What do Lithuanians choose – do they furnish an apartment themselves or buy one already furnished?

The tradition of renovating or furnishing an apartment yourself is gradually disappearing in Lithuania. More and more Lithuanians looking for a new apartment do not want to worry about finishing – they tend to move into a fully furnished apartment and thus save time. Such trends revealed a survey conducted in May by the real estate advertising portal Domoplius.lt and real estate developer Eika.

 

According to Evaldas Narbuntovičius, project manager of Domoplius.lt, more than half of the survey participants – 53 percent – ​​when looking for a new apartment give priority to offers with full finishing or equipped according to individual needs.

 

“Some of the new residents, in order to save money, take care of the apartment decoration themselves. For a third of the survey participants, this is the most acceptable option. However, for 23 percent of Lithuanians looking for a new apartment, saving time is more important; they have no desire to supervise the workflow, buy decoration materials, or care about the quality of the work performed,” says E. Narbuntovičius.

 

Jolanta Dobradziejienė, the project manager for the development of Eika, notes that the demand for new apartments with full finishing, which are equipped according to the individual wishes of the buyer, is growing. “Last year, 23 percent of buyers chose such apartments in our projects, and their number is growing every year,” says J. Dobradziejienė.

 

According to the survey, more than half of Lithuanians – 60 percent – ​​would also use the “turnkey” service, when the builder equips the house according to the client’s wishes and provides a guarantee for the finish. The representative of “Eika” states that the main advantages of this service are time savings, a guarantee for the work performed, and almost half the initial capital.

 

Takes out loans to purchase housing

 

The survey also revealed another trend – a larger proportion of Lithuanians would take out a loan to purchase an apartment, but would furnish the apartment themselves. About 33 percent of respondents would borrow from a bank to purchase a home, but would pay for the decoration of the apartment with their own funds.

 

“If the buyer does not have enough own funds to furnish the apartment, it would be more relevant for him to purchase a fully furnished apartment, the finishing of which would not require his own funds. This is especially relevant for families with children, young buyers who have not yet accumulated enough funds to cover both the initial deposit and the finishing of the apartment, since banks finance no more than 85 percent of the required loan amount,” says E. Narbuntovičius.

 

Virginijus Doveika, Deputy President and Director of Retail Banking at SEB Bank, states that residents interested in financing and intending to buy a partially finished home usually come to the bank after assessing whether they will be able to furnish the home with their own funds or whether they intend to borrow.

 

“The bank, together with the client who intends to take out a loan, discusses during the first meeting what funds will be used to equip the housing, and, depending on the person’s capabilities, offers the most suitable financing solution,” says V. Doveika.

 

According to him, in cases where a person decides to borrow for both the purchase of a home and its installation, the bank provides one loan, but it is divided into two parts. In this case, the loan amount for the installation is disbursed only after the completion of the finishing work.

 

According to the survey, about 30 percent of young people aged 25-35 would buy an apartment with their own funds. Meanwhile, older people are less inclined to commit to a bank. 51 percent of people aged 36-45 and 63 percent of people over 45 would buy an apartment with their own funds.

 

Finishing – up to 40 thousand litas

 

The survey participants were asked how much they would pay for the decoration of a new 2-room apartment with an area of ​​50 sq. meters. Most of them – almost 30 percent – ​​would spend from 25 to 40 thousand litas on decoration. However, the representative of “Eika” notes that very often new residents spend more on decoration than they planned. According to her, buyers over 45 years of age spend the most money on the decoration of housing.

 

“When you see a huge selection of finishing details or meet a designer who offers interesting interior solutions, it is natural that your desires grow and the budget for finishing increases,” says an Eika representative.