Real Estate / Flat prices in the center Warsaw? [13]

Hi Danterob, you can expect to pay around 11,000 PLN per metre for an appartment in the centre of Warsaw. the average for the city is 8,000 PLN or there abouts

Real Estate / Deals available from Polish property developers [40]

Hang on Lef, didn't you say in another post that Romania or Bulgaria are better investment choices?

ho hum....

Real Estate / Deals available from Polish property developers [40]

this gives you a golden opportunity to defend the Bulgarian real estate market.

why is the Bulgarian real estate market a safer bet than the Polish real estate market?

Real Estate / Deals available from Polish property developers [40]

many of the houses in Bulgaria were only sold because the estate agent promised a guaranteed rent for the first two years. rather than offer you a 12,000 Euro discount on an overpriced holiday home, they promised to guarantee the rental at 500 Euros per month for the first two years.

the only problem is that the market rental for many of these homes would be in the region of 150 Euros per month.
a woman at work bought one as an investment, the problem is that she can only sell it through the estate agent she bought it from and they are busy trying to sucker in the next non-Bulgarian buyer to buy off plan because they earn more commission that way.

Sofia is not as bad an area for an investment but as for the mountains and coast forget it.

Real Estate / Interesting Article on Polish Real Estate [33]

the Polish real estate market is overheated. if you compare prices in Berlin, with the salaries that Germans earn, then there is a huge discrepancy. Housing in Berlin is cheaper than in Warsaw. Also if the recession bites in the US and Western Europe, then all these employees working for Western firms in Poland will find there positions less secure. There are very few jobs in construction in Ireland now available for Poles.

Not only does that mean that many Poles may have to return to Poland, and will then compete for jobs with Polish who stayed in Poland.

on the plus side, unlike Bulgaria, local people have been able to afford property in Poland and the credit checks used to finance property deals in Poland are far more strictly controlled than in the UK. In the UK, it is enough to own a property to be able to secure a loan of up to 80% on that property with very scant regard as to whether you can afford to pay the money back, because if you default on your payments, the bank takes you house. whereas in Poland, you have to prove you can pay back a loan irrespective of how much collateral you have.

I am not sure if you can consider any country to be immune from global recession

Law / What is the hardwood lumber demand like in Poland? [26]

i have not seen any cherry commercially grown in Poland. There are some stands of walnut though. Poland produces a lot of beech and oak and huge quantities of softwood.

Cherry and walnut are not used for construction purposes at all in Poland.

Real Estate / Interesting Article on Polish Real Estate [33]

oh good grief Ela. Next you will be telling us that Krakow is undervalued. the moment that property becomes too expensive for local people to buy, you are in bubble country.

Real Estate / Interesting Article on Polish Real Estate [33]

the term 'overheated' is an economic term. I was not talking about social justice either.
Germans living in Berlin earn more that Poles but in some districts of Berlin housing is on a par or even cheaper than in Warsaw.

what is your opinion Grzegorz, I would be interested in hearing it?
Do you think the Polish housing market will escape a global recession unscathed or do you think prices might go down like everywhere else in the world?

in American the average cost of a house is six times the annual salary, in the UK it is nine times the average salary. Many economists believe that the prices in both these countries will fall for a long time as their housing markets are overheated and need to re-adjust to three times average salary as the prices were in the early 1990s.

this has nothing to do with social justice it has more to do with economics
The average price per metre in Krakow is 7500 PLN per metre, let's assume the average flat is 50 sq m. because it makes the calculation easier and then let's assume that the average salary is 2000 PLN per month. that means that flats in Krakow are 15 times the average salary. In Warsaw it is 18 times the average salary. Now before you get all excited I am aware that Warsaw is the capital and people earn more than the national average

prices in London would be around 12 to 15 times the average salary but they are coming down now. I own property in Poland and hope that Polish house prices will escape the recession intact but I doubt it somehow. In my case I bought property here many years ago and have benefitted from the price increases

Law / What is the hardwood lumber demand like in Poland? [26]

very good point. it also depends on the species and the conditions that it grew in. whether softwood had been thinned and brashed to prevent excessive knot development. There is a huge difference in strength between lime a hardwood and hornbeam another hardwood.

Oak generally takes a lot of beating when it comes to strength, that is why it was used to make the hulls of the old sailing ships instead of using pine.

Life / sky tv in poland [14]

do not expect to be able to get BBC or ITV or the Disney Channel on Sky in Poland.
there is a company based in Warsaw that can set everything up for you. they charge a fair old whack but know what they are doing

Real Estate / Article: Budimex calls for stagnation in 2008 residential property market [8]

it comes down to banks becoming very cautious who they lend money to. if you were a bank would you lend money to a small developer that does not have a long history of delivering on projects? probably not.

