Omsk family buys spacious new apartment through exchange
The Tselikh family lives in a small one-room apartment in the Chkalovsky microdistrict. Anastasia is an epidemiologist on maternity leave, Dmitry works at a bank. Their daughter Yesenia is two years old, and soon another baby will join the family.
The three of them are cramped in one room, and the couple has long been thinking about moving. When the family found out they would have another child, they started actively looking for a larger apartment. Through Brusnika«s exchange program, the couple swapped their old apartment for a new one in the Draverta Quarters. Moreover, they didn»t even have to move—they stayed in the old apartment until the new building is completed. We spoke with Dmitry and Anastasia to learn the details.
Living Without an Elevator: A Family«s Daily Struggle
Chkalovsky is a classic residential district on the right bank of Omsk. The family«s old apartment is on the second floor of a panel five-story building. There is one entrance, of the corridor type, with no elevator or stroller room—this complicates life with a small child.
Every walk with their daughter requires effort: the stroller needs to be folded, carried downstairs, unfolded, then they go back up for the child and come down together. It«s hard for Anastasia to manage this alone, especially during pregnancy, so she and Yesenia go out less often than they»d like.
«It»s difficult without help, so either I wait for my husband to come home from work to go for a walk, or I ask the neighbors,« Anastasia shared the problem.
The yard has literally nothing: no playground, no sports facilities, no resting areas. A wasteland filled with cars, iron garages, and garbage bins. There«s nowhere to walk, so the family goes to neighboring yards or drives to the nearby 30th Anniversary of the Komsomol Park of Culture and Recreation.
«What do I remember from my childhood? Exactly the same panel houses, scribbled walls in the entrance, the same garbage dump in the middle of the yard. No landscaping at all! I want our children to grow up in beauty and cleanliness,» the woman says.
The family«s old apartment is a one-room, 32 m² (344 sq ft). The layout is standard: kitchen, living room, and a tiny bathroom. It»s already cramped for three: no personal space, no place for privacy. What they liked most about the apartment was that it was their own, not rented. This allowed the couple to do renovations, thorough and exactly as they wanted.
«We put our soul into this apartment! We came up with and did everything ourselves, didn»t hire a designer. We still really like it here,« the woman said. »But we«re already running out of space.»
The apartment has no balcony, and one is very needed: even two or three square meters could be turned into additional storage space, with shelves and cabinets. The bathroom is very tiny, with room only for a toilet and shower tray, but they want the children to bathe in a tub. There was only space for the washing machine in the kitchen, but now there«s no place for a dishwasher.
Despite all the drawbacks, the couple feels warmth for this apartment, as their family story began here. However, from the start of their life together, they saw it as temporary housing and thought about expanding. After the joyful news of a second child, the couple started looking for options for comfortable living for the whole family.
«We Didn»t Even Consider Brusnika—Thought It Was Too Expensive«
When searching for housing, the family focused on several criteria:
area from 50 m² (538 sq ft);
new construction;
safety for living with children: a yard without cars, video surveillance;
comfort for living with children: elevator and stroller room in the entrance, a well-maintained yard with a playground;
price around 10 million rubles (approximately $111,100 at current rates).
Anastasia and Dmitry already knew about Brusnika—their friends lived near the Draverta Quarters and enthusiastically talked about the project. However, the couple didn«t expect they could afford an apartment in Brusnika—they thought it was premium housing only for very wealthy people.
«Brusnika does everything with care. Even the construction fence—they could have put up a regular, metal one, but theirs is beautiful! If they pay such attention to things that could be done simpler, then they approach more important matters with even greater responsibility,» the couple said.
The first serious candidate was a house outside the city. Spacious, almost 100 m² (1,076 sq ft), with its own yard, surrounded by nature—forests, fields, fresh air. The territory is well-maintained, with everything for residents: playground and sports facilities, a football field, and even a pool. But during discussions, it became clear that despite all the pluses, the suburban lifestyle has its minuses.
«I thought about how comfortable it would be for me to manage household chores and children alone, since Dmitry is at work almost all the time. In a house, there are household issues that simply don»t arise in an apartment—for example, the need to clear snow in winter or a backup generator in case of power outages. If living outside the city, you need a second car—all the clubs and developmental activities are in the city, and the bus stop is far, transport runs rarely,« Anastasia shared.
The couple abandoned the idea of a house in favor of a more convenient and predictable urban format, where Anastasia could calmly manage household tasks, go shopping, and take the children to activities without extra complications.
The second candidate was an apartment in a new building in the city center. The family liked the layout, entrances, playground. Only the territory is not fenced, meaning the yard and parking could be used not only by residents—this reduces comfort and safety.
When the options with the house and city center apartment fell through, Anastasia and Dmitry decided to «just look» at an apartment in the Draverta Quarters. However, on the spot, it became clear: with the exchange program, the purchase was realistic.
