Work / Real average gross wage and salary in Poland vs Real Estate Situation [11]

I expect Odessa will also take off

UK, Ireland / Anybody knows how to watch Polish channels in UK? [36]


Apologies for trying to help........lesson learnt.

Travel / Holidays in Leba, Poland [12]

curious007,

When you come back please can you post some pics of Leba as I'm very curious as to what it's like ?

Thanks :)

UK, Ireland / Manchester - Question - living standard for Polish migrants. [29]

I live 20 mins from Manchester and can only reaffirm what others have said. The North West has a large Polish community and Poles have easily integrated into the community.

You will have no problems.

Travel / Flight from Poland to Ireland - end of July [8]

I've noticed some of the "cheap" airlines are not particularly cheap.

I was looking for a flight for a friend some months ago from Gdansk to Liverpool and they were quoting over £ 200.

Wizz Air also have an annoying habit of advertising cheap flight promotions on their website "on selected flights and dates" and then not advertising exactly which flight or which date. Therefore you have to browse through thousands of combinations to try and find one of their promotion offers.

Travel / Masurian Lakes from Gdansk [3]

You should be able to make it in 1-2 hrs by car. The Masurian Lake District is a large area so it depends how far you want to venture in it.

The Kaszubian Lake District is about 1-1.5 hrs drive from Gdansk in the opposite direction and is also worth seeing.

Travel / vacation in Krakow, where 2 go out? [12]

It's true. Everyone IS talking about Krakow but that's not a bad thing. Most Westerners have a very poor image of Poland even though they have never visited so Krakow is a perfect introduction to shatter people's misconceptions about Poland.

After their first visit then hopefully they'll be more encouraged to explore more of the country.

News / Polish religious pilgrims crashed coming back from a pilgrimage [62]

Recent Polish coach crash in France

I've lifted this from another forum. What are people's views of the author's comments ?

"The driver should not have been using the road. Simple

The building should have been inspected properly so the roof wouldn't have collapsed under the weight of snow.

Ooops sorry wrong story but still a person 'getting round' the law. Oh how Polish

Very sad that again a person not abiding by the law gets lots of people killed.
Tragic yes, Driver killed in the crash, he got off too easy. Jesus Christ is YOU NEED ELECTRONIC BRAKES TO USE THIS ROAD too hard to understand?

National mourning Poles should be ashamed of their crap law breaking drivers, I am just pleased there were no innocent passers by killed, i feel sorrow for the pasengers and families.

The driver broke the law, simple. The roof was not checked, bribes were paid. same problem. The law is the law if you are Polish or not. Times have changed, poles shouldn't need to 'wangle, con, avoid rules, Ignore the law' any more.

National mourning or national embarassment?"

Real Estate / Advice on what Polish city to invest in.... [101]

central or in the suburbs ?

Travel / Upside Down House in Kaszuby, Poland [8]

I visited this house only two months ago in Kaszuby. In fact, I posted one of my pics in the photos section of this forum but it didn't receive much attention

URL

The upside down house wasn't built purely as a tourist attraction. It's actually a clever piece of marketing for a company called Danmar who specialise in the construction of timber frame houses. They've created a "showhouse village" showing different examples of the type of houses they can build.

The "village" has become a tourist attraction it it's own right and is a nice way to spend a couple of hours. They have guides who show you round the place for a small fee. The "village" also contains a timber hall that houses the longest single natural plank of wood in the world (apparently it's in the Guiness Book of World Records). It tends to be used nowadays for large parties and dinners.

As for the upside down house it's a very weird experience. While you're waiting to go inside it's great fun watching people staggering around inside. Once inside you understand why as the place makes you feel like you are drunk. Just walking to the back of the house takes a great deal of concentration and completely messes with your balance !!!

Going upstairs is even more fun !

Well worth a visit !!

Travel / Car rental with GPS in Poland [6]


I've looked into GPS in Poland in some detail last year and my research showed that TOMTOM was NOT the one to buy. At best they only offered around 27% coverage of the country which is crap !

The best Polish GPS on the market is Automapa but I think you might need one of those pocket computers to load it onto.

Real Estate / How do I look for property in the Sopot area? [45]

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 !

