Apartment purchase in Poland

hi david i am quite prepared to travel into cities for working where i live in the Uk i am approx 10miles outside the main area of Doncaster and 12miles from most good companies

I am quite open to suggestions and help on areas that are within my budget

Obviously i am not taking any household items with me to Poland so i will be purchasing them when i arrive, so as i mentioned in my other posting i am merely be taking my personal possessions with me.
but this is first thread i am able to get some really valuable information and insight from most others go off the subject.

Frank this link does not work for me ? do you have any similar in english?

Thats good, there has finally been some good info on here without people telling each other what they think of them, which as you said is great, have you decided exactlly where in Poland, is it Wroclaw, if so how did you make that decision, I personally love the city and surrounding area, beautiful parks and i think the price is ok.

I havent decided fully on an area to move to yet ... i think like i have done in this country i will know the right place when i find it ... i have looked at Nowy Sacz and surrounding areas, Wroclaw was a recommendation which i would like to look into.

I have only ever been to Krakow and Zakopane (love the latter place loads) i have been planning to visit poland later on in 2007 as a holiday but now i will combine this with hopefully getting a place thats within my budget

But i have never found any information or helpful advice until i came across this thread to be honest

Zakopane is beautiful, we are heading there over the chrissy break for a week with friends, should be fun, went there when i first came to Poland on holidays a few years ago. I will ask my wife tonight what she used to look around at property, as we just bought ourselves a block of land to hopefully build on one day. We also have a small flat that we have renovated, about 15 minutes from the centre of Wroclaw by tram, i think it would be worth around 200zl or so at the moment, not sure, but i think if your interested in the area you will find something.

euroinformator.pl/index/eng

David, this is the English link, just search on the list for estate agents.

Whereabouts in Wroclaw did you buy?...got any photos.......any probs?

Heading there again this weekend, will take a few pics, its a little out of Wroclaw, will write the name of the place as well.

Great!..thanx

Hi Frank and everyone else,

I've just cancelled my interest in a rural property down in Jelenia Gora, due to prohibitive renovation costs and had to pay a considerable amount for a full survey to discover this. However if you can, with any property, get a survey. I don't think this was money wasted as I've probably avoided a beautifully positioned, 19th century, idyllic, 2000m2 money pit.

I'm now in the process of looking for a more modest investment in either Wroclaw or Krakow, in the region of 2 bedrooms and near the centre of either city. Any good tips or agents for the areas would be gladly received. My Polish is patchy at best (I can order beer and food!) so I would need English speaking agents.

I've got a good understanding of the buying process, having recently just stopped the said process, but does anyone know whether I need to concern myself with setting up a Polish company to purchase a property if it is an apartment, or whether I must register for temporary Polish residency?

Any help would be gratefully received.

Regards

Dave

as presumably an eu citizen wazza you wont need to do either if you are buying an apartment

i imagine you had a permit for your 19thC money pit...?

djwazza can I ask where it was since I might have an interested party ( as long as the price can be set appropriately.??
I have one of those money pits that I bought about 4 years ago. One day I will get my return on it

Well, our second flat should be completed end of March, we're going to put down a decent wooden floor, kitchen and bathroom and stick it straight back on the market. Its in a new development in the Tri-city outskirts. Its only small 30 sqm, but we purchased it for 77,000 zl, probably going to spend around 13,000 zl on the interior and put it on the market for between 140,000 zl and 145,000 zl. This seems to be the going rate for flats of this size within this area. I'm no property developer (yet!), but if all goes to plan with the money we get back I'm just going to buy another off-plan flat and repeat the process. The great thing about Poland for foreign investors is that you do not need huge amounts of cash to set the ball rolling. Obviously having a Polish partner makes everything alot easier. We've been dealing with a company called Orlex, who seem to be expanding at an ever increasing rate. But they are organized and the flats are ready on time. I would like to buy property in Sopot or Gdansk or Gydnia but the prices are already quite steep. My humble advice for those looking in the area are to check out the three smaller towns outside Tri-city. Reda, Rumia and Wejherowo. These areas represent the best value for money at the momment and infact the drive to the Tri-city area doesn't take long at all. Infact you can buy flats in the Tri-city which actually take you just as long to drive to the centrums as the three towns mentioned above.

Our original flat we paid 167,000 zl and probably put another 55,000 zl into it, floors, kitchens bathrooms etc. But now our 87 sqm duplex is valued at approximately 380,000 zl. Plus we were lucky enough to buy a garage in the same block as well. We purchased the flat two years ago so as you can see the money is there to be made.

I'm not the brightest spark in the box, so if I can do it others can too.

