Travel / Gonna go on mission to Poland! [18]

Wroclaw is a fun town with loads of bars and clubs on the square. Check out "inyourpocket.com". Put www in front of it. Really good tourist guide

Life / Internet providers in poland [11]

Thanks. You'd recommend them?

Life / Internet providers in poland [11]

Thanks for that.

Real Estate / Apartment purchase in Poland [226]

[Moved from]: Estate Agents fees if you are buying a new apartment

When you buy a NEW apartment from an estate agent in Poland, do you have to pay the estate agent a fee. I know you have to pay a fee if you are buying a second hand property?

Study / List of English Schools and Translation companies in major Polish cities [4]

Thanks all.

Work / 19% tax for self employed persons [18]

Hi Davidpeake. Thanks for you mail. I have since confirmed with my accountant that I can. As you probably know, it takes a while to get answers over here. I do be in wroclaw a lot and would be interested in hearing your experiences.

Life / Thinking of Moving to Warsaw...can you help, give advice? [9]

Hi. I am from Irealnd and moved to poland last year. I currently live in poznan and visit warsaw occasionally.
Warsaw is slightly different than other polish cities. Most of the social life happens around the Rynek i.e. main square, whereas in warsaw, it is more spread out and you have to do a little bit of searchin but believe me, there is a great social life in warsaw with plenty of top notch clubs along with other more homely offerings.

The language issue probably wont be a huge problem in warsaw. I have found that a lot of the people especially the younger people speak english. I never have any problems when visiting warsaw.

AS the previous mail says, cost of living depends on how much you want to spend. It you go to the normal expats places, expect to pay a little bit more than the more local polish offerings.

There is lot to do in poland and is a great place to visit other places in Europe. The transport systems are great.
As any move to a new country can take a bit of getting use to but if you are a sociably individual, you should not have any problems and would doubt that you would regret the move. Everyone i know who has visited warsaw from ireland has been very pleasantly surprised.

Best of luck.

Life / Thinking of Moving to Warsaw...can you help, give advice? [9]

Dannyboy...Unfortuantely I am not part of the Dunnes empire...!!
Anyway, what made me move over here. Got the opportunity to work over here for a few months back in 2002. I have always had itchy feet. When the contract finished, i decided i wanted more and decided to move over here. It took a few years as i was working on a contact back home. Now In poznan trying to set up a little business.

What do i miss about home...sorry to say very little...of course i miss friends and being able to go up to the local for a pint..but apart from that, i have very little desire to go back to live in ireland.

Life / Thinking of Moving to Warsaw...can you help, give advice? [9]

Is that Beegees in Poznan? Where is that?

Law / I'm an EU citizen and want to get "officially registered" in Poland [7]

Hi youngman, In what city are you living? There would be a local office there that you would have to register in. It might be on harm to contact your embassy as they might be able to direct you to the right office. You will have to bring someone with you who spieaks polish.

There are tourist guides out there called inyourpocket. and they do a number of cities in poland. They will normally have a section about living in poland and will give the local address ofwhere you have to register. You should be able to get a copy of this from a tourist office or the foyer of a hotel. They also have a website just put www in front of their name and .com at the end. You can select the city from the menu. PS sounds like a slightly dodgy english school...make sure they dont get behind in paying you.

Work / What is the ZUS rate? [3]

Thanks for the info. Had gotten that amounts alright. Just thought it was quite expensive but that is apparently the way it is......And from what I hear, the goverment have given ZUS money to the church

Real Estate / Top Warsaw Real Estate Agents or Agencies Wanted [8]

Hi. Try Ober-haus.com. They have a number of offices in Warsaw and I have dealt with them. They have a number of staff who speak english.

Law / Poland's Home Improvement Market? [14]

Hi. I have recently got a new apartment done up. From what the designer was telling me the cost of getting workmen is on the way up all the time. Also, in poland it is just not home improvments that you can look at. When you buy a new apartment over here, you generally get it as a shell i.e. only the walls inside and you have to finish it off i.ei put in a kitchen, bathroom, floors etc. So there is a huge market there as well.

Real Estate / Bad news for house self-builders in Poland (building material cost up) [15]

Hi. I was talking to a designer yesterday in wroclaw, and she was also saying that there is a huge shortage of building materials. This is due to the mild winter and the fact that builders were able to continue building during the winter. This shortage has also added to the price increase.

Real Estate / Problems with switching apartments at short notice [10]

DeeIrish,
Hi. I am an irish person living in poland. I am renting an apartment. I also have an apartment which i rent out. In both cases, the notice of moving from an apartment is one month. You agree to the terms when you sign the lease. The best thing to do is to state things upfront and only sign a lease with a landlord who accepts that. One other thing, make sure that there is not a minimum stay. Sometimes this can range from 6 - 12 months.