Life / Pay as you go SIM - best option ? [19]

I use Heyah. I think have about 2-3 months before it "locks".

Life / Price of beer in Poland [90]

Cigarettes are even cheaper compared to UK prices !

Travel / My opinion on Gdansk and Poland after 11 days [45]


Disagree. How are Prague and/or Budapest more interesting than Krakow ?

Come to think of it, I wouldn't want to stay more than 3/4 days in either Krakow, Prague or Budapest. These cities are ideal for long weekend breaks, nothing more.

I'd argue that's there's only a handful of the cities in the world that can keep you interested for upto a week.

Travel / Warsaw, Poland - hotel recommendations? [30]

Polonia Palace Hotel is within your price range and is a top class hotel. If you do go ask for a room with a view over the Palace of Culture AND also dine in the hotel restaurant as the decor is stunning.

Real Estate / Buying property in Krakow [11]


Agreed. It is a great place to own a property but perhaps not such a great place to BUY a property in the current climate.

I think the Krakow market is reaching it's peak and there are far better options around the country.

If money is no object then invest in Warsaw or Krakow but if you're looking for short to mid term investment then perhaps look elsewhere.

Travel / 18 male staying in Gdansk seeking accommodation. Ripoffs? [4]

are you looking for a central Gdansk apartment? What about Gdynia or Sopot?

Related: Gdansk accommodation rip offs


i live in gdynia near Gdansk and you are better staying in Torun. It's a fantastic little city with great bars and nightlife and the hotels are cheap and a decent standard. Watch out for taxis, stamp your bus tickets and have a good time.

Travel / Gdynia info / Hotels to stay [17]

A friend of mine has a lovely apartment with terrace in the Orlowo district of Gdynia, It's only 5 mins walk to the pier and beach.

Email me from my profile if you want more information.

Real Estate / I am English, 40, want to sell my home and move to Poland [17]

Hotrocks,

Merry Christmas first of all.

I'm always genuinely interested in the reasons why English people love Poland and I hope you can elaborate.

Was it anything like you expected, if not, why not ?

Law / Using Allegro in Poland - payment / transfer / rules / fees [18]

Is it possible then to sell on Allegro being outside of Poland ?

Real Estate / Problems of renting in the Polish market [46]

yes.

A friend of mine once changed the locks whilst his non-paying tenant was out.

Real Estate / Problems of renting in the Polish market [46]

I'm not sure I agree.

If a tenant doesn't like the property they are renting then they have the option to move out.

The landlord should also have the option to evict a tenant in certain cases for example if the tenant shows no intention of paying rent or if the tenant causes intentional damage to the building etc

I agree a landlord should NOT evict a tenant if he simply doesn't like the look of him but there has to be some balance here and tenants shouldn't expect to live in a private property rent free.

Real Estate / Problems of renting in the Polish market [46]

Falkster,

I agree with your sentiment but but you seem to be supporting the Polish model of tenancy protection which I personally think isn't fair.

If a tenant doesn't pay rent then why on earth should the landlord not be allowed to kick him out ??

Real Estate / Problems of renting in the Polish market [46]

Can we please try and keep to my original post instead of hurtling personal insults at each other ??

Falkster made a few statements that I also disagreed with but can we try and be civil about it instead of trying to belittle him ??

It's not as if he said you all have ugly children !

Real Estate / Problems of renting in the Polish market [46]


"hurtling"....."hurling" hmmmmm they both seem to work :)

Real Estate / Problems of renting in the Polish market [46]

Interesting point made by Bubba and especially InKrakow.

So it seems to be true that buy to let in Poland is a risky business after all. I understand that rental properties in tourist resorts have a better chance of success but then of course these would be limited to short term rentals. Bubba, what do you think a typical occupancy rate would be for a rental property in a tourist spot ?

InKrakow, you have confirmed what some other Poles have told me i.e. it can be bl**dy difficult to evict non paying tenants.

I wonder if all the foreign investors piling money into Polish property are aware of this ? :)

It seems that the best way to benefit from the Polish property market is therefore by capital appreciation (either by holding onto the property for a number of years OR by adding value to a property in the form of a renovation or remont)

Joo Who & Falkster,

You are both as bad as each other ! If you want to continue name calling then please do it via private messages and NOT on this topic.