How Brusnika«s Exchange Program Works
For the meeting at the sales department, Anastasia and Dmitry came with a realtor. A Brusnika manager详细 told about the project, the current construction stage, and plans for territory development. Then the couple looked at the layouts and chose a suitable option.
The manager explained the exchange program. The mechanics are simple: the family chooses a new apartment in the Draverta Quarters, and the developer appraises the old one and offers a buyout price. The owners don«t need to find buyers—the developer buys the apartment.
«With Brusnika»s exchange, you can stay living in the old apartment. For us, this is a big plus—we won«t have to hastily pack things, look for a rental apartment, and live »out of boxes«,» the couple noted.
Brusnika specialists appraised the apartment at the average market price and a few days later sent the family a commercial offer—2.68 million rubles (approximately $29,800) for the one-room apartment in Chkalovsky. The amount is somewhat less than with an independent sale, but this difference is covered by the program«s advantages:
short transaction terms;
absence of risks, as with independent sale;
reservation of the apartment in the new building with price locked during the transaction.
The buyout price satisfied Dmitry and Anastasia, and the couple agreed to the deal. Brusnika gave a discount on the new apartment and reduced the rental cost. The new apartment with the discount cost 9.89 million rubles (approximately $109,900).
Brusnika bought the apartment and provided full legal support for the transaction. The cost of the one-room apartment in Chkalovsky was counted towards the purchase of the new one, and for the difference, the family took out a family mortgage.
«We understood that such an opportunity might not come again—in 2026, the conditions for family mortgages are changing. If we don»t decide now, it will be harder and more expensive later. We didn«t postpone,» Dmitry and Anastasia said.
From February 1, 2026, new rules for family mortgages from the Ministry of Finance come into effect. Before this date, each spouse can apply for a preferential mortgage for themselves up to 6 million rubles in the regions. The family can use more credit funds—up to 12 million rubles. Under the new rules from February 1, 2026, spouses act as co-borrowers and can only sign one contract per family, meaning they can attract only up to 6 million rubles in the regions.
«The Perfect Apartment for Everything We Want»
The family settled on an apartment with an area of 66.7 m² (718 sq ft) with three bedrooms, a kitchen-living room, and two balconies. They liked the layout because it can be adapted to the family«s changing needs. While the children are small, one of the rooms will be a guest room for grandmothers. When the kids grow up, it will be possible to organize a separate bedroom for each.
«We chose this layout because it»s easy to modify. We want to remove the walls in the study and make another room of 10 m², like the others. It will be a passage room, but larger,« Anastasia noted.
Living with children of different ages is more comfortable in an apartment with several rooms. While one child is napping during the day, the other can play, draw, or watch cartoons. Or while one spouse plays with the children, the other can rest in quiet.
«A separate children»s room solves the toy issue. Now, when we three live in one room, we regulate their quantity and size so everyone is comfortable. When the children have their own room, we can buy what they ask for, for example, a fitness ball, a sports wall, a trampoline, or a ride-on car,« the family noted.
A significant change for the family is the spacious bathroom. It«s twice as big as the old one. There will be room for the main attribute—a full bathtub instead of a shower. There»s also space for a cabinet with a washing machine and dryer.
«In the kitchen, I can finally put a dishwasher—in the old apartment, its place in the kitchen is taken by the washing machine,» Anastasia shared her plans.
There is enough storage space in the apartment, so on the balcony, the couple will organize a relaxation area: they«ll put rattan garden furniture, where they can enjoy fresh air, silence, and calm together.
Not only the area and number of rooms are changing, but also the family«s daily life. Now they can calmly go out into the yard with a stroller—the entrance to the building is barrier-free, without steps, at ground level. There is an elevator in the entrance, which can go down to the first floor, as well as to the underground parking. On the first floor, a stroller room is equipped for children»s transport: strollers, scooters, balance bikes, and bicycles.
«With such easy access to the street and a beautiful yard, we»ll go out for walks as much as we want—even ten times a day, not once every two days like now,« Anastasia rejoices.
The yard is located inside the block, closed to cars and outsiders, so it«s safe. Along the external perimeter of the building on the first floor, useful services for residents will open: shops, cafes, beauty salons, children»s centers. This further simplifies life in the Draverta Quarters—everything necessary is right in the building, no need to go anywhere.
In the new apartment, there will be a separate bedroom for the parents, a room for Yesenia, and a place for the future baby. There will be an opportunity to be alone, rest, work quietly, or read—what was so lacking in the one-room apartment. While the building is under construction, the family has time to plan renovations for the new apartment and prepare for the move.
«If we had to simply sell it and move to another apartment, for us it would be shock, upheaval. We don»t even know how we would cope with it. Thanks to the exchange program, we calmly and comfortably wait for the house to be ready, lovingly part with the old apartment, and move into the new one,« the couple shared.
«Draverta Quarter»: developer LLC «Brusnika», project declaration on the website наш.дом.рф.
Mortgage is provided by PJSC Sberbank. General license of the Bank of Russia for banking operations No. 1481 dated August 11, 2015.
