Buying a plot and building?

Hello all.

First post here.
About to buy a small plot near the town of Koszalin.
The plot has power and water running past the site (no gas).
Its quite a rural plot (with permission to build) surrounded by forest.
we are really buying it as a future investment for our little girl (seems a safer bet than Uk pensions etc)
But we are considering designing and building a house there (or even buy a kit house)
Just wonder if anyone has experience of this situation (horror stories or otherwise)
Or any useful links (to kit house companies?)
Look forward to any feedback.

Jake

Hi. I can't help much, but Is this close to the see ?

Hi Gregorz.

Its about 20k inland. We can't the afford the coast (Mielno, Kolobrzeg).
I wish we could because the prices seem to go up every week.
We aren't buying the plot to make us rich - just to have somewhere nice we might be able to live in the future.
Do you know the area? Anything we should look out for?

Thanks

I lived in Koszalin for short time, but don't really know these rural areas around. If you want to build a house, some would say that you should do that as fast as possible, because prices are growing, but I would suggest to wait a year or two until the market becomes more stabilized.

Hello again.

My wife is from Koszalin.
It is a difficult decision, the prices are going up all the time - do we pay more than we can afford for a small plot in a popular area or buy a large plat in a "normal village".
Where are you now Gregorz

Jake,
I am originally from that area. Do you know the name of the closest town or village?

1. if you are buying a property for an investement - you need to be close to the road and have an easy acces to media such a water, electricity, gas and such
2. what is the development plan for that particular area in that region, cummunity, etc(if any) - can you find out from the local administration
3. what kind of taxes are you gonna pay - meaning does this plot have a permit for house buildin or is it a agruculture plot (those are much cheaper and the taxes are much lower) - later on you can get a permission for building a house or so - need to find out from the local government if it's allowed
4.is it the only one you are intersested in, or have you shopped aroung for other plots
5. overall - if you are investing all your life savings - you need to ask more questions, if you are just buying it for an investement without investing all your savings that you are in a good situation
the prices have skyrocketed and are going up, however you need to do your homework - I can help with getting more info at my convinience - no I am not an agent, I used to work for an investement company in Poland so I have some knowledge

That's true, but they are already high and no one will convince me that they are going to reach the British level, because there are no rational reasons for that. In the future they should either grow slower or the whole market will simply collapse at some time - just what happens sometimes on the stock market.



Hard to say, but If you buy something close to the see, you may try to open some turistic business in the future, It doesn't have to be 50m away from the beach, but 20km is definately too far away for that.
In case of building a house my (not really proffesional) opinion is - definately not right now - there's a real boom on the market and companies often don't really care about consumers, but more companies is investing in construction and government soon should let import foreign workers.



I'm in Poland

Hi Miranda and thank you for your response.
You're right, we aren't investing all our savings so we are in a good situation but we still need to know that we are doing the right thing. The plot we have found is in Niedalino just south of Koszalin. It does have permission for building. We realise that buying in Kolobrzeg or Mielno is a better investment but it's also more risky as we would need to invest more money. Do houses increase in value more than plots? Do you have insider knowledge of the best places to buy (only joking)?
Thanks for your help!

Hi gregorz.
Its a miracle that there are still young people left in Poland to go on holiday in Mielno.
Maybe in the future Poles will go abroad for holidays - not the Baltic.
The resorts will be full of German and Dutch tourists ?
Maybe rich agro-tourists who want to experience the excitement of a real Polish village!!

Jake,
as for houses increasing in the value - it depends on the house. The existing houses in Poland are build with an old technology, so if you really don't need a house right now - I would buy a plot. It will gain in value eventually and I am sure you can figure out the location benefits and such on your own.
Kolobrzeg and Mielno are not risky. I come from a town 50 km from Kolobrzeg and it will always be a good location. I thaught that the prices there are already unatainable there, a lot of foreigners have invested there, especially Germans.
There is a member of this forum BubbaWoo who is dealing directly with investemens, so perhaps contacting him is a good idea.

Many are already going abroad, but the Baltic will alway be popular, the only problem is that the tourist season is rather short.

