Glad to find this forum

[Freud]

Hello Everyone! I found this forum yesterday and am just considering the possibility of moving to Russia for some years, most likely near Tver. My wife is Russian and I have been there a number of times. I will be retiring before long so I wouldn't be looking for a job there. Just want to get more info to see if it's a good idea or not. I'm sure there's a lot of downsides I haven't considered.

I've been reading a number of the threads trying to get a better understanding of how people feel about living there. I'm really glad I found this place because there's a lot of information I doubt is available anywhere else.

[Remington]

Hello Everyone! I found this forum yesterday and am just considering the possibility of moving to Russia for some years, most likely near Tver. My wife is Russian and I have been there a number of times. I will be retiring before long so I wouldn't be looking for a job there. Just want to get more info to see if it's a good idea or not. I'm sure there's a lot of downsides I haven't considered.

I've been reading a number of the threads trying to get a better understanding of how people feel about living there. I'm really glad I found this place because there's a lot of information I doubt is available anywhere else.

Welcome and there's not much downsides as you think. Sure cost of living would be cheaper near Tver. The only major downside is getting residence permit as you will have to jump many hurdles to get there. My advice is to get a FMS consultant in your city to help you with applying for residence permit.

[Freud]

Welcome and there's not much downsides as you think. Sure cost of living would be cheaper near Tver. The only major downside is getting residence permit as you will have to jump many hurdles to get there. My advice is to get a FMS consultant in your city to help you with applying for residence permit.

What are property taxes like in Russia? I assume they are based on the value of the house and the size? Any idea how much I should expect to pay on a $200k house outside the Tver city limits? And what kind of extra costs do you have to pay when purchasing a house?

Similarly, how much would annual taxes, registration, etc. run if I bought a new $40k SUV?

Costs like these can vary a lot between US states and I have no idea what to expect in Russia. Are there any surprising expenses I should be aware of? From what I've read, I wouldn't have to pay Russian income taxes since I'm already taxed by the US. Right now the currency exchange rate is quite favorable but that could change. Any insights are appreciated.

[TheInterocitor]

Hello Everyone! I found this forum yesterday and am just considering the possibility of moving to Russia for some years, most likely near Tver. My wife is Russian and I have been there a number of times. I will be retiring before long so I wouldn't be looking for a job there. Just want to get more info to see if it's a good idea or not. I'm sure there's a lot of downsides I haven't considered.

I've been reading a number of the threads trying to get a better understanding of how people feel about living there. I'm really glad I found this place because there's a lot of information I doubt is available anywhere else.

First thing to do is go to my ebay page and buy "Learn Russian in 30 days"...

They're selling like hotcakes. Really, I am selling 2x as many as last year, and I have 2 left, I think. I thought I had 20 of them, but there was a weird printing error - they printed pages 64-96 twice, and omitted pp. 96-128...

PM me, and I'll give you a link to download my old Russian vocabulary building tool. Audio was by Russian teacher (native Muscovite). May be that is regional accent? I don't know.

Wherever you go on this increasingly strange and increasingly familiar, planet, Vaya con Dios, and Счастливого пути!

[Freud]

First thing to do is go to my ebay page and buy "Learn Russian in 30 days"...

They're selling like hotcakes. Really, I am selling 2x as many as last year, and I have 2 left, I think. I thought I had 20 of them, but there was a weird printing error - they printed pages 64-96 twice, and omitted pp. 96-128...

PM me, and I'll give you a link to download my old Russian vocabulary building tool. Audio was by Russian teacher (native Muscovite). May be that is regional accent? I don't know.

Wherever you go on this increasingly strange and increasingly familiar, planet, Vaya con Dios, and Счастливого пути!

I've already been studying duolingo every day for over 3 years. I know quite a few words but my old brain is too slow to understand a Russian talking at a regular conversational rate.

[bydand]

I live in Kashin, Tverskaya oblast, 145 km from Tver. Property taxes are based on value, I'm not sure how much because (good news) pensioners don't have to pay taxes on their home. A second property, you probably would pay taxes. Anyway, if you have to pay, its not a lot. Pensioner age I think now is 62 for women and 65 for men, ages used to be younger, but creeping up. We have a 2019 Subaru Forester and pay about 5-6k rubles a year for taxes, registration is negligible (I don't know).

If you don't mind my asking, where are you from and what will you be retiring from?

[Freud]

I live in Kashin, Tverskaya oblast, 145 km from Tver. Property taxes are based on value, I'm not sure how much because (good news) pensioners don't have to pay taxes on their home. A second property, you probably would pay taxes. Anyway, if you have to pay, its not a lot. Pensioner age I think now is 62 for women and 65 for men, ages used to be younger, but creeping up. We have a 2019 Subaru Forester and pay about 5-6k rubles a year for taxes, registration is negligible (I don't know).

If you don't mind my asking, where are you from and what will you be retiring from?

That's good news! I was afraid that taxes might be considerably higher than that. We have a 2107 but we would need something better if we decided to live there. We've driven to Kashin some years ago. I believe that's where the peeing boy statue is.

I'm retiring from the gov and I've lived mostly in the Southeastern US so I haven't lived much in colder climates.

[Remington]

That's good news! I was afraid that taxes might be considerably higher than that. We have a 2107 but we would need something better if we decided to live there. We've driven to Kashin some years ago. I believe that's where the peeing boy statue is.

I'm retiring from the gov and I've lived mostly in the Southeastern US so I haven't lived much in colder climates.

The question is do you like extreme cold weather? Cold weather near Tver is nothing as compared to what you experienced in US.

If you don't like extreme cold, you may want to consider moving further south to Krasnodar or Rostov as winter is more mild there.

