Advent Calendar 1

The year 2025 turned out to be extremely productive and full of events for both me and my family. I am starting a new section on the site called “Advent Calendar,” where every day I will remember events from 2025 and write about how I feel about them.

I will start the series with what is probably the biggest family material acquisition: our crazy project of taking part in the family mortgage program — or, as I like to call it, the “iMortgage.” Yes, yes, my wife and I committed to buying real estate. Given the current economic and political situation in the country and the world, I consider the best financial investment to be investing in debt =) A 6% mortgage rate (thanks to our daughter Leia for making us eligible) is a gift from the state to families with children, and not taking advantage of it would be a crime.

While the deal was being processed, the apartment went up in price by 500,000 rubles, but we were buying at the old price. Over the year, its value increased by almost a million, which I consider a pretty good return on invested budget funds. Every time I find myself wondering why we are doing all this, I go to the developer’s website and watch the live cameras showing the building that has already gone up, and that makes me feel better. So the main material acquisition of this year is an apartment under a shared-equity construction agreement, with expected completion in Q3 2026.