Australia / Dziupla Disco in North Melbourne [5]

Hi Syrena, what does Dziupla mean to a non polish speaking person? Just curious.. i live in the area.

UK, Ireland / Are the Poles in England hated? [450]

Come to Australia! Where brits are the annoying drunken fools with backpacks and poles are exotic mysterious people with an interesting accent. No one will force you to clean toilets and drive taxis here, that is for the Indian guy with the masters in computer science! Pay rates are good, the cost of living is lower than UK and the quality of life is excellent! The plane ticket will probably kill you though, expect to pay about 4500-6000zl

Real Estate / Current state of the property market in Krakow [135]

The key to your question is the word "Global" and whether or not you consider poland to be linked to the worlds economies.

In the USA there are houses in some areas of cleveland which are being passed in with a reserve of $1000. And i don't just mean one or two.

In Krakow prices close to the center are comparable to that of my hometown, in melbourne australia. Australia has a GDP of almost twice that of poland (granted it also has half the population). Australian property prices are considered high on global standards.

In my opinion it depends on polands reliance on the rest of europe - If the polish economy relies heavily on the economies of the rest of europe then you can most certainly expect a drop. I'd be concerned for anyone buying real estate in a "booming" market anywhere in the world right now... especially one that has trippled in 3 years.

Beware of anyone who is involved in this industry continuing to create hype.. Real estate agents, mortgage brokers, banks, property owners, property developers.. because it is with these people that the problem in the USA began.

Real Estate / Current state of the property market in Krakow [135]

Plenty of people are of the mind that a boom is always followed by a bust. It all just depends on how big the bust is. But this generally relates to the size of the boom. Which in terms of poland has been bigger than any other part of europe in the last few years.

peter is right. You talk to a lot of locals who have bought in recent years and a large portion of them have borrowed in the swiss franc. In other parts of the world this practice of borrowing in a different currency, highly leveraged to buy real estate wouldn't even be considered due to it's extreme exposure to risk. Betting on currency is a big gamble and I'm surprised the banks would even offer these sorts of loans to unsophisticated investors. But in a boom time everyone is optimistic.

The optimisim still seems to be high in poland, but if this turns it could be bad. If a lot of people bought recently and are hovering around the top, highly leveraged, then a small drop is all it will take to start the slide.

If you're in it for the long term and you're not highly leveraged, then you're fine, if you are highly leveraged then its time to start thinking a bit more conservatively.

Life / Experience more in Poland than any other Country [10]

Kazikowski,

I share a similar view.. I've been to Poland twice in the past 4 years and the first time i went there I arrived in Krakow and it felt like home.

Poland is nice as it is also ugly but what i love about it the most is it is very different to Australia. I love Australia, but sometimes you need a change... you don't want to spend your entire life in one place.

Poland is a great base for seeing the rest of Europe too. Most Aussies make the mistake of going straight to the UK and haemoraging money at a rate faster than they can earn it.

I'll be heading there for a stint at the beginning of next year, who knows how long for.

Real Estate / Current state of the property market in Krakow [135]

Hi Ash1972,

I think what boydie might be getting at with the zloty dropping in value is that it is a fair indication of market sentiment towards polands economy as far as the rest of the world is concerned. We are experiencing the same here in australia.. Comodity prices drop and chinas future growth is questioned (australia has a heavy dependance on china for its exports of natural resources).. and you see the value of our dollar drop as investors start to view us as a higher risk.

In terms of Berlin vs Krakow with regards to real estate i think you are talking about apples and oranges. Germany has a completely different attitude towards housing.

This said.. i do agree.. theres no point in getting out of a soft market if u are already in it.. unless you think things are going to be worse than forecast..

Real Estate / Current state of the property market in Krakow [135]

polishmarket.com/next.php?id=66778

recent stats showing a couple of percent drop across pl

Real Estate / apartment rental prices in krakow [4]

Hi Katarzyna,

I'm actually heading over in march/april.. to stay six months plus.
Does that apartment you mentioned include a kitchen and furnishings?

Regards
Dan

Real Estate / Advice required regarding Selling an apartment in Krakow [3]

hey gulrot,

There is actually a sticky at the top of this real estate forum on sites to search for property in poland. You might want to start there. Probably look at gratka.pl. I'd say you would be able to post a private sale on there, but the site is in polish so you may need help from a friend if you don't speaka the language.

Real Estate / Putting pressure on developers to cut final installment on a development construction in Poland [17]


Not if no-one is buying them.

Sounds like unfortunately you bought at the absolute peak and most likely at an over inflated price given that by the looks of it these properties have been touted as "luxury" or "higher end" to foreign investors like yourself.

You would probably be better off forfeiting your deposit and trying to buy another apartment at 20%(or more) less than what they were sold at 15 months ago. Or even better... wait it out until more certain times arrive. It seems you are in a pretty desperate state at the moment with all the threads you are posting.. and it appears as though you are not sure what to do.. If you don't have a plan.. then maybe it would be sensible to get out and wait until you do.

Real Estate / Putting pressure on developers to cut final installment on a development construction in Poland [17]


polishforums.com/central_warsaw_srodmiescie_flat-45_28947_0.html

Real Estate / Putting pressure on developers to cut final installment on a development construction in Poland [17]

Oh ok then.. In that case I can completely understand how you would forget that you had a property on the market then. Sorry...