Budimex do not want to get caught with a huge landbank and many half completed projects if the world economy looks like it could be experiencing a cool down.

i am sure that i will upset lots of naive people who believe that Poland is a special place where the laws of economics do not apply

Real Estate / Interesting Article on Polish Real Estate [33]

thanks for the support Deise but I am afraid that the forum is frequented by people who believe that Poland is not affected by world economic factors. To even suggest that the price of real estate will not grow exponentially smacks of a lack of patriotism. Perhaps the laws of gravity to not apply here either.

Real Estate / Article: Budimex calls for stagnation in 2008 residential property market [8]

according to those loveable statisticians at GUS there is an increase in apartment construction of 36.8 in 2007 over the same period a year earlier. so the market is getting warm

in every economy there are only so many people who are eligible for loans and have sufficiently high salaries to make repayments. without a constant stream of fresh blood/ new victims any property boom will run out of steam eventually and the prices will come down.

I believe that Budimex are indeed able to weather the storm but if they were not, they would be unlikely to mention that fact. as for small developers some of them go bust. it is a sad fact of life. several will go bankrupt this year for sure

the Polish real estate market is a lot healthier than the UK or Irish real estate market that is for sure.

if you have bought your own flat and can afford to make the repayments - who cares?
flats are places to live, where children grow up and where families make their homes rather than investment products to make money

Real Estate / Interesting Article on Polish Real Estate [33]


yeah but are they? When people in the UK went into negative equity in the 1990s and the interest rates rose to 15% a lot of people posted their keys back to the building societies. however even today those people who defaulted on their mortgages are still paying the bank for property they do not own.

Now in all fairness I do not know what would happen if a foreigner defaulted on a Polish mortgage though. However banks are notorious for passing on costs so they would simply increase the cost of arranging mortgages and increase the mortgage rates so that the rest of borrowers pay to 'sponsor' the losses from people who default.

in simplistic language the 'responsible' borrowers pay to sponsor the 'irresponsible' borrowers

one of the things that I really like about Polish banks is that if you have property worth 200,000 Euros and you want to secure a loan of 50,000 Euros the bank asks you how you are going to make the repayments. if you cannot prove that you can make the repayment, there is no way you will get the loan. In the UK, if you want to secure a loan on the property you can do it over the phone and get an instant answer. OK you will have to fill in a few forms later but the loan is agreed in principle over the phone in a matter of minutes because the bank knows that if you default on the repayments, they take your house. then the bank can make additional revenue out of your misery/stupidity for charging you a fortune for putting your house up for auction to pay the outstanding debt.

this is one of the reasons that I believe Poland will not suffer like the UK or Ireland as the banks here have not been completely irresponsible. I do not believe there is a Polish self-declaration mortgage. this is basically a product where you are encouraged to lie your head off about your earnings and the bank does not verify your salary, you just pay a higher rate of interest instead. if you find one please let me know :-)

Having said that a lot of the Brits that bought in Poland are completely mortgaged up the wazoo in the UK and took out massive loans to pay their deposits to buy in Poland.

they will be amongst the first casualties if the market takes a dip. they might not suffer themselves if they default on their mortgages, however, Polish families will probably have to pick up the tab for them. Banks hate to lose money

Real Estate / Interesting Article on Polish Real Estate [33]


You are right. At the end of the day it is their signature at the bottom of the contract, but there have been a lot of vulnerable people duped into getting into debt way above their heads. Dustmen who have declared £60,000 salaries because the mortgage broker told them that it was the only way they would get on the property ladder and because in the next breathe who told them that the price of property always goes up. that coupled with Property Porn with Sarah Beeney or some other soppy tart telling the viewers that any monkey can become a property millionaire you just need to borrow a shed load of money, install a new kitchen and paint the walls magnolia then you are laughing.

the reason for the credit crunch in the US is mainly due to mortgage brokers getting poor families (read black) to take out loans that they did not have a snowball in hells chance of being able to pay back. The broker takes his commission and he is away having made a fast buck.

The UK and US systems unfortunately allow for the raving lunatic to borrow just as easily as the sensible investor. Give us your broker's number, I am sensible, honest:-)

Real Estate / Interesting Article on Polish Real Estate [33]


I know I should stop rising to the bait but i cannot help myself :-)

why do you think that falling house prices and the hardship that will befall the Polish economy is a good thing?
I am sure that everyone would just love to see the prices come down as it is a sure sign that the Polish economy is knackered or that investors have lost faith in Poland as a country or perhaps kind developers will just build lots of homes at cost price rather than the 40% profit that they usually charge;-)

why do you think that there is 'no global market' in this case?

