How do I look for property in the Sopot area?

Just returned from my aunt's funeral in Poland. She left her tiny studio apartment in Zaspa to the lady who looked after her for 16 years, but I was able to take the family photo albums, etc. I was not interested in the flat, but decided now I'm back here to check on the prices of real estate in the Sopot area, as my husband and I are selling some property here in the US, and are looking for a lovely spot to retire to. Land on a lake in Missouri is one possibility, but property in Scotland (where I'm from) is much too expensive.

Any thoughts would be appreciated. We are thinking of getting raw land and then building, but how easy is that for a non-Polish speaker? My grandparents, my father, and now my aunt are all in the cemetary in Sopot, so this is for sentimental reasons, as well as financial ones. I have never seen so much growth spurt as I noticed between 2005 and now, or the amount of building going on everywhere!

Thanks,

Helen

Talk to Bubbawoo - he's the local Guru on Real Estate in the 3M area.... You can even PM him (click on the envelope next to one of his posts and send him a message on the screen that appears.)

Hi Helen,

Sorry to hear about your aunt :(

Was this your first trip to Poland ?

The Tri City area is beautiful but doesn't grab the headlines the same way that Warsaw and Krakow have done. Prices in and around the three cities are pretty high and as with the Polish market in general the best locations & properties are sold via networking rather than on the open market.

There are many towns outside of the Tri City area dotted along the coastline which can provide a more affordable solution to a nice retirement home.

I have an excellent contact in Gdynia who covers the Tri City area. She is a licenced real estate broker who specialises in the buying and selling of land. She does work mostly with property developers therefore the land she sources is normally very large ! However, you're welcome to drop me an email from my profile and I can send you her details.

BubbaWoo also has property interests in the Tri City and I'm sure he can also help you.

Good luck !

you have 2 choices with sourcing property in the TC area

1. get an agent to do it for you and pay their fee

2. buy a copy of annonse and make some phone calls and dont pay an agent fee

buying land is nigh on impossible for a US citizen and there is very little available in sopot

if sopot proves too expensive - and you will be looking at 1O K upwards er square metre for a second market and probably 15 K upwards for primary - then you could always look just up the road in gdynia orlowo which has a beautiful little bay

BubbaWoo,

I was thinking of buying property in the Sopot area. But have mostly noticed 10,000+zl m2. Are properties easy to sell in that area, or is it sellers are being optimistic with the sale prices.
I cannot afford 10,000zl m2, but i thought i could renovate a property in the 7000zl range. Is property renovation a success here in poland like it has been in the Uk/USA?

Cheers,

Britguy

10 tys is at the very bottom end of the market and id be supprised if you find anything for as low as 7 tys unless you were on the ground looking for private sale rather than using an agent - if you do come across something for that price then snap it up

theres some beautiful real estate in sopot including a lot of nice new bulid - a development at the top of MC was being marketed at 19 tys upwards when i asked about it before the summer - theres recently built bar/gallery just off MC that just came on the market at about 26 tys and a huge flat on haffnera that is currently being marketed at over 35 tys - speculation is rife but a lot of people with a lot of money seems to think its a good investment

renovation projects are getting much harder to find, especially bargains

Thanks for the advice. I suppose Sopot is very similar to Poole in england. Just a nice area with proximity to the coast.
So, when you do a quick turn around on a property, how many months does it take you? Furthermore, how long does it take to sell a property in the tricity area?

the buying and selling process normally goes quite quickly but its the rehab part that always seems to take time - whether its finding builders, waiting for permission or whatever, there always seems to be a delay... but once work actually starts progress is normally swift

heres something in sopot that might be worth a look - not sure what size youre looking for

I have the apartment for sale in Sopot, first to see will buy, it has 2 bedrooms, good views, new conditon and furnished, close to molo.
2.5M zl. (special price for registerd forum members)
Urgent sale.

2 bedrooms... whats that... 6Om2 or something...?

lets say its double that - 12Om2... 2.5M zl / 12Om2 is just under 21 tys m2

if thats the special price for registered forum members whats the normal price for non-registered forum members...?

are you polish...?

Bubba,

On a project like the 36m2 one you posted. What would the costs be of renovating it and what could you sell it for?

Are you Polish or English?

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Bubba,

On a project like the 36m2 one you posted. What would the costs be of renovating it and what could you sell it for?

