My sister and I will be returning to Riga August 18 - Sept 4. She is an artist who will be in a public art exposition in Riga at that time. We’re looking for a small, not expensive, place with a kitchen, internet, within walking distance of Veciriga or Art Nouveau district.
Paldies!
]]>I will write this in english so that everyone can understand. This is a very important message if one plans to rent an apartment in Riga long or short term.
I am of Latvian descent, speak, read and write Latvian. I planned on living in Riga for about two years. I made a number of trips before moving and ran into some minor problems every once in awhile - some theft, etc., part of which included getting to know some of the wrong people. Despite the loss of a camera and a few thousand dollars, I was determined to move to Riga. I simply thought that I would avoid the mistakes of the past. Little did I know, but renting an apt. can lead to a big mistake and I will advise how to avoid my mishap.
I found an apt. on one of the apartment/realestate services online. I contacted the firm and the specific agent and notified them of my arrival. The firm that I used appeared highly professional - “Rigas Kore”.
I met the agent and one of the landlord at the apt. which was on the 4th floor of 3 Biskapa Gate. The apartment overlooked the Daugava - what could be more beautiful. So, I signed the lease, paid the 700euro first month’s rental, 700e security deposit and 700e real estate agnet’s fee to Rigas Kore.
The apt. had metal doors with a double lock and the exterior door had a coded entrance. I felt perfectly safe.
Within 3 weeks, I (& a friend from America who was visiting and staying in the 2nd bedroom) were robbed in the middle of the night. We only realized that we were robbed the next morning because the juice in the fridge had been drugged and we both could not react when the crime was taking place.
I will not get into the gory details, but the theft was committed by associates of the landlord. How do I know this - because the landlord, during a discussion following the theft made a call in Russian. He told me that he could get my laptop back from the police (none of the landlord’s tv, stereo equipment had been stolen). He did not know that I had just come from the police and talked to the investigator (b/c I needed to get a new passport). The police had recovered nothing.
One of the more upsetting aspects of the story was that the real estate agent sided with the landlord - accusing me of bringing prostitutes to the apartment and being drugged by them - what a wild little story. Rigas Kore and its manager, Gatis Mikelsons, (who is now at City Real Estate in Riga) refused to refund any of my agency fee.
The craziest aspect of this, however, was that they continued to advertise the apt. and found a new foreigner to rent the apartment within two weeks. Rigas Kore collected another 700 euro+. They knew what had happened in the apt and had no qualms about renting it to other people - they simply want to earn their fee.
When Gatis Mikelsons went to the new agency of City Real Estate, he continued to advertise this same apartment despite my discussions with him about the theft.
In discussing this incident at the US Embassy, I was told that this type of scam occurs with some frequency.
The best way to avoid this is to change the locks of the apartment once you move in. That way, neither the landlord, the real estate agent, nor any third party has a key. The break-in had been done with a key to the apt - no physical destruction. In any event, I urge people to avoid using Rigas Kore and Gatis Mikelsons.
Good luck to all who are visiting. Unfortunately, I ran into some bad Latvians and Russians. Unfortunately, I do not know how to ensure that you get an ethical real estate broker. Mine seemed honest and the agency seemed totally legitimate. But - a firm is not legitimate if they rent apartments with full knowledge that it is simply a scam where the landlord robs the tenants and they continually earn agency fees off of the victims.
VInde
:angry: