Lithuanians’ attitude towards purchasing a fully furnished home is changing – In the future, more and more such apartments will be sold. Real estate experts are convinced of this. According to them, when purchasing a home in Lithuania, not only financial costs are increasingly taken into account, but also the time spent. – buyers evaluate whether to do the finishing themselves or buy an already furnished apartment?
Taking into account changing consumer needs, the real estate development company “Eika” is currently building a house in the Pilaitė microdistrict of the capital, where all 64 apartments are sold only with full finishing. This means that buyers will purchase an apartment with walls, ceilings, floors, as well as installed lighting, switches, bathroom and toilet equipment, and if the settlers wish, it will be possible to install a kitchen with furniture and household appliances.
Each buyer will be able to choose from 3 different levels of overall finish, each of which offers several choices of floors, walls, tiles, and kitchen furniture – theoretically, as many as 240 different interior solutions are possible.
While the house is being built, virtual reality equipment will help the client choose the most suitable finishing combination, allowing them not only to see what the apartment will look like with specific kitchen furniture or selected tiles used in reality, but also to “walk” around the apartment, feeling the features of its layout and space.
During the inspection, the client will know exactly not only their choice of materials, but also the price of the selected combination. The latter will be competitive and, depending on the choice of finishing elements, will range from 199 to 359 EUR per square meter. The finishing will be provided with a 2-year warranty.
“We have been selling fully furnished apartments for several years now and we notice that the demand for them is growing. For some customers, this is more financially attractive, because purchasing a fully furnished apartment requires half the savings – the cost of furnishing the apartment is covered by a housing loan. This is especially relevant for buyers of economy-class housing,” says M. Žibūda, Development Director of Eika.
Unlike before, all apartments in the Pilaitė building will be equipped at the same time. This means that residents will not encounter noise from the installation of neighboring apartments or construction dust in the stairwells from the first day they move in.
Sold twice as much with full trim
According to Eika, in the first 10 months of this year, the company sold twice as many fully furnished apartments as last year. In 2016, this accounted for about 10 percent of all sales, while this year this number may reach about a quarter.
According to M. Žibūda, in no neighboring country is housing with partial finishing as popular as in Lithuania.
“One of the main reasons is the established tradition that housing is an expression of the owner’s individuality. We personalize housing very much, we accept it as a means of self-expression, while in other countries people create individuality with the help of furniture and other interior items. In addition, many tend to think that by doing the finishing themselves, they save money, but they often forget to properly assess the time and effort spent on these works,” says the development manager of Eika.