Hi. I have small touristic business in Kolobrzeg. A few bungalows. The question is, how far is your plot from the sea? If you need a car to go to the beach, this will not be good place for tourism. Tourists seek cosest locations to the sea.
Tourist season lasts around three months on polish coastline. But health resorts are open whole year.

hi jake

nice piece of land might be worth a look - good price but i would make a lower offer

trojmiasto.gumtree.pl/trojmiasto/50/5637750.html

PM me if you want details on kit companies

Nice indeed, but about 100km away from Koszalin.

85 ks from the 3Miasto and right next to leba - this is about longer term investment

Yes, but doesn't he want something near Koszalin ?

dunno - says his wife is from koszalin and they want somewhere nice to live but also stresses that its an investment for their future...

... the land i posted struck me as a viable longterm investment opportunity

Hello there.

Thanks for your responses. Just been trying to register so I can pm - not sure if I managed it properly?
Anyway - that plot looks interesting - the kind of plot we are looking at - but is it only for recreational purposes (ie can you live there all the time) it also looks like it is in a national park - building restrictions?
But even for the advertised price it seems a good deal considering the area it is in.
I really like the town of Kolobrzeg, been there in the summer and the winter and it is always busy.
We have been thinking about some kind of guest house (maybe aimed at British tourists - maybe even dentist holidays by the sea -Cavity-on-sea rather than Clacton)
Are we being unrealistic if we thought that we could live on the income of a small guest house. Or would we need other incomes?

I havent been able top PM yet, but I would be very interested in links to kit house companies. It seems a fast way of building a property.

Thanks Jake

Do you have any experience in this business?

this is interesting jake - what sort of time scales are you looking at and are you restricting yourself to the region round kolobrzeg?

erm no.

So I presume we are being unrealistic.
We have a friend who runs a small hotel in Mielno. In the summer the place is booked solid for 4-5 months - but the winter - nothing.
She claims that the summer is busy enough to enable them to live through the winter.
But I guess 1 bad summer season and you are in trouble.
What about Kolobrzeg ? is the situation the same there -or is there winter tourism?
Also Leba. I havent been there yet. but I hear that it is a very nice area.

Hello Again.

This year.
we have just renovated a house in the UK, its on the market. Hope to make a fair profit, certainly enough to get a small guesthouse if we decide to.
Other wise we will buy a plot - sit on it and rent somewhere.
Are you in Poland all the time?

focus on a niche and target your market carefully and there are all sorts of possibilities for a year round income



i dont know this area - i work at the other end of the coast around the 3city - leba is great but like most of the resorts along that stretch of the coast, prices are shooting up and it does remain pretty seasonal still

i go back and forth from the uk every few weeks

another bit of land worth sitting on

allegro.pl/item170634450_dzialka_na_jeziorem_scisle_mazury_.html

Well thanks for the advise everyone.

We will be in Poland in May - so we will go and visit the area towards Gdansk.

I have a feeling that the Uk property bubble is getting ready to finally pop.
Poland seems a far safer bet long term.

Hello all,

just an update on our plot!

Parents in law have visited the plot we are interested in - there were very impressed ( we are still in Uk at the moment).
Nice area, forests lakes etc.
Initially just buying, but I want to build a house (either for us to live in in the future or to rent out).
Very exiting, will make an offer next week. Then I guess the beurocracy will begin.
Just asking again if anyone else has bought a plot to buil on - any advice ?
Finding reputable Polish builders (if there are any left in Poland)>
Also bubba-woo, you mentioned that you had links to kit house builders - I cant pm as I haven't posted enough messages yet.

You would need something quite big and that would be expensive and risky. But you may just add 3-4 more small bedrooms to a normal house, that should give not bad extra income, however you need something close to the see.

"She claims that the summer is busy enough to enable them to live through the winter..."

Probably true, I've several friends with investments on the coast in the tourist areas and they make a whole heap of cash.

Hello again Gregorz, thanks for the advice.

I understand about being close to the sea.
But the plot we are buying is surrounded by forests and a large lake.
Maybe countryside holidays?
Which nationalities are your guests?
First Poles, then Germans,?
What about Swedes - quite close to Swinojouscie?
Any British at all?

Excellent insight there ! It's very true that when business is booming companies pay little attention to providing good customer service as they know another one will be coming round the corner.

Having said that not EVERYONE is a crook.