Real Estate / What is a “Second House” in Poland? [3]

is your 'first house' in Poland a flat or a house?
if it is a flat you will probably be OK as flats are not counted as houses
you could buy 20 flats if you wanted

Life / Poland and doctors [37]

what you are doing is medicating without trying to find what is the underlying problem. it is the equivalent of noticing that your oil warning light has come on on your car and then just smashing the thing with a hammer and driving on regardless - medicating can set you up for all sorts of problems down the road

you need to see a psychiatrist in the US - Xanax is not usually used for GAD in any case - your should ask about the Wyeth product Effectin ER if you must medicate but have an exit strategy after three months

Life / Polish Train Travel - Scary? [101]


I heard the story in the mid 90s on the Moscow St Petersburg run. people were padlocking themselves in their compartments and then thieves were gassing them. Having to lug tanks of nitrous oxide onto the train would be problematic and then the next challenge would be to know how long to gas the occupants without killing them and bringing on all sorts of heat down on the gang. besides which if you saw a hose being pushed into your compartment, why not just open the window?

if the PKP team were really in on the scam wouldn't it be easier to have the tea lady offer everyone a complimentary cup of tea having laced the hot water with mogadon?

I remember a story about two Polish guys who were taking a taxi into Moscow. The driver offered them a drink and one of them managed to fight his way out of the cab at the traffic lights, the police found the other guy's body a few days later.

the same thing happens in Peru though, people will offer you food and drink on a bus and you will wake up the next day having been robbed blind

Life / Poland and doctors [37]


what did your psychiatrist diagnose as the underlying problem? Does he think it is GAD?
relaxation techniques appear to help some people, doping yourself up to the eyeballs might not be the answer.
Sweden has the highest suicide rate in Western Europe and it is partly due to the lack of light in winter. Do you find your panic attacks get worse in the winter.?

Law / Financing in Poland [12]


the banks are not interested in collateral. I tried to use property that I own in Poland to secure a loan. You can secure a loan in 2 minutes over the phone in the UK if you own property. However in Poland the banks want to know how you plan to repay the loan and the existance of collateral does not seem to be an issue.

if you are serious about entering the real estate business in Poland and are looking for funding then send me a personal email. We should be able to sort you something out.

Law / Want to start new business in Europe - New Business Options in Poland? [17]

Hi Tiya

most people on this site will help you if you have a concrete question.

read a few books on how to set up your own business and then post again
in the meantime, let us know more about you. Do you have a trade or any specific qualifications?

UK, Ireland / Immigrants in Peterborough [9]

excellent article. thank you very much for posting

I particularly like the comment ....

Resident Hema Patel agrees. "They should put a stop to immigration totally," she says "...whether they be Europeans, from the Far East, whatever. And they should sort out the problems now."

It is ironic that Mrs Patel being a native of the Indian sub-continent should be against further immigration :-)

In fact the population of Peterborough was 150,000 until 25,000 Poles moved there

Travel / Czestochowa - what is it like? [30]


Hi, it does not have any Jewish history as such. There is no synagogue or Jewish cemetary. I do not believe it has any Jewish memorials either. The communists planned to pollute the city by surrounding it with plastic factories and match factories. They also built a steel works in Rakow in the south of the city. There is no coal or iron ore occurnign in this region naturally. It was exactly the same with Nowa Huta in Krakow, the communist authorities simply wanted to pollute the city and flood the city with steel workers who would hopefully be atheists. Their plan backfired terribly.

It is not a bad place for a day trip though. If you avoid Jasna Gora - there is far less to see of course.

Real Estate / Managing Buy-to-Let Properties in Poland [27]

please be aware that this guy is a self confessed racist. He particularly dislikes English people however he is harmless and just gets off in disrupting posts.

He seems to believe that foreign investment is a bad thing.

Travel / Poland is becoming too expensive to visit. It is a nice country, but [46]


you will be missed....

perhaps you feel that the United States has more to offer...

enjoy watching the US economy go into freefall

Law / Investing: Company Shares in Poland [5]

I am not sure about other European countries except for the UK but it is very easy for me to buy shares in Poland through specialised banks or brokers. My sharedealing in the UK is simplicity itself as I deal with a broker there.

I sold most of my shares in August fortunately more a question of dumb luck as I needed to release a lot of money rather than being able to predict stock market uncertainty. Good luck.

Travel / Czestochowa - what is it like? [30]


I stand corrected. where is this?
i really had no idea and i know the town quite well

thanks for posting photographs

Real Estate / Poland top overseas property hotspot [29]

Bubba

tried to send you a PM - the system is up the spout

try and contact me if you can

Real Estate / Market Report - RICS 2008 Poland Housing Review [25]

hi - great post - thanks.
I wouldn't pay RICS a great deal of attention - they were trying to tell everyone in the UK in August that UK house prices were not going to fall and that everything was lovely. their data is completely different from that of RedNet or Mamdom and they seem to suggest that prices of new appartments in Warsaw have been falling since mid 2006. they have a vested interest in propping up the UK market so if they can suggest that the only safe place to invest is in the UK, they will do that without hesitation.

having said that house prices will stay stagnant in Poland for at least a year, new build prices will fall and prices of existing concrete blocks pre 1970 may fall too and small developers will go bankrupt this year