It is customary to call things or situations incomprehensible to the mind mystical, otherworldly. But are there mystical cases when selling apartments, we asked the members Association of Realtors of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region.

They sprinkled holy water on the walls to sell ...

An interesting story from her own practice was told to our correspondent by Lidia Butareva, a specialist in the secondary real estate department at the Magazin Kvartir real estate agency.

- I had a mystical room in a communal apartment. Former hostel. Ordinary, nothing special. The condition of the apartment is satisfactory. Neighbors are decent. The price is slightly lower than the market price (the client was sympathetic to my arguments about the pricing policy in relation to our object), the realtor began the story.

According to her, there was no end to the calls, and every evening they, together with the client, showed this room. That's just the purchase in a strange way, no one agreed. Some referred to what, but there were no objective reasons.

“Everyone looks and leaves without explaining the reasons,” the interlocutor continues. - Somewhere in a month, at the next viewing, one of the neighbors opposite hinted that she would like to buy this room. I decided that here it is, happiness - a buyer has been found.

But, as it turned out, the joy was premature. After talking with a neighbor, the realtor realized that buying a room is only her desire, but she has no opportunities. The neighbor also left the topic of the purchase.

- And so our ordeals began ... We sold the room with varying success and with a break for the New Year holidays for almost 8 months! I have already made friends with all the neighbors, not only in this apartment, but also in neighboring communal apartments (everyone knows each other for a long time there). And I want to say that we had to sell the room with an alternative purchase. And so, all the time while we were showing the room, there was no decent counter option (the apartment was supposed to be bought using credit money for the elderly parents of my client). And then one day I found a wonderful apartment. We even went to have a look. My client stood in the apartment and cried, how she liked everything and was satisfied ... only the room is not for sale in any way ...

Lidia Butareva persuaded the agent representing the apartment she liked not to show her for two days. The girls left the house and in the evening at the entrance they were thinking how to sell the ill-fated room. And then a thought came...

- I suggested that she go to church and sprinkle the room with holy water. And so she did. I'm taking calls again. I'm making an appointment for an evening viewing. Three persons. The viewing went as usual: no one has any emotions ... And suddenly, after 20 minutes, one of the customers calls and announces that she is taking a room! I didn't believe my ears. And then everything went like clockwork. As a result, we bought exactly the apartment that we really liked,” the expert summed up.

On the eve of the sale, the deceased owner of the apartment dreamed

This is far from the only story when people, when selling apartments, turn to the church for help. Another story was told by a reader of our portal Valentina E.

- My husband and I moved to St. Petersburg from another city. We didn’t have money for a full-fledged apartment. They chose from two options: either a room in a communal apartment, or a share in an apartment. We ended up buying a share. And we immediately realized: it would be better if we did not do this.

The apartment belonged to one grandmother. The old woman lived alone, after her death she did not leave a will. And, as usual, the apartment went to her son and daughter in half. The man did not give his share to his sister, but sold it to a married couple - Valentina and Igor E.

- The apartment was two-room. The seller's sister and son lived in one room, my husband and I lived in another. With what scandal we bought a refrigerator! Olga (a neighbor) fell flat on the floor - they say, our things will not be in her kitchen. They fought every day. Six months later, there was talk of selling the apartment. By that time, my husband and I dreamed of getting rid of this housing. But everything turned out to be not so simple ...

The apartment was not sold for a long time. Neighbors who hated each other lived under the same roof for almost a year. What was the matter is still unclear. According to realtors, the price was adequate. There were also buyers. But on the eve of viewings of housing with clients, something unforeseen always happened.

- The doorbell rings - they came to look at the apartment, and we have a flood! Upstairs neighbors flooded. They are not at home. I sit crying, my husband runs with buckets, water flows along the walls, the wallpaper falls off. What kind of viewing is this? The second case was: in the evening, the day before the viewing, I don’t know how, the neighbor’s son broke the mug on the battery and broke through it. We didn't even notice. The neighbors from below have come: you flood us. Let's see, exactly. The next morning, the emergency number was called...

As a result, after many months of ordeals, a buyer was found.

