On September 18, I was lucky enough to win an online auction and bought a flat in Vilgāle village. It took a few more months before all legal procedures were done and I had the entry in the Land Registry before I was able to proceed.
I first saw this flat about a week ago, when I got the keys from the previous landlady (ut turns out there haven't lived anybody for the last 27 years). There is no electricity and no water (yet). I have started procedures to have them both. Today I had a meeting with an electrician, and after our meeting I made these photos, just to document the history.
Living room
There are still some belongings left from the previous owners. Interior feels like from the 70-ties
Living room
It is said in that cardboard box there is a "new" TV box.
Bedroom
We are going to look to tear down some walls and unite this bedroom with the kitchen
Bedroom
The previous owner told me that this closet cost RUB 400
Kitchen
Can't wait to drink a cold beer here (on the floor there are bottles back from 1993, empty, unfortunately)
Kitchen
During Soviet times, there was a gas
Hallway
Can you imagine hardwood flooring and elegant tiles here?
Place called bathroom
I hope we will be able to tear down some walls and combine the bathroom with WC
WC
For some reason, Soviets just didn't like toilets and made them narrow, unpleasant places
Today I talked to the local architect bureau and they said they could make all paperwork for permissions of tearing down walls for about EUR 650, also I'm in contact with the plumber and electrician guys.
Overall it looks like we will need to invest an additional EUR 20,000-30.000 to make this place enjoyable. This probably is not worth the money, as we are not actually planning to live here permanently.. With an extra 20-30K, I could make enough money in the stock market to rent a holiday house once a year in places like Crete with ease.
Next steps - electricty, plumbing, permissions for tearing down walls, actually tearing down some walls, replacing windows, central heating.