comply with the conditions, which gives the landlord the right to terminate the contract and kick out the entire honest company.
But that’s not even the main thing. Let’s say you “talk” the owner - explain that your “family” is so mobile, some come, others leave. And, dear landlord, you won’t be able to rent out your shack to anyone except us for that kind of money... But if you are a “family,” that means you have to pay for the entire apartment every month. It turns out that if one of the renters moves out (or even continues to live - he simply cannot pay or does not want to), you will have to cover his share. It is much more honest and reasonable to announce to the owner from the very beginning that you are all different people, not connected by any ties. And personally, I am only going to pay for my room, and your, the landlord, relationships with other renters do not concern me.
Often in Moscow, people have to rent apartments not in full, but room by room, either from the homeowners or by sharing. Happy (and not so happy) renters shared with Dom their experience of renting “shared” meters.
According to Director of the MIEL-Arenda company Maria Zhukova , roommates are always a certain danger: despite the fact that everyone lives in their own room, they have to share common areas - the kitchen, corridor, bathroom, and so on.
“There are a huge number of cases when neighborly relations have not worked out: the neighbor regularly does not put away the dishes, does not take out the trash, listens to music, brings guests at night, spends 40 minutes in the bathroom in the morning when everyone has to get ready for work, from time to time he eats other people’s food. products,” the expert lists the most common causes of discord in communal apartments.
Pets, especially those that appear suddenly, often become the cause of quarrels. “One of our rooming clients returned from a two-week vacation to find that he didn’t have a single pair of shoes left. It turned out that she was destroyed by the new puppy of the owner of the apartment. Unable to get a fair solution to the problem from her, the tenant found himself a new apartment, with strict conditions - no dogs,” says Zhukova.
Quite often, the main players in disagreements are girls: it is women who, by their nature, have a tendency to violently display emotions. And often, according to the chairman of the board of directors of BEST-Novostroy, Irina Dobrokhotova, living together leads to serious quarrels even among long-time friends.
“The joint rental of a two-room apartment quite quickly put an end to the friendship of two female classmates who came to conquer Moscow after graduating from a Nizhny Novgorod university. By the time they moved to the capital, they had been friends for more than five years, and even got a job in the same company. However, the friends were not ready to live together. Constant clashes and quarrels (“Today it was your turn to clean! Can’t you turn the music down? Why do you throw your things even in my room?”) not only led them to the idea of leaving - the girls went their separate ways in life completely and irrevocably,” notes Dobrokhotova.
Nina, who moved from Ryazan to Moscow, shared a similar story: “At first, I rented a two-room apartment with a good friend from school - each had a room, they paid in half. Almost from the first day of our stay, mutual acquaintances began to come to visit us - cheerful students who loved alcohol. They smashed dishes, swung everywhere, ate our food, and even slept anywhere. It happened that I would fall asleep alone, wake up, and someone was sleeping next to me on my bed (it was huge). I got up very early for work, and, of course, all this, to put it mildly, did not make me happy. “I ended up restricting access to my room by locking the door.”
“Six months later, friends came to visit me for one night while passing through,” Nina continues the story. “After that, my neighbor reported the loss of a five-thousand-dollar bill and some earrings... However, a few days later the earrings were found, and I generally doubt the existence of the bill.” In total, this “friendly” neighborhood lasted a little more than a year. It all ended with the neighbor suddenly announcing: they are obliged to vacate the apartment - she herself agreed with the owners. “For two years now I have no idea where and how this “friend” lives,” concludes Nina.
Ekaterina shares another story of female neighborly disagreements. True, in her case, the neighbors, on the contrary, are excessively quiet: “I rent a room in a three-ruble apartment with two girls. My neighbors are very clean, even too clean. For example, they constantly make comments to me that I don’t take out the garbage or don’t pour water into the filter - I only recently realized that the garbage needs to be taken out even when the bag is half full. They also can’t stand loud noises: one girl goes to bed at ten in the evening and complains if someone rattles keys or loudly “stomps” in the corridor.”
“One Friday late evening I came home with my friend,” recalls Ekaterina. — Around two o’clock in the morning I went to shower, but the bathroom was occupied for about half an hour. I went out into the corridor several times, and as a result, a girl who had problems sleeping flew into the corridor and started yelling that I was “making noise, interfering with sleep, now because of me she will not get enough sleep and in general I need to warn you in advance if I want to.” bring guests." That night I still took a shower, but the sleep-loving woman then for some reason locked herself in the bathroom and didn’t come out until eight in the morning. After that, they didn’t talk to me for about two weeks. Rules of behavior were posted in the apartment: do not make noise after 10 p.m., warn about guests, etc.”
Maria Zhukova gives a less scandalous example of misunderstanding between neighbors: “The apartment was rented by two young girls, one of whom wrote poetry. The poetess came to her neighbor every evening to read her works to her. Due to her gentle nature, the listener could not refuse her. At some point, tired of the abundance of poetry, she chose to move.”
And Elena talks about renting three rubles together with the participation of men: “My boyfriend and I rented a room in a three-room apartment for three years, and one room was a walk-through room; the guy’s classmate lived with us for all three years. He loved to play the online game Dota, he was lonely and unpretentious, in general, the folding bed in the hallway did not bother him. But the third room was somehow unlucky.”
At first, a very clean girl lived in it with Elena, her boyfriend and Dota lover. “At first everything went smoothly - we had dinner together, did cleaning on the weekends. Then the neighbor started asking us to wash the dishes immediately after we had eaten. Then clean the stove immediately after cooking. Then every speck of dust started to irritate her,” she recalls.
The next neighbor turned out to be, on the contrary, dirty; conflicts with her also ended with her departure. And a very funny story once happened to the company’s beloved neighbor, which the guys still remember with laughter: “One day we returned home very late, knowing that our boy from the passage room would not be there. It was about five in the morning. In the darkness, I heard a strange sound and turned on the light. In the passage room, on the floor, wrapped in a mattress, our neighbor was sitting, drinking whiskey from her throat and crying. We had to put her on the same mattress and take her to our room on the same one - she refused to sleep in her room, because everything there was in balls from an anti-stress toy, which she tore.”
Vladimir recalls his experience of renting a room in Moscow, which lasted relatively short: “In the morning, half a kilo of evening sausage left in the refrigerator could turn into one third, milk, kefir, and juices slowly evaporated. It happened that the shampoo ran out after opening two days. But the last straw was a noisy party at the neighbors, at the end of which a drunk woman twice my age burst into my room with obvious “romantic” intentions. I moved into a separate one-room apartment and never rented another room.”
Positive stories also happen when renting housing together. One of them was shared by the general director of the Real Estate in St. Petersburg group of companies Nikolai Lavrov: “It was in September. Our client really wanted to rent an apartment in a green courtyard, and certainly with apple trees. We found him a room with adequate neighbors. Two weeks later the client calls and is indignant: “Where did you put me? Car thieves are constantly operating here. My alarm goes off every night, my neighbors look on like a wolf because it’s impossible to sleep.” Of course, car thieves are not our qualifications, but the situation seemed strange: what car thief in his right mind would try to break into the same car every night, especially with an alarm? So, we went to the client. Evening, silence, talking. And then the alarm goes off. We approach the balcony - there is no one near the car. We went outside, approached the car, at that moment an apple fell on it, and the alarm went off again. The client decided not to change the apartment, but simply remove the car from under the apple tree. And to be honest, we were surprised not so much by the client’s lack of insight as by the neighbors’ tolerance.”
Irina Dobrokhotova also recalls a very joyful story: “A 22-year-old girl rented a room from an intelligent elderly woman, a former teacher at one of Moscow universities. They quickly found a common language with the hostess, coexisted peacefully, helped each other with deeds or advice. And six months later, the landlady’s grandson, who had returned from the army, appeared in the apartment, occupied his own room (the third in the apartment) and fell in love with the lodger. In general, the matter ended in marriage, the landlord found a relative in the person of the tenant, and the tenant found a legal husband and a Moscow registration at the spouse’s place of residence.”
