Renting an apartment in Almaty before you arrive: daily or long-term

Short-term or long-term rental in Almaty

A daily rental works well for the first week. You land, catch up on sleep, walk around the districts yourself and see long-term options in person. The downside is price: a month of daily rent costs several times more than a month on a normal lease.

A long-term rental is cheaper from the first month, but it's better chosen with a proper check, especially if you can't see the apartment yourself. Most often I suggest a mix: 5–10 days of daily rent near where the viewings will be, and a long lease starting once you have seen everything.

How much it costs to rent an apartment in Almaty by district

These are benchmarks from OLX data for June 2026. Asking prices and the prices people actually agree on differ, so treat these as the floor for a good apartment.

• One-room: Turksib 128,000 ₸, Medeu 148,000, Alatau 157,000, Zhetysu 161,000, Nauryzbay 167,000, Auezov 178,000, Almaly 183,000, Bostandyk 189,000 ₸
• Two-room: Alatau 155,000 ₸, Turksib 164,000, Zhetysu 169,000, Bostandyk 261,000, Medeu 300,000 ₸
• Daily (May 2026): a one-room apartment in Bostandyk 9,000–35,000 ₸ a night, in Medeu up to 60,000 ₸

How I find a rental before you arrive

First a short call: who is moving, your budget, work or school, pets, a car. Then I pick five to seven apartments and go to see them myself.

I film each apartment without editing: windows, bathroom, kitchen, the view, the entrance and the courtyard. I check that the person showing the apartment really is the owner or holds a power of attorney from them. You get a short rundown of each one and choose two or three for a live online viewing.

Once you've decided, I agree the price, term, deposit and registration terms with the owner. Only after that is any payment discussed.

The lease, the deposit and the handover report

The lease should be in writing, with both parties' passport details and the number of the ownership document. I make sure it states the price in tenge, how payment works, the term, the terms for leaving early, who pays the utilities and when the deposit comes back.

The deposit is usually one month's rent. To get all of it back you need a handover report: a list of furniture and appliances, meter readings, and photos of every scratch and stain on move-in day. Without this document any dispute over a "broken sofa" goes the way of whoever holds the keys.

Does a foreigner need to register when renting an apartment

Yes. New rules for registering immigrants have applied since 1 July 2026: registration goes through the Migration Portal information system, and the host, meaning the apartment owner, confirms it in the app. Visa-free foreigners register within 30 days of entry, unless an agreement between the countries sets a different period.

In practice there is one problem: not every owner is willing to deal with it. I raise registration before the lease is signed and write it into the lease as a condition. I check the details for your country separately, since the rules change often.

Rental scams in Almaty and how to avoid them

The schemes repeat year after year; only the websites change. In September 2026 police in Aktobe detained a brother and sister who listed non-existent apartments in Almaty: people sent prepayments of 10,000 to 55,000 ₸, and then the "owners" disappeared.

• A prepayment "for the viewing" or "to hold it, or I'll give it to someone else". A real owner shows the apartment without asking for money.
• A fake owner: the apartment is let by a daily tenant who takes a month's rent in advance from several people and vanishes.
• A price well below market, photos taken from the internet, refusal to do a video call from inside the apartment.
• Payment to a third party's card, a "brother" or an "accountant".
• A lease without the ownership document number, or with a passport the person will "send later".

Checklist before you pay rent

• You or your representative have been inside the apartment, not just seen photos
• The owner's name on the ownership document matches the passport and the payee
• If the person letting it isn't the owner, there is a notarized power of attorney that includes the right to rent it out
• The lease is signed before payment and states the deposit amount and the terms for returning it
• The owner agrees to confirm your registration on the Migration Portal
• A handover report with photos and meter readings has been filled in

What my work covers and what it costs

The search, a personal visit, video, the owner check, negotiations, the lease, the handover report and help with the first utility questions. If renting is your first step before buying, I look for it straight away in a district worth considering for the purchase later.

I've been renting out my own four apartments for many years, so I know both sides well: what annoys owners and where tenants usually lose money. We discuss the price of the service for your situation and fix it in writing before work starts.