I'm not sure what your idea of a good businessman is but I wouldn't do business with you thats for sure.

Real Estate / Putting pressure on developers to cut final installment on a development construction in Poland [17]


yes.. i understand this. My point is.. are we really comparing apples and oranges here? Harrys comment was a general one about the state of warsaw apartments. And I'm guessing you used the same "12 to 13" rationale when you priced your Platinum towers apartment at 12 500PLN? So claiming that you "don't know" because you "haven't tried to sell" is stretching the truth a bit. Logic would suggest that if you have tried to sell one apartment, then you can apply the same findings here.

Anyway.. all that aside. The reason why I'm having a go is because your arguments/comments on various threads seem to contradict your actions. This is just one of a number of examples.


This probably paints a clearer picture of your attitude. I was actually trying to make a point that someone who provides misleading information is not a good businessman.

Try focusing more on your strengths rather than other peoples weaknesses.

Real Estate / Real Estate hits a new low in Poland [86]


Put it this way.. it is doubtful prices will go up this year at all so there is no real need to rush out and buy asap. If you are looking to buy then this means you can take your time and find the perfect place.

Real Estate / Real Estate hits a new low in Poland [86]


but the US dollar is a different story to the zloty. Before the panic set in.. the US dollar was dropping like a stone. My basic take on what has happened with the US $ is that investors have pulled their money out of their investments in other parts of the world and put them into cash. Naturally they are going to put them into cash in their own currency. So the result is a flood of money back into places like the US and Japan. The same thing in fact has happened with the YEN. If it wasn't for the fact that these nations had a large population of investors then their currency would be tanking. I would personally hedge my bets on the zloty taking a further slide. My thoughts are that with poland, it is only just now that foreign investors are realizing the potential for losses, so there may be a movement of foreign investors taking their funds away from poland. (perhaps someone with a bit more knowledge of currency markets can confirm/contradict/elaborate on this)

Real Estate / Real Estate hits a new low in Poland [86]


Ha! I tried posting something along the same lines yesterday but my internet cut out when i hit submit.

It does bother me when people say "buyers market" or "now is the best time to buy". Especially at the moment. Anyone who claims to know anything of the sort right now is making porky pies.

Real Estate / Real Estate hits a new low in Poland [86]

Couple of interesting articles regarding forex mortgages.

v2.ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2009/01/19/51350/forex-failure-begins-in-poland/
ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2009/01/16/51254/another-eastern-european-meltdown/

Real Estate / Real Estate hits a new low in Poland [86]

Whats even funnier is that ania posted this directly after boleks comment on real estate agents.

Real Estate / Real Estate hits a new low in Poland [86]


So ania, are you telling your clients to buy? Or are you telling them, that times are bad, and although prices are going down, most economic forecasts point to them going down more, therefore its probably better to wait it out?

Real Estate / Typical flat offer prices in Poland [17]

I think you have to ask yourself why someone is offering you more than what it is valued at? that in itself sounds strange, especially in the current economic environment.

Real Estate / Real Estate hits a new low in Poland [86]


Some would say the practice of lending in swiss francs to buy an asset which is valued in zloty is not only irresponsible but a tad insane.

Real Estate / Real Estate hits a new low in Poland [86]


Yeah. but as ash put it.. a client who becomes bankrupt will no longer repay his/her loan. In a sense, by handing out such a loan the banks are potentially turning that client into a high risk.

Real Estate / Real Estate hits a new low in Poland [86]

I would assume that it is not in anyones favor?

Real Estate / Real Estate hits a new low in Poland [86]


fair enough. I'd be interested to hear your argument on this.

Real Estate / Real Estate hits a new low in Poland [86]


If someone owed you 200,000 zl would you just forget about it?

I'm not sure how the laws work in poland but i would assume the customer still owes the bank 200,000 zl. If the customer owns any other assets then the bank would surely have the power to take them.

And i would say that in the case of those who borrowed 70/80/90% (which is a more likely scenario) the customer would lose their deposit.

Real Estate / Real Estate hits a new low in Poland [86]

article in Australian news discuthe state of Eastern European Economy. Repeats itself a bit but theres stuff in there.

theaustralian.news.com.au/business/story/0,28124,25093112-5017999,00.html

Life / Price of beer in Poland [90]


Wow.. a discussion about Aussie beer!

In my opinion.. all mainstream aussie beers are some of the worst in the world.
There is however a heap of microbrewers making some really nice beers. Little Creatures is good. Another is knapstien.

Crown lager is carlton brewerys attempt to polish a turd by putting a gold label on something it is not really any better than VB. Vic Bitter is like drinking poison and I struggle to understand why anyone would drink it.

European beers are better :)

Real Estate / Current price of Homes in Poland [41]

taken from the mamdom site

"Poland has the 2nd most attractive real estate market in Central-Eastern Europe and the 9th in the world, according to the Real Estate Opportunity Index 2008"

I think companies like this are probably what you would want to steer away from for advice. The info on their website appears to be out of date and more importantly it was probably distorted in the first place.