The one reason why landlords do not like short leases is because they have to pay an estate agent in order to rent out the apartment and if they have to do that twice in one year, then it can be costly.

Nevertheless, you will normally find someone who is wiling to go for a 6 month lease.
Happy hunting.

Dee irish,
i have just read your initial mail again and there is one important point you need to know....In poland, YOU have to pay an estate agent to find you a place. The landlord also has to pay his estate agent to rent out his place. The cost to you is normally .5 to a months rent. If you are going to be moving around this might get expensive for you. Not to mention full of hassle. Bookratts idea of staying in short term accomodation may be good until you find out where you want to lay your hat. These can range from service apartments right through to the good aul fashioned Hostel.

Real Estate / PLN or CHF currency - Home Loan for mortgage in Poland? [7]

Actually, i should have alos asked the comparison in relation to Euro.

Real Estate / PLN or CHF currency - Home Loan for mortgage in Poland? [7]

Thanks JkChambers. I was enquiring as i was looking at maybe changing a Eur loan to CHf. Thankfully, i am not applying for a home loan here. I do think BZWBK will give you 70 per cent, but be prepared to wait an age for a reply. A colleagu of mine(from ireland) went to Noble bank here in poland and found them to be very flexible. Just in case you were looking.

Life / Price of beer in Poland [90]

I live in poznan and the price of the beer in bars here range from 5 zlt to 9 zlt per .5 l depending where you drink. This is for the local beer.

Real Estate / PLN or CHF currency - Home Loan for mortgage in Poland? [7]

That question for me? Load to irish guy? Which one?

Oh sorry, figured out what you were asking. I think he got about 800k pln from them. He was a bit surprised how good and quick they were. He would be a It contractor in a bank.

Life / Price of beer in Poland [90]

Taste wise, as good as, if not better than import. Though if you drink to much you can get bloated from the gas. The beer is stronger, about 4 .5 % i think so 4 is usually enough to get me going. But unfortunately, it is normally by the 6th that i reaslise it and then it is all too lare.

And Red Bull and vodka is popular, along with other energy drinks for mixing with vodka.

Life / Price of beer in Poland [90]

Is the beer that strong...!! that explains so much from some of my nights out on it...!!

Law / I want to move my bussines to Poland [13]

Hi. I am an irish man living in poland. One thing i would say is that the Polish love to dance...the whole thing around Ballroom daning, Latin, Tango is very big here.

You may want to check out the competition here as there seems to be a lot of dance schools popping up. Best of luck with it.

UK, Ireland / Experiences of Irish people who moved to Poland [27]

Hi. I am an irish person who has moved to poland. I moved here last year. My experience has been good for the most part. The biggest hurdle is mainly the language. Socially, it is not a problem. However, for business e.g. dealing with local authorities, it is a bit more challenging. You have to organise a translator for everything. And you cant just pick up the phone to do things. You have to arrange a transalator for the simplest things. Apart from that, the only 'hurdles' that i have had to overcome, is ones that polish people have to overcome...and that is the general apporach to customer service in poland. I have met some very good people, but i have also had to deal with some incredibly awkward people. I intend to stay here for at least another year or two.

UK, Ireland / Experiences of Irish people who moved to Poland [27]

Only been down to Krakow twice for weekends so not sure about the irish community. It is the tourist place in poland for foreigners as there it is a lovely city, and has auswitch and the salt mines near by so there is plenty of things to do.

In relation to the catholic thing, dont be too frightened by it. Dont get me wrong, there is huge catholic influence here in goverment and among older people. But among younger people it is not as forceful i.e. a lot of the young people are not going to mass...and believe me, they are not afraid to show their love....It is quite similiar to ireland in the 80's. In relation to homohobia and xenophobia, yes there would be some of that there. But it warsaw is anything to go by, you can be gay and have a very good time here. Just dont expect to be able to get married any time soon. Really dont know about anti- capitalistism...from what i can see, polish people are very into setting up their own businesses and being successsful. Dont let some of the views on this forum sway you. I live in poznan, spend a lot of time in warsaw and wroclaw, and all these cities have something to offer.

You should avail of the cheap flights over here to get to know the place better as i first came here in 2002 and saw it as a country waiting to happen...and believe me it is.

In relation to the work thing....i think it depends on where you work. If you work for local authorities, you do as little as you get away with. And then the bell strikes, they are out of there.

If you are in the private sector, then generally, is would be harder. Work life here is still quite hierarchical...you have a boss and you treat them like a boss....I am not saying it is like it in all places but generally, there is this 'control' thing going on.

In relation to lunch breaks, they are not as prevalent as in ireland. When working in offices here, they would take about 15 to 20 minutes.

Oh...you said you like challenges.....This country gives you loads of them....

UK, Ireland / Experiences of Irish people who moved to Poland [27]

No problem. Glad to be of help. Hope you have fun in Krakow.