- They were very happy. Prayed that the deal would not fall through. And on the night before the meeting at the bank, I dream of the deceased owner of the apartment. She takes me around the rooms and tells me how and what was here when she was there. Where was the sofa, where was the TV, how she baked pies in this kitchen. And then he looks into my eyes and asks me to put a candle for her repose. Well, there is nothing to do, first thing in the morning I ran to the nearest church to light a candle, then to the bank. The deal went through, we moved into a new home. We rejoice, - finished the story Valentina E.

Mystical Vasilyevsky Island

Lidia Butareva says that she is currently selling one of these mysterious apartments on Vasilyevsky Island:

- Now I have a mystical three-room apartment on Vasilyevsky for sale. From the metro - 5-7 minutes on foot. The apartment is not communal. Repair done. Market price, even slightly lower. We show the apartment 2 times a week, 4-5 people per view. Selling since August last year! Almost everyone comes out and says that the apartment is interesting, they liked it, but they leave and buy other objects. We have already experimented here too: the church, candles ... does not help. I'm still trying to solve the mystery! Well, it happens! And to the old woman, as they say ...

Alternative view: not mysticism, but affection

An alternative opinion was expressed by Rudolf Popenker, a real estate expert at Advex on Lanskoy:

- I did not observe any mysticism, but in many cases, sellers get used to their housing so much that it is not possible to leave. A couple of times I solved the problem in an alternative way: keeping the old, “native” housing, they bought something else nearby for the grown family.

Do you think it's you Choose an apartment? Not at all! The apartment chooses you! The paradoxical nature of this statement seems to be immediately evident. But let's understand a little.

Let me ask: "What affects a person's life?" "Yes, a lot of things!" - you will answer. And it will be right.

But which of them is the strongest? Obviously, you will name upbringing and education, happy or unhappy meetings, and, in general, success or failure in life.

This is true! It remains only to ask: "What determines these meetings, what determines the luck of a person?"

This is where the solution of our mystery begins! The world is arranged in such a way that the most basic, the most important influences on human life do not lie on the surface. What we see is only an external manifestation of some underlying causes. How can one see the influence of fate on a person's life? (Note that we are not talking about fatality, but only about certain predetermined influences). How can one see these influences? Only according to ongoing events, only according to what lies on the surface.

And here comes the key question! And how are these fateful influences formed? What creates precisely such a desired character of their impact?

The answer is both simple and complex at the same time: The place of residence is often an instrument in the hands of a person's fate! "How? - you ask, is my house, my apartment - this is my destiny?"

Exactly, exactly like that! The place where you live is the energy that has an absolutely precise effect on you, which leads to the necessary development of your life. It kind of sets you up to take certain actions.

Here, some of you may be indignant: "But what about free will? Freedom of aspirations? And in general, after all, a person is the creator of his own destiny!" within the framework of what is released to him from Above! (Let's not specify yet who is from Above - let this be a separate topic of conversation).

Who will argue that these frameworks exist? Is it really "every cook can run the state"? Any reasonable person will agree that everyone has different abilities and different opportunities in terms of self-realization. Someone becomes Mozart, and someone is happy in his garden. Someone becomes a businessman, and someone a plumber.

This is quite understandable. But, you must admit that businessmen are different. One earns a thousand dollars a month, and the other a million! Yes, and among plumbers, there are also wealthy and empty wallets.

So what's the matter? Here we got to the most important thing! No matter how the course of fate is predetermined, it always has the freedom to use either the maximum of what is released, or the minimum. Let's say, if you are destined to be a rich person, then you can have an income of ten thousand dollars, but, using all the opportunities allotted to you, you can have a million.

That's where the dog is buried! For some reason, one, no matter how puffed up he is, remains at his low level, while the other, no matter what he undertakes, succeeds everywhere.

Once again I want to repeat: "The place where you live is energy. And it is exactly the one that is needed for life to flow in a channel determined by fate."

If you think about it, you can understand the opposite statement: "In order for life to flow in a specific fateful direction, a person moves into a very specific apartment." That is, without knowing it, being on the threshold of a new stage in his life, a person changes his apartment. At the same time, he finds himself in the energy that affects him in a new way and changes his life.

Don't you now understand what role an apartment plays in people's lives?

