Is it now the time to buy a flat in Warsaw?

I'm just wondering what's going on in RE Market in Warsaw and what are the clues to make a good investment here. Location? Price? Fit out? brand new or used?

My feelings are that, in the sshort term, market is stagnated but i feel confident in Warsaw in the long run...

Def. wait it out just a little bit, banks are not eager to give out loans, people will be pressed to sell property...

How much longer would you say, Poznan Kasia?

Well, I'm currently scouring the market myself but I'm not pushed to buy. So methinks in about 5 months' time prices should have dropped to a reasonable purchase rate. A tip for you - check out the gratka.pl website - a very popular website for house hunters (if you don't know Polish I can give you a rough guide on how to navigate it). What I'm doing is patiently sitting and watching the prices on there. But first get an idea of what you might be looking for (sorry, not from Warsaw so I can't help you out with that!). And keep going back every so often. I haven't seen any major price drops but there are some reasonable priced offers out there. Beware of people claiming they have a "super" house/flat on offer... (standards vary!). Oh, and one thing I know for sure is that the price per sq.metre quoted by "developers" is very much open to negotiation!! Good luck!

Thanks for the comments Poznan Kasia. I am living in poznan and interested in buy bur felt that a wait of a few months might not be a bad idea. Also, interested to hear you opinon about the developers. Could i ask you to give a brief navigation for the gratka. website?

Vincent

Actually I own 2 (off plan) flats in Warsaw, the first 90% paid for, the second with 90% owing. I was toying with the idea of selling the first one (while still offplan) to pay the balance on the second - which would remove any need for a mortgage.

Although frankly I wouldn't mind holding onto both long term. The return will be decent but not fantastic.

Can you sell it before your name enters the deeds?
I have not come across that here.
Usually you have to wait until you have full possession and then you can sell it.
But there are many was of structuring contracts, I am just curious.

Yes. To be precise it depends on the terms of the contract. Normally for 10/90 repayment structures you cannot sell early unless you settle in full first or pay a penalty. For schemes where you make regular payments - for example 15%, 20%, 30%, 30%, 5% you can generally flip at any time (after the first payment).

But my feeling was you'd always achieve the best price after completion. As you said earlier, there are no hard and fast rules.

Yes but it always good to know your options, thank fo the info.

Hi Vincent, just so that we're clear - there are other websites but I favour this particular website so that's why I'm recommending it. To navigate - once you're on their website page (gratka.pl) and you see the blue box that shows up, click on "DOM" and then:

-and then you have the RYNEK (market) options, so you choose who you want to purchase from, i.e.: WTORNY - "second-hand" houses/flats; PIERWOTNY - "new"; KOMERCYJNY - "commercial"

-TYP NIERUCHOMOSCI - type of real estate: MIESZKANIA - flats (apartments); DOMY - houses; DZIALKI/GRUNTY - allotment/land; GARAZE - garages
-RODZAJ TRANSAKCJI - type of transaction: SPRZEDAM - to sell; KUPIE - to buy; ZAMIENIE - to exchange, swap properties; POSZUKUJE WYNAJAC - looking to rent; DO WYNAJECIA - to rent

- CENA - price: mark the currency u r interested in;
- OD / DO - starting from/to: i.e. mark your price range
REGION - which voivodship ("province") interests you
MIEJSCOWOSC - which city/town interests you
DZIELNICA - which district interests you (you can leave this blank if you don't know)
POWIERZCHNIA W M2 - size in sq. metres
OD / DO - again, the range
SZUKAJ - search

and yer off!! Now this is where the hard part begins, actually understanding the offers. But that, my friends, we don't have time for at the mo... sorry, maybe someone else can chip in with key terminology? Good luck! PS, V. you'll get the hang of it!