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For the vast majority of Russians, the dream of owning their own home, alas, remains just a dream. In order to buy an apartment, you need to immediately shell out a tidy sum. Saving money in conditions of rapidly rising housing prices and high inflation is also problematic. Take out a mortgage loan? Not only will you end up in slavery to the bank for decades, but you will have to overpay twice, or even three times. But closed real estate mutual investment funds (REITs) offer to purchase not just an apartment, but an entire house. True, we put it together. And you won’t be a homeowner for long until the property is sold. But the income received can subsequently be used to purchase, albeit modest, but your own “square meters”.
So far, collective investments in our country do not live up to their epithet. As the latest survey by the research holding ROMIR Monitoring showed, only 1% of Russians are ready to entrust their money to mutual funds. True, just a couple of years ago this figure did not go beyond the statistical error. Now the attention of investors is attracted not only by traditional funds (stocks, bonds, mixed investments, etc.), but also by relatively young closed-end mutual funds.
They differ radically from other types of funds. Traditional mutual funds use money raised from investors to form a portfolio of securities. If the latter generate income, then the shareholders remain profitable. But if there is no, as they say, there is no trial. Real estate fund clients are “dumped” into a specific construction project. The word “closed” implies that the management company sets a certain period during which a share can be purchased. An “entrance ticket” to a closed mutual fund costs from 30 thousand to a million rubles. After collecting money from the population, the funds are “closed”, that is, at this time it is impossible to sell or buy a share. Now some funds are placing their shares, which are traded on the secondary securities market. In this case, you can become a depositor by using the services of a broker (bank or investment company).
So, they collected money from you. They are then invested in a property under construction for a period of 2-4 years. This period includes two or three cycles from pouring the foundation to selling the apartment. Then the object is sold, and the profit is divided among all shareholders in proportion to their contribution to the common cause. It would seem that it couldn’t be simpler. But this cannot be done without risks. They are mainly tied to the market situation - for example, a crisis or stagnation may occur. Also, one cannot ignore the risks of the construction process itself. After all, no one can guarantee that you will only meet bona fide developers.
True, if everything goes well, then thanks to closed mutual funds you can get good profitability. Judge for yourself, in the last three years alone, prices for the most popular economy-class housing in Moscow have increased by 70-80%. And, as experts promise, the situation will change little in the next two to three years. According to the worst-case scenario, housing prices by the end of this year, for example, will increase by 15-20%, in the best-case scenario - by 30%. And the profitability of real estate funds, presumably, will not lag behind these figures. And although you won’t have time to feel like a full-fledged homeowner, you will be able to earn money for your own home.
Don’t want to save money for an apartment, but just want to constantly receive income from real estate? Not a problem either. One of the types of closed-end mutual funds are annuity funds. They specialize in investing money in ready-made and functioning commercial real estate properties. And shareholders receive income not from sales, but from renting out offices or other non-residential premises. The risks here are low, but the income, although predictable, is not so impressive. At best, it makes sense to count on 10% per annum.
Tips for beginners
In order to reduce risks and increase profitability when investing in a real estate fund, it is necessary, on the one hand, to place a bet on the right fund, and on the other hand, on the property. After all, the cost per square meter increases unevenly. Therefore, you need to pay attention to several fundamental points:
1. Choose the right mutual fund. A closed-end mutual fund deserves trust if it is “under the care” of a reputable management company that has been operating in the market for 3-5 years and shows stable profitability.
2. Find out who the developer is, what his reputation is and whether there are any complaints from investors.
3. Ask what kind of real estate will be built with your money.
4. Economy class housing is in greatest demand (cost per square meter is $2000). It is actively increasing in price, and the costs of its construction are significantly lower than for elite “square meters”. In addition, economy class real estate is easier and faster to sell.
5. The greatest demand and prices are for one-room apartments. Therefore, a house with a lot of housing of this format is more attractive from an investment point of view.
6. Over the past three years, requirements for quality characteristics have increased.
Therefore, the demand for monolithic houses has increased. Their prices, although slightly (on average $100 per square meter), are higher than for panel ones.