A few years ago, when the importance of this issue became obvious to me, I was shocked! An apartment is a tool in the hands of a person's destiny! There was something to fall into prostration. However, over time, everything fit in my head and fell into place. Yes, of course, in order to have a strong influence on a person, strong means are needed. Moreover, these funds cannot be short-term. They must be permanent. And that's exactly how the place where we live works. Long and powerful!

The thoughtful reader, probably, has already guessed that, of course, we are talking not only about the apartment. We are talking about any place where you spend a lot of time. First of all, it is, of course, the place where you live, whether it is an apartment or your own house. Secondly, this is the place where you work, your office, your office. And in the third - this is the place of your rest, cottage or country house.

Everyone always gets what is due to him at this stage of life!

And now your other question is quite appropriate: Is it possible to change something? I will answer: yes, you can. But the level of these changes is always up to you!

If you can buy a sweater on impulse, then when it comes to buying real estate (a house or an apartment), the choice requires calm reflection.

If you can buy a sweater on impulse, then when it comes to buying real estate (a house or an apartment), the choice requires calm reflection. However, calculations on prices, area in square meters and the favorable location of a house or apartment can easily go to waste due to inexplicable unconscious reactions.

A study published in the American journal Advertising Research proves that emotions are twice as important when making a decision as knowing the consumer qualities of an apartment or house. Smells, sounds, the view from the window, the layout and even the color of the walls can push you to buy or, on the contrary, make you refuse it.

Associations

A simple example. The buyer came to see the apartment, and its layout was one to one, like in the apartment of an unloved chemistry teacher in the 10th grade, where he had to go to additional lessons. It would seem that many years have passed, but associations still cause negative feelings.

Naturally, the owner of the apartment wants to feel an emotional connection with the place where he lives. Such a connection is an important factor for psychological comfort, it is easier to keep the house in order, make repairs and equip the room.

However, when choosing a future home, you should not go only into inner feelings and forget about logic, since you can not only lose a good apartment due to troubles 20 years ago, but also, say, conclude a frankly unsuccessful deal.

In the state of "loving" a potential property, the buyer often unconsciously ignores completely objective things. For example, if the house is very similar to the one in which the beloved grandmother lived, a person may brush off the obvious smell of mold, deciding that "you just need to ventilate a little."

Representations and dreams

Often a person chooses a house or apartment not in terms of practicality, but based on how he sees himself and how he wants to appear to others.

Sometimes, this approach is fraught with mistakes: does it make sense to buy a tiny apartment in a noisy city center just because such housing will emphasize the image of an urban hipster, while living in a quiet suburb would be much more desirable.

Another factor is the so-called psychological investment in a trade. The buyer chooses an apartment and unconsciously thinks about whether he will make friends with the neighbors, whether the children will get along on the playground, how friends will come to visit. Expectations, fears, the desire to occupy a certain social status, join a certain circle of people - these factors also affect the choice of a house or apartment, although the buyer is not always aware of this.

External factors

Billboards, newspapers and other advertisements certainly play an important role in shaping the internal image. The names of brands or projects that come to mind in the first place, the buyer unconsciously evaluates as positive. The thinking pattern is this: since the company spends a lot of money on advertising, the project must be profitable, so it must be good. This is usually not the case...

How not to become a victim of emotions and make a competent deal

1. It is necessary to clearly articulate your desire. Too wide a choice gives room for unnecessary fantasies. Such a search takes a lot of time, but gives a guaranteed result.

2. It is worth keeping emotions in check and focusing on finding what is really needed.

3. It makes sense to take an outside observer to inspect the property, who will not have to live in it. He will be able to objectively assess the pros and cons of an apartment or house.

Reading time: 1 minute

My wife and I, Lika, have been roaming around rented apartments for ten years and dreamed of buying our own housing.

They worked like hell, saved with all their might. When the required amount was collected, we started looking for housing. We reviewed a thousand options, but none suited us. When we were already completely desperate, I came across an ad in the newspaper. According to the description - just what you need! And the price is fabulous! Much lower than we expected. True, it was indicated that a major overhaul was required. Well, it's not a problem. The cost of the apartment was so low that the remaining money would have been enough for us to repair and buy new furniture.