Are you Polish or English?

renovation costs depends what needs doing and to what spec - the last place i did in sopot was a similar size... i gutted it and put in new flooring [cheap carpet and laminate], windows, lighting etc and painted it - no bathroom or kitchen and made a 7O tys profit... cant remember what the costs were but probably not much more than 3O tys including labour

what it could sell for will depend what you do to it - the flooring looks ok, new kitchen and bathroom, its on niepodleglosci but depends where, the block has new elevation, its on the tenth floor with windows on 2 sides so it probably has some fantastic views

you can make money on it if thats your objective - how much i cant say, too many variables

im english

Bubba, did you do the work yourself or do you get contractors in?

I dont know much about real estate transactions in poland. What i wanted to know was if you offer on a flat, how long does it take before you can start work on it? I read that banks here are pretty slow in processing mortgage applications too.

i work with a polish partner who project manages contractors etc

i havent had any dealing with processing mortgages in poland - i finance from abroad

the buying/exchange process has suprised me at times - quicker than the uk


why not register on the forum?

Ok,

I have just registered. 70tys is good for a couple of months work. I dont speak polish but my wife does, so we could work as a team together on this.

My only worry on polish property development is that the end client will be polish, who, from my experience, find it difficult to part with money. Maybe I am wrong on this aspect.

it wouldnt suprise me if there is more opportunity and money to be made in bydgoszcz... the market really seems to have taken off in the past year or so

ive never had probs getting money but have had a number of last minute probs with contracts etc

Ok. I'll look at the bydgoszcz situation. So your advice is to renovate smallish flats <50m2 flats and sell them and move onto the next one?

How many flats have you sold?

I dont think there is much money to be made on off-plan apartments in bydgoszcz. It needs to be more an intl location 1st.

my plan went a little off course...

it was initially to renovate and sell on but as bargains became harder to find in the tri city i started to look elsewhere and bought a large property in wejherowo which is now being renovated/developed and ill probably hang on to for the foreseeable future - at the moment its listed as a single property and will take me god knows how long to register as individual premises so rental looks the way forward

im just finishing renovation of a place in tczew which i will rent for a year or so as i think prices will shoot up once the new road to the tri city opens - ive just bought a place up near leba which i will hang onto as well

i will prob go back to faster turn over next year as the cashflow is drying up but will go for anything that looks like a bargain

.partnerzy.gda.pl/index.php?qo_nr=PU88235s

This seems a bargain, considering the location & size. Although i cant see the actual pictures of the flat. But i wonder how long the 1mzl+ properties take to sell in sopot?

yeah - seems interesting if youve got that sort of money to invest and a great location i imagine - i wonder why they dont have pictures of it

that site gives an idea of how prices can fluctuate

735k, spend 120k on it. sell for 1m? Maybe i'm dreaming.

i dont think youre being wildly unrealistic - on grunwaldska right by the beach... nice

i looked at a flat of identical size, with someone from the forum, at the top of sopot backing onto the railtrack which was priced at about a million before the summer - havent seen it on the market for awhile

I also wondered are most polish flats leasehold or freehold?

Maybe more than 1m then. But I suppose attracting 1m+ buyers is the tricky thing.

Helen - in my books you should apply for Polish citizenship. Google "Mamdom" and then click Go Buy The Book for more info. Then you can buy whatever you want. Alternatively fill out the form on the site for a solicitor who will help you organize the paperwork. Sopot is a favorite of mine because of a planned airport there but if you want to retire go for Mazuri!

If you are on a budget try also:

mamdom.com/listoffersforsale-szczyc-polishland.htm

There's land here to be bought on a credit card!!!!

Sorry I added a link in the last post by mistake - probably going to get told off for that!!

no most of us do post relevant links :)

most are freehold - ive come across flats that are owned by the state but the tennant has the right to buy - people try to sell these flats, often at really good rates, but you then have to sit on them for awhile before you are able to resell... or something like that... i didnt go into too much detail as my partner didnt want to get involved

i wouldnt have thought that finding 1m+ buyers in sopot is as tricky as you might imagine - there are some wonderful properties there and the place attracts money - theres a place on hafnerra going for over 32 tys m2 which, given the size of the flat, works out at 13.5m

interesting - news to me

i wonder where - there not a lot of room in sopot for an airport

Bold Plans to Build Polish Airports

Wow. That place is awesome. Stunning. Not sure i'd pay that though.
It seems there are a lot of opportunities though, which is a good thing.

this looks like the 36m2 we looked at earlier - different pictures