Western experience
We have more than 40 years of collective real estate investment experience in developed countries. In the United States, for example, in 1960, Congress created real estate investment trusts (REITs). The goal is to enable small investors to invest in large, income-generating real estate. There are currently about 300 real estate investment trusts in the United States. Their total assets exceed $300 billion. According to a CBS MarketWatch survey, 84% of Americans consider real estate a safe haven, that is, a reliable investment opportunity. For comparison, 52% of Russians share the same opinion.
There are two main types of such companies: real estate owning and real estate financing. A combination of both is also possible. Among the real estate objects one can highlight industrial buildings, offices, shops and shopping centers, the residential sector (apartments and houses), warehouses, hotels, etc.
Although Western markets are developed (that is, they do not have much growth potential) and real estate funds are considered a conservative investment, they show very attractive returns. This is especially felt during periods of stock market instability. Thus, according to NAREIT (National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts), in the difficult year of 2002, it was real estate funds that managed to become the most profitable in the American market. They brought 13.7%. At the same time, the Standard & Poor's 500 index showed a negative return - minus 13.2%, Russell 2000 Growth - minus 17.3%, Nasdaq Composite - minus 24.9%.
Investments. Until recently, commercial real estate as an investment object remained virtually inaccessible to individuals. Today, this issue has been resolved by individual companies, and new participants are preparing to enter the new market.
The market has become mature. According to analysts, the Moscow commercial real estate market is becoming more professional and resistant to sharp market fluctuations. In other words, today, working on it, you can count on a stable income. Back in March of this year, the international consulting company Cushman & Wakefield included Moscow in the top five most expensive cities in the world in terms of cost per square meter of office space. According to this indicator, the Russian capital is closer to London, Tokyo, Paris and New York. According to experts from Colliers International, rental rates for office space in Moscow increased by an average of 10% in 2001, and by only 2-3% in 2002. The slowdown in rates growth is associated with a significant increase in the volume of new construction, which in 2002 exceeded last year's level by 30%. And in 2003, the growth in the volume of commissioning of office space of classes "A" and "B" is expected to amount to another 25%. Taking this factor into account, Colliers International predicts stabilization of rental rates over the next two to three years.Taking into account the trend of expansion of regional and international retail chains and the expectation of the arrival of new international operators in Russia, it is predicted that the demand for high-quality retail premises with a good location will continue. Meanwhile, the supply of such facilities is also growing, as a result of which, according to Colliers International, rental rates in professional shopping centers stabilized last year. In general, according to company experts, the return on investment in commercial real estate is gradually decreasing and today averages about 13-15% per annum for the best office properties. Moreover, in 1998-1999 it reached 25%, in 2000 - 22-23%, in 2001 - 20%, in 2002 - 17%.
Fleming buys Moscow. The professional level of development that the Moscow commercial real estate market has reached attracts large Western investors. Thus, this summer, the British company Fleming Family & Partners announced the creation of a fund for investment in capital real estate. The estimated volume of investment, which is planned to be directed primarily to class “A” office buildings in the historical center of Moscow, is about $60 million. The technology of work is as follows. The company buys a building with tenants and manages it for a certain period of time. Investors are periodically paid a kind of dividend. Over the course of several years, the capitalization of the property increases, after which it is sold. Today's profitability of such investments is estimated by experts at approximately 20% per annum.
Individual investors also have the opportunity to invest in commercial real estate and receive a stable income from one of the most reliable assets. Several intermediaries are already operating in this market. Among them is one closed-end mutual investment fund.
Real estate goes on the stock exchange. The closed First Real Estate Investment Fund, managed by Concordia Asset Management, attracted investor funds in March 2003. Unlike the conservative Fleming Family & Partners, the Russian mutual fund is focused on investing in riskier, but at the same time potentially more profitable objects. Namely: in development projects at the stages of readiness of the main documentary base. That is, the funds from the fund are used to construct facilities and then rent them out. According to Concordia specialists, the profitability of such projects can range from 25 to 70% per annum, depending on the sector and region of investment. During the initial placement period, the fund accepted contributions in the amount of 16 million rubles. Initially, it was planned that the investments of the Russian mutual fund would be three times longer than the British ones. They were designed for 15 years - the end date of the trust management was determined to be March 18, 2018. However, in September the fund's rules were changed and the "length" of its investments was reduced to five years.
During the period of validity of the mutual fund, shareholders will annually receive “dividends”, the amount of which will be 80% of the annual increase in the value of the share. According to Concordia, over the past six months this increase was 12%, or 24% per annum (in rubles). It is possible to “fix” the profit received before the established period - the rules of the mutual fund allow the free circulation of its shares. Today, First Investment shares are included in the off-list list of the MICEX, and in January 2004 organized trading should begin on them. For now, shares can only be purchased from their current owners. However, at the end of this year - the beginning of next year, the fund plans to conduct an additional placement of securities in the amount of up to 1 billion rubles. As reported to the magazine "Finance." at Concordia, the minimum entry threshold for new investors will be at least not lower than in March.
In addition to the First Investment Fund, there is another specialized mutual fund operating on the market - the Real Estate Mutual Fund, managed by the Professional Management Company. However, there is no real estate in it.
Resort investments. The UMAKO group of companies also plans to organize several closed-end mutual funds, the funds of which will be used for the construction of hotel facilities and the development of tourist accommodation infrastructure. They will work within the framework of the hotel infrastructure development program in the city of Sochi. At the Kuban-2003 forum, which will take place on October 9-12, three projects will be presented in the form of investment summaries. The program involves the development of more than 50 land plots in Greater Sochi. It is planned that the Kurort mutual funds will become one of the mechanisms for implementing this project. According to Roman Nakashidze, a specialist in the public relations department of the YuMAKO group, both legal entities and individuals will be able to become their shareholders. The preliminary cost of the “entrance ticket” will be 10 million rubles. In the future, it is planned to organize exchange circulation of shares of these funds.
Profitability with guarantee. In addition to participating in mutual funds, there are other ways to invest in commercial real estate. Thus, the Tonnex Group company is launching an updated version of the Income Meter project in November. Its essence is as follows. Tonnex attracts a pool of investors whose accumulated funds are invested in commercial real estate (primarily office and retail within the Moscow Ring Road). Acquired properties are transferred to management companies, which search for tenants and provide maintenance of the property. Investors purchase shares of the company that owns the rights to real estate, thus becoming its co-owners. The facility managers provide the “title” company with income from investments in square meters, part of which will be paid to investors quarterly or annually. In essence, these are dividends, the amount of which is fixed in the agreement of the company managing the project ("Tonnex Group") with the investor at the level of 15-17% per annum of the deposit amount in US dollars (after payment of all taxes) and does not depend on the actual financial results company activities. According to Tonnex director Andrey Tkachenko, this removes the business risk for individual investors. An agreement fixing regularly paid income is concluded for a period of three years. If, after its expiration, any of the co-investors decides to leave the project, the management company undertakes to find a buyer for the shares it owns or for the entire object and organize its sale. In any case, as Andrei Tkachenko stated, the contribution amount will be paid to the investor in full. In this case, dividends received will not need to be returned. By default, the contract is extended for another three years.
When deciding to participate in a project, you should agree to take on certain risks, such as liquidity risk. The standard agreement does not provide for the possibility of returning the deposit earlier than after three years, so the investor will have to sell his shares if necessary. However, their buyers, according to Andrei Tkachenko, will most likely be willing to be the management company itself or co-investors. As for the risk of unsuccessful investments, in this program, according to Tonnex management, it is minimized. As a rule, investors' funds will be used to purchase real estate that has already been leased for a long time. Therefore, the real return on investment can be easily calculated. The regularity of dividend payments is additionally guaranteed by a reserve fund, which is formed from part of the profit received from property management. The same fund will be used if, upon the final sale of the property, it is not possible to obtain an amount sufficient to return all investment deposits. However, according to Andrei Tkachenko, the likelihood of such a situation is extremely low and is comparable to the likelihood of a systemic economic crisis that affects all industries.
From November, the “entrance ticket” to the “Income Meter” will cost $30 thousand. The maximum investment amount is not limited. But soon less wealthy citizens will also be able to participate in the program. At the beginning of next year, Tonnex plans to form a closed real estate mutual fund, the minimum investment amount in which will not previously exceed $5 thousand. After the formation of the fund, the issue of bringing its shares to the organized exchange market will be decided.