When we went to the screening, we thought - what's the catch? Housing is almost in the city center, next to a bus stop, close to kindergartens, schools, shops. Maybe the layout is bad? Maybe something is wrong with the documents? But we didn't find the trick. The apartment was sold by a nice woman, she told me what the minuses are - a major overhaul, a change in plumbing, noisy neighbors from below. And he sells cheaply, because he is leaving for permanent residence abroad. We liked the apartment. We shook hands. Made a deal.

My wife and I decided that we would move right away, I don’t care that it was in bare walls, but in our own apartment! Repairs will be done gradually. On the first night, sitting on the floor, my wife and I talked, rejoiced at such a successful deal. Suddenly they heard a cut - as if they were scratching concrete with a nail. We decided that one of the neighbors was rowdy in the middle of the night. Since then, every night we could not sleep peacefully. It felt like we were sleeping on a glacier. The batteries were heated with might and main, the windows were closed, and we were freezing. Through a dream we heard this vile sound - a nail on concrete. They also heard some slaps, as if someone was stomping wet feet. But we did not pay attention to all this, attributing everything to fatigue, worries and noisy neighbors. Still, audibility in bare walls is excellent.

Finally the renovation was completed. It seemed to live and be happy, but every day we felt more and more that something was wrong. Even though I didn't want to admit it, I felt uncomfortable at home. And it's not about the interior, no. As if at the level of intuition. At night, my wife and I all also woke up from the freezing cold. Everything literally fell out of my hands - do not count how many times I was scalded with boiling water, how many times my wife spilled hot oil on herself, how many times we fell. Moreover, everything happened absurdly, as if someone deliberately did so that you hit, burned yourself, killed yourself. In the morning, I noticed more than once how bruises appeared on my body where I definitely didn’t hit.

Then all sorts of problems started. I became the culprit of the accident, "flew" a large amount. Wife laid off at work without explanation. Our passports were stolen, a dog bit me. In addition, I had to spend money on the restoration of documents and expensive injections. And we didn’t “get out” of colds and various sores. Lyuba assumed that the apartment was to blame for everything. As soon as we moved in, that's how it all started. But I thought it was nonsense - how can the apartment be to blame for the troubles? However, the problems continued to grow like a snowball. You can't list everything. Equipment broke down endlessly, animals, even fish, did not take root with us - they died for no apparent reason. But the worst thing is that Lyuba had a miscarriage. After this story, the wife only kept repeating that the apartment was to blame for everything. Lyuba constantly complained that she was afraid to stay at home alone, that she felt someone's presence.

One day Luba woke me up screaming. Through tears and sobs, she said that she woke up from the fact that someone was sitting next to her and looking at her. Lyuba managed to make out a male silhouette. And scary eyes. The ghost leaned towards her, breathing heavily. Lyuba smelled a cadaverous smell. At that moment, she screamed. I reassured my wife as best I could, said that it seemed to her. I continued to drive bad thoughts away from myself until I myself encountered the inexplicable. At night, I got up to go to the toilet, turned on the light, and in the doorway I managed to make out a silhouette that flashed back and forth, as if swaying. And the strangest thing - a cadaverous smell hit my nose. I, a healthy man, became as scared as I had never been before.

We decided to go to the local church to invite the priest to the house. To our surprise, none of the clergy agreed to come to us. Lyuba said that things were definitely unclean here, and that she was no longer going to live in a new apartment. The wife packed her things and went to her mother-in-law. I'd rather go with my wife.

I was tormented by insomnia, I felt in my gut that I was not alone at home. I heard the rattle more and more clearly, the cadaverous smell pursued me. If I managed to fall asleep, then I jumped up either from suffocation or from pain - someone or something definitely decided to drive me crazy. Lyuba begged me to move in with her, but I could not leave the apartment. So many years to go to your goal and leave your home just because someone invisible lives there? From constant fear and anxiety, I began to drink. Alcohol did its job - I was no longer so afraid. And yes, I slept better.

In the evening I went out for another bottle, as nose to nose I ran into a strange grandmother neighbor. She never said hello, never talked to anyone. "What," she said mockingly. - And you this fate to me, did not pass? - "What fate, grandmother, what are you doing?" I said angrily. “But the fact that demons saddled you. The apartment is cursed! - the old woman managed to shout and closed the door behind her. I started knocking on her door and demanded an explanation. She, though reluctantly, told me the history of our housing.