[TheInterocitor]

I've already been studying duolingo every day for over 3 years. I know quite a few words but my old brain is too slow to understand a Russian talking at a regular conversational rate.

After getting in conversation, the other person assumes I am fluent, so I usually say, "Please speak more slowly. I am not Russian."

I try to remember my own advice when I am speaking with foreigners around here, without appearing condescending...

[americaninmoscow]

I live in Kashin, Tverskaya oblast, 145 km from Tver. Property taxes are based on value, I'm not sure how much because (good news) pensioners don't have to pay taxes on their home. A second property, you probably would pay taxes. Anyway, if you have to pay, its not a lot. Pensioner age I think now is 62 for women and 65 for men, ages used to be younger, but creeping up. We have a 2019 Subaru Forester and pay about 5-6k rubles a year for taxes, registration is negligible (I don't know).

If you don't mind my asking, where are you from and what will you be retiring from?

So, how is the electricity and do you have running water? An outhouse or an indoor toilet? How are the roads?

From my experience, which is narrow and deep, roads, from rich to poor neighborhoods, are usually pretty bad, mostly because the neighbors don't want to pay because they can't agree or are afraid someone will steal the money. But also, because snow covers up most problems 7 months out of the year.

When I was in deep siberia, I've stayed in russian villages, and they were very poor. No running water, no indoor toilets. You learn to poop very quickly when it's cold outside. But, the people had decent electricity and flat screens on the wall.

At my dacha, I just think of it more as an off-grid cabin. I have a wood burner and electric oil heater. An electric stove and a gas powered one, and the top of the wood burner. I have a well and an outhouse. I have a plastic tub that holds water and heats it up with a built in spigot. It's simple but it works.

The electricity works most of the time, but not always. I do have super cheap fast internet though.

[americaninmoscow]

That's good news! I was afraid that taxes might be considerably higher than that. We have a 2107 but we would need something better if we decided to live there. We've driven to Kashin some years ago. I believe that's where the peeing boy statue is.

I'm retiring from the gov and I've lived mostly in the Southeastern US so I haven't lived much in colder climates.

200k usd = 15 mn rub.

That's a crap ton of house. I doubt you will find what u are looking for, since most houses are considerably different than those found in america and the idea of land size is quite different.

Also, the thing is, russians are collectivists by nature, so you never find a singular home. They always come in clusters.

Here is a quick look-

https://tver.cian.ru/cat.php?currenc...&region=176083

[Freud]

The question is do you like extreme cold weather? Cold weather near Tver is nothing as compared to what you experienced in US.

If you don't like extreme cold, you may want to consider moving further south to Krasnodar or Rostov as winter is more mild there.

I like cold but my wife thinks I might not like it as much once I have lived with it for some time. And maybe she's right. But I definitely hate summer in the village because the biting flies are horrible.

My big disappointment with Tver is that I don't think it has enough snow to ride a snowmobile much. I think I would have to get an ATV. But no big deal.

[Freud]

After getting in conversation, the other person assumes I am fluent, so I usually say, "Please speak more slowly. I am not Russian."

I try to remember my own advice when I am speaking with foreigners around here, without appearing condescending...

It'll be a while before I will understand anything much. But hopefully I would start to pick up on it once fully immersed.

[Freud]

So, how is the electricity and do you have running water? An outhouse or an indoor toilet? How are the roads?

From my experience, which is narrow and deep, roads, from rich to poor neighborhoods, are usually pretty bad, mostly because the neighbors don't want to pay because they can't agree or are afraid someone will steal the money. But also, because snow covers up most problems 7 months out of the year.

When I was in deep siberia, I've stayed in russian villages, and they were very poor. No running water, no indoor toilets. You learn to poop very quickly when it's cold outside. But, the people had decent electricity and flat screens on the wall.

At my dacha, I just think of it more as an off-grid cabin. I have a wood burner and electric oil heater. An electric stove and a gas powered one, and the top of the wood burner. I have a well and an outhouse. I have a plastic tub that holds water and heats it up with a built in spigot. It's simple but it works.

The electricity works most of the time, but not always. I do have super cheap fast internet though.

We added water and septic to my mother-in-law's house. At first she was worried it might "rot the house" but now she likes it. She even has a clothes washer now.

200k usd = 15 mn rub.

That's a crap ton of house. I doubt you will find what u are looking for, since most houses are considerably different than those found in america and the idea of land size is quite different.

Also, the thing is, russians are collectivists by nature, so you never find a singular home. They always come in clusters.

Here is a quick look-

https://tver.cian.ru/cat.php?currenc...&region=176083

We have found some nice houses on avito.ru. Here's an example:

https://www.avito.ru/tver/doma_dachi...ot._2120271726

[americaninmoscow]

That's a pretty nice place, but I will tell u what I saw.

Big empty rooms. And a lack of real pics. The facade looks great, I mean, the inside looks a lot like a city apartment. And the outside is brick. Nice. But Where are the real pics? The ones with the technical room? Does it have a septic tank? Which kind? I see the well, but where are the pumps and what about the inside pumps/pressurizer? The heating tanks? What about a wood stove? And electricity? And insulation? That garage door looks cool, but man, would it be cold at -30 and I wonder if the door would even work. Etc.

The thing is, I never realized how many components go into off grid type living until I had to learn. Living in the city is easy, turn on water, flush toilet, and the heat? Well, it's mostly free. But to recreate all of that in the forrest? Hard and you have to master it, cuz who are you going to call when your inside water pump goes out? Or doesnt stop leveling off, etc.

I didn't see it, cuz I didn't look too hard, but is this a live in year round house? I've noticed they have three classifications, which mostly have to do with insulation and sound and durability. Summer living only, occasional winter use and year round living.