Author: Maria Khomenko
Buyer’s Perspective
Demand for village housing has surged sharply:
- There are countless internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the country looking for new homes.
- Residents of big cities want a backup place to live in case of communal collapse after massive attacks.
- TikTokers and Instagram bloggers fuel the trend of romanticizing village life (“all remote workers, off to the countryside!”).
Naturally, amid this rising demand, sellers try to get rid of everything that has been sitting unsold — and set absurdly high prices. And if a more or less decent house appears for sale in a location that isn’t in the middle of nowhere, it gets bought quickly.
At the moment, the buyer risks purchasing a “trap house” or an “abyss house.” By a “trap,” I mean a home with critical defects that cannot be fixed even with major renovation investments. An “abyss” might be an unfinished structure, the so‑called “box,” or a house left without care for several years. No matter how much money or effort you pour into such a property, it won’t show — and the total investment will exceed the purchase price many times over.
What happens to a house when no one lives in it? It inevitably decays. Even one or two years without heating or maintenance is already bad, not to mention longer periods. I have a clear example before my eyes — my mother’s neighbors’ house. After the grandfather passed away, the property stood abandoned for nearly ten years. Then they decided to repair it. Every warm season, they hire workers who do something there. But in winter, while no one lives in it, destruction continues. The pace of summer repairs can’t outmatch winter damage… This has been going on for five years now. And I think: God forbid anyone ends up buying such a house.
Village houses are now actively purchased by owners of certificates for destroyed housing. If you look into the details (and I did), the state compensation program for people who lost homes due to the war (“eRecovery”) is quite good. The risks are well considered, and guarantees are ensured for both sides: the buyer and the seller. But it still has its “bottlenecks.” The main one is timing: once the funds arrive in the buyer’s account, they have only 30 days to select a house and complete the entire purchase agreement. Meanwhile, the waiting time for the funds themselves is undefined.
What happens in practice? Let me share a real story.
A family from Donetsk region is currently living temporarily in Lviv region. But for several reasons (mainly prices), they want to buy a house in Central Ukraine. They gradually explore options. Sometimes they like one house, then another. But the compensation money still hasn’t arrived. The queue seems to be moving but never reaches them. Houses get sold, the family feels sad because they already imagined some of them as their possible new home… And they still need to travel to see houses in person. The road is long. They might need to inspect several houses. Time is limited. They will essentially have to make the purchase decision under pressure. This increases the risk of buying a “trap house,” or running into document issues, seller problems, or something else…
Seller’s Perspective
As soon as word spreads that someone in the village is selling a house, the first to react are fellow villagers. If the property is decent, someone will surely try to buy it for next to nothing. Sellers may be in difficult life circumstances — emotional burden, stress, grief — which clouds judgment and makes them vulnerable to impulsive decisions. Psychological pressure begins. Someone will point out numerous flaws, claiming that the neighbor sold a better house for pennies, so you should sell yours for even less…
Then, like a flock of vultures, realtors swoop in. And what do they offer? For a hefty fee, they provide a nice-looking but empty “wrapper.” Their services include posting ads on OLX, spreading them across other platforms, so‑called consultations, and so‑called legal support. The seller must show the house to potential buyers themselves — “because fuel is so expensive right now”… Negotiations also fall entirely on the seller.
But honestly, can’t a seller post an ad on OLX themselves? As for distribution, other online platforms automatically pick up listings (self‑distribution). As for consultations and support, in the digital age almost everything needed is available online (property evaluation, registries, etc.). The only real need for outside expertise is complex legal matters — but a self‑taught realtor certainly won’t resolve those.
Moreover, a village house is always a nonstandard object with many nuances. A realtor must know the local infrastructure inside out — roads, neighboring villages, rivers, ponds, forests. Buyers ask about transportation options to nearby towns, the range of goods in the local store, whether the medical point works, and what’s arranged for schooling if there is no school in the village.
The logic behind village house pricing among realtors is also “interesting.” They set the price slightly below average market value. Why? Because the realtor’s commission is about $1000. If the property sells quickly — within a month — that’s fine. But if the sale drags on? Then that thousand won’t look like much. Therefore, realtors are directly interested in selling fast. And selling fast usually means selling cheap. No one wants to complicate their life.
Both buyers and sellers are inevitably exposed to scammers of all kinds. Unfortunately, adventures are unavoidable… And whether it will all end with a happy ending — who knows.