An exemplary family lived in our apartment 20 years ago - dad, mom and two children. It turned out that the father had schizophrenia, and categorically refused to be treated. As a result, the "voices" in his head ordered him to kill his wife and children. Which he did. They forgot about the tragedy, new tenants settled in the apartment. After a while, they also died a terrible death - the head of the family, in a drunken stupor, strangled his wife and baby, and he himself jumped out of the window. For a long time no one lived in the apartment, and if someone settled, he quickly moved out.

The last, most terrible incident occurred five years before our housewarming.
A husband, wife and three children lived here for six months. The man took to drink, caught delirium tremens, hacked his wife and children with an ax, and hung himself in the bathroom. The corpses lay like that until the stench dispersed throughout the entrance. Some relative of the peasant showed up, tried to rent an apartment. But no one wanted to live there because of the smell. I had to remove the walls and floor down to concrete, throw out the furniture, and sell the apartment for next to nothing. The housing was empty for 5 years, but the grandmother heard something going on behind the wall - as if someone was scratching, moving furniture, groaning. The hostess invited the priests many times, but then they refused to come. There were no buyers for the apartment for a long time, but then we appeared. All the neighbors, it turns out, almost made bets on us, how long we would last.

I got goosebumps from her story. I didn't want to go for a bottle. I also packed my things and went to my wife. For the past three years we have not been able to find buyers for the apartment. It's like they don't see her. Those who come to watch quickly retreat under various pretexts. Because of an unsuccessful housewarming party, we still cannot get out of debts and problems. We don't have children either. Neither priests nor psychics can help us. They say that evil has settled here too firmly. But we understood this in our own skin, but we do not lose hope for the best.

Mikhail Makshanov, 36 years old

I am married to a military man and due to his duty we often change our place of residence. This happened in the city of Stavropol more than a year ago. At that time my son was one year and two months old. We rented an apartment from such lovely old people for little, in general, money. The apartment was three-room, but one room was closed with the things of the owners, and we got, respectively, two rooms for use. The apartment was quite old, the renovation was far from the first freshness, but it was possible to live. My child slept in one room, and my husband and I in another.

As I said, my husband is in the military, he leaves early, comes late: business trips, responsible, or in a dress - that is, he often does not spend the night at home. And so, literally a week after the housewarming, I began to notice some oddities. My dishes are in the kitchen, and out of the corner of my eye I notice, as if someone is standing behind me, I turn around - there is no one. But some bad residue remains.

Further more. My husband left for regular exercises, and I was left alone in the apartment with my son. And so, literally on the third night, my child began to wake up several times a night just with a heartbreaking cry, I had never heard him scream like that, even when he was very small and something hurt. Naturally, she came, calmed, and the child fell asleep further.

One evening, tired of running from room to room, she put the child to sleep with her. That night my son woke me up, but, what is most strange, not with a cry, but with a whisper! A one-year-old child - and suddenly in a whisper! "Mom, Mom, Boba!" At first I was half asleep and did not understand what he was muttering there, and then I woke up, rather, from surprise that he was not screaming, but whispering. And, having finally woken up, I heard heavy steps coming from the front door, as if someone had walked along the corridor past my room and entered the room to my son. The springs of the sofa where my son usually sleeps creaked, and then some kind of hissing, or gurgling. This someone got up from the sofa, walked down the corridor, went into the kitchen, and came to the door to my room.

To be honest, only wild fear can explain what I did. I got out of bed, turned to face the door, and literally yelled:

“Get out of here, you won’t dare harm my child, I won’t give it to you!”

After that, a sigh was heard again, and steps were already towards the front door.

I didn't sleep the rest of the night. True, this someone did not bother us anymore, but we still moved out of this apartment, not even a month old, and left the money. And when I gave the keys to the owners, they told me that none of the tenants have been living in this apartment for more than a couple of months, for some reason they are moving out.

I decided to write this creepy story because I just can't figure out what it was? My wild imagination? I don't think I'm a decent adult. Something inexplicable? But what exactly? And most of all I am afraid that this will happen again sometime.