Stop buying flats in Poland because you push prices up and Poles are not able to buy flat to LIVE IN. So they leave to work abroad and earn to buy a flat for themselves. So remember that more you "invest" the more Poles you will see in your country and the more jobs we will take. This is closed circle. If you buy flats here dont complain that there are too many Poles in your country because average Pole is not able to buy in this country anymore.

Well, done Casper....keep us up to speed, hope to go back to Wroclaw in the next couple of months and take things from there!

How did you find the process, the people who sold, the people who you got to finish the place off?

whereabouts casper...?



would like to say sorry... but i would be totally lying...

Bubbawoo...you've a heart of gold...spoken like a true capitalist!!

I would say more people should buy flats there...then wages etc will have to rise to keep pace...what do you think has driven the Celtic Tiger for the last 8/9 years or so?

Ola. I appreciate what you are saying, but I'm actually in the process of emigrating to Poland, with my Polish wife. Secondly on a personal level I think its great that young Poles are coming to the UK and making some cash. All my Polish friends here in the UK have the same aim, save, save, save, and buy a flat back in Polska. Infact

The process was simple I let my missus do the talking and just nodded and smiled.

The people who sold too us are a company called Orlex who seem to be generally taking over the whole area where we are.

And the person who did the interior work, bathroom, floor, lightfittings, kitchen tiles etc, well we used a builder that is known to the family for years and it was all kosher. The guy who designed the kitchen also installed it. We did the painting ourselves.
The only thing that really shocked me was the price and installation of wooden blinds...really expensive, but worth the cash. Since we've been based in London and although we use the flat when we are there, we haven't used the garage. So we have let a friend use the garage free for the last 9 months on the proviso that he paints it, installs the lights and general takes care of it, fair deal.

I like the concept of buying off-plan flats since you have the advantage of paying in installments (if your not taking a morgage), and by buying off-plan the prices are cheaper. You also are able to design the flats interior from scratch, its a blank canvas. If I remember correctly we pay a lower monthly fee for building maintance than many older blocks of flats. Having said that you have to be prepared to wait for it to be built!!

My favourite thing is the under floor heating an no unsightly radiators. As a child i was constantly witnessing my father bleeding the raditors of foul smelling air. And the trauma is still with me today.

gosh... terrible... arent i...?

I think when Patrycja from the US of A reads this, you're in for a smack or two...lol

WEJHEROWO

Do share...casper.....!

i just bought in wejherowo if... anyone is interested in grabbing a bargain let me know

B...fill us in...all the details...don't skimp....

Well to be fair, Bubbawoo/Jasiu is seemingly more on the ball and more organised than me, he knows the area and if I remember correctly is already wheeler dealing in the area. I'm really an amateur, he's the expert quiz him a little more. But with regards to Orlex, google them and check their website out. They have too new developments at the mo, both look really nice.

My reasons for moving to the area is that it is where my missus' clan resides, also much as I like the Tri-city it is expensive and I think Rumia, Reda and Wejherow have the best financial returns for the future. There are already some very large houses in the manor and more houses and apartments are popping up all the time. Secondly in the Summer Wejherowo is the first place the tourists from the coast hit when they travel in land.

The thing that constantly amazes me is the amount of cousinks my missus seems to have, its great being related to everyone because it makes life easier and cheaper.

We are only 20 minutes from some superb coastline and 20 minutes or so from Tr--city.
Most of our ffiends either run their own buisness or are working for large companies, so we are in good company. Once we are based out there, I fear I will have to do some English teaching if only to have my ZUS paid and to generally integrate myself into the system. But I will continue to do security contracts in Uk and rest of Europe when they arise.

ive snapped up a courtyarded mews... currently 6 appartments and a retail unit plus garages and additional buildings to convert... 5 mins from the station... 5 mins to the central square... 2 mins to a large school and opposite the site for the new centrum handlowy... location location location

apartments vary in size from 35 sqm upwards plus 2 attics to convert... all with different levels of renovation needs...

i will be renovating the external areas of the property over the next couple of months... curb appeal... and then either flog off apartments for other people to renovate or do them myself... some friends have already expressed an interest in purchasing now then commissioning me to supervise the renovation for them...

... if others are interested i am happy to talk...

i like the look of wejherowo too casper...

Good stuff boys and girls...keep it up.....

Not sure what Polish attitudes is to home ownership...ie in Ireland we have the second highest numbers of home owners in the EU ...nearly 80%, whereas in Germany ...nearly 70% rent their homes......Polands attitude anyone?

somewhere in between but moving in the ownership direction quickly it seems

Bubba your on the case my man. Seriously though what Wejherowo needs are few decent places to eat. Those few places that exist are not brilliant but they rake in the money. If you ever have any security issues or security problems with the local idiots please mail me at. I'm sure I could help.

darkwaterltd@hotmail.com

nice one casper... thanks...

... and my polish partner wants to open a restaurant... hmmm... interesting... what sort of thing would you suggest...?