Life / Moving to Krakow next year, 5000 zloty net. [48]


Well in that case there is living like a king and there is also living like a king. Many people spend more than than on the leases of their cars.

Work / What is deducted from a salary in Poland apart from Income tax? [155]

Use otodom.pl or gratka.pl. Both sites have an option where you can choose between properties for rent and those for sale. Walbrzych is a pretty cheap city as far as living costs are concerned in relation to the big cities. If you want cheap, you should easily be able to find a 50m flat for less than 1000zl/m plus bills if you try hard enough.But consider paying a bit more as you'll get a few more comforts and more importantly better neighbours, giving you peace and quiet when you are at home.

Life / Leasing or financing a used car in Poland? [3]

If you run a business it makes most sense to lease it as you can charge it fully (or half if car is also for personal use) to costs. So you get to deduct the VAT and strike some off the monthly income tax. So the car ends up costing as little as 2/3 of the price paid. You can also go the long term hire route where you get to strike it fully off each month since there is no differentiation on use. These deals look similar to lease where you can buy the car at the end of the period but you enjoy a zero deposit and your only worries are putting fuel in the car, the firm that owns it must take care of all repairs and servicing, something you need to do if leasing.

Work / Native English looking for a teaching job in Poland [135]

Hey lets just agree to disagree and finish with the fact that its a dirty job but someones got to take out the trash.

Real Estate / Buying real estate in Poland advice [18]

I don't know Warsaw and investable areas, I stick to Wroclaw, but I suggest zou find someone knowledge on the ground that can point to which areas are worth investing in and which are not. Whilst all of the big cities are doing well, each has its better and worse regions. You need to decide on what or who your clients will be, then buy a property in a location that suits that remit. If you insist on residential and say the student subsector, you want a property close to schools or at least tramlines in an area of the city that will appeal to them.

Life / Thoughts on pro vs cons when moving to Poland from New Zealand with Polish wife and daughter. Living cost. [9]


Yields in London are still very compressed despite some home price weakness, you are lucky to clear 3 or 4% especially now that section 24 mortgage relief is disappearing. And with brexit around the corner, London prices are going to be hit the worst since they have run up the most. Its a risky time to enter the London market, although sterling is probably nearer the bottom than the top (still leaves 15-20% currency downside from here). Better the let brexit play out and then enter that market.

Life / Thoughts on pro vs cons when moving to Poland from New Zealand with Polish wife and daughter. Living cost. [9]

If you want to live in Opole, that leaves Wroclaw as the nearest major investable city, with Krakow being further away. With residential investments, you will need to tend to your assets more often, so even the 100km to Wroclaw will become a burden. Commercial less so (some I visit once every 6 months), so that's something to consider as well. Some time ago when I was involved in residential property in the dolnyslask region, I had flats here there and everywhere and the travel costs were a big problem. Since then I am concentrated in Wroclaw and commercial only, while living about half an hour away.

Life / Thoughts on pro vs cons when moving to Poland from New Zealand with Polish wife and daughter. Living cost. [9]

You may want to think about a house just outside of a major city while leaving a bit more cash free in buying your business interest in the centre. Flats can yield around 4-5% if talking major cities while with commercial you can get 5-10% depending on the location and which city. The bigger the city and the better the location, the lower the yield but you can find nice 7-9% in Wroclaw so I would assume Krakow is similar. I always say 10k a month to spend for a family of 4 is enough to pay the bills put petrol in the car and not to look at prices of things although on that money don't expect to have much saved by the end of the year. Yes you can survive on less than half that but thats what you'd be doing, surviving rather than living.

Real Estate / Buying real estate in Poland advice [18]


You can try Hamilton May, they are based in Krakow I think. And speak English.


The higher up you go the more professional things are (which is another reason to go with commercial - you are dealing with large business lacking in emotion rather than locals which sometimes left emotions take over). That tends to be the case becauses its other peoples money they are dealing with and the onus is on then getting a good deal for their company within the law, rather than looking to bend the law or break it by those who have nothing to lose. Certain aspects are certainly different, but as long as you apply common sense and don't leave things to chance (that means paying for expertise when required), its a great way to play weak sterling and run a high yield in the meantime. Liquidity is pretty good in the biggest fastest growing cities, particularly if your asset is in a top location with good footfall. Of course you have to pay for this but that doesnt mean accepting a low single digit yield as in the UK, you can get high single figures although yields are getting more and more compressed as more people take an interest in Poland. Id say office space is suffering a bit from over capacity and while they are building record numbers of flats, there is still plenty of demand and a large chunk of deals there done in cash. Prices are still some way off pre GFC peaks in 2008, so there is still plenty to play for, but as I say, yields are going to be just 4-5% in better areas. You can get higher yields elsewhere, but you will need to be very hands on as you will be dealing with people that wont always have the ability to pay. So best avoided. So that leaves the commercial space. More professional, strong yield and given the long term contracts on offer, more stable.

Real Estate / Buying real estate in Poland advice [18]

Brexit is slowly sapping confidence and pressurising the exchange rate lower. Currently its around 4.79, but a transition and a deal of some sort is in the price. That means plenty of downside if things don't go to plan. I personally believe the market is being too rosy and giving both sides too much credit, where in reality, neither side really wants to compromise to do a deal, both thinking they can get away relatively cleaning without, for various reasons. I think we can down down towards 4, or above parity for euro vs sterling, which still leaves a lot of downside for sterling from which to profit.

Warsaw being the capital, draws the most interest, but Wroclaw is second behind it, being the tech hub. I looking away from the capital Id look to Wroclaw first ahead of the rest. You mention buying a few flats for no more than 400k each. But I would caution against flats. The main reason being yield. You will struggle to get more than 4-5% certainly after costs. If you can afford a million or two, I would suggest commercial property rather then 3 or 4 flats. For that money it wont be prime location, but you can get some good smaller secondary units for that money, on a long term contract (5-10yrs), inflation indexed and on a yield of 7-9% depending on location and terms. Your tenant is likely to be a chain and will take care of the upkeep, you will be able to stay hands off. From experience I would say a far better prospect than dealing with the pitfalls and low returns of flats. I made the move from retail to commercial in Wroclaw some time ago and I certainly wouldn't go back.

Getting a mortgage without earnings in Poland will be tough unless you have a larger deposit or a long business history. Your best bet is to buy a first property, run that in the books for 6 months and then try one of the small banks such as mbank for a loan on the next.

Work / What salaries are for IT specialists (Senior QA Engineer) in Poland? [59]

The German offer on pure financial terms is going to work out less given cost of living in Germany. As for saving 2000 euros, thats around 8500zl per month, leaving a spend of 6500zl per month on yourselves. You could probably squeeze a saving of another 100-200 euros on top of the 2000 but it won't be much fun living on less than 5000zl/m as Gdansk isn't cheap given its seaside location.

Work / How to earn interest on Euro Account or Deposits? [5]

There is zero interest rate policy in the eurozone so so won't find any interest paying accounts without a long lock-up period and even then a measely rate offered. You can however earn 2% PLN in the new polish postoffice online bank and there is no upper limit!

Law / Buying a car in Poland or Germany? [36]


Often they don't understand opportunity cost, that's often the case in small or rural towns. Time and opportunity lost is money.


You can buy great used cars in Poland, but of course they are going to be priced at the top of their respective price bands. Those fresh out of leases are generally 3 years old and have been well maintained given they were always owned by the financial institution or loan provider. Given depreciation you can pick up these cars for around half of showroom value or so and still have a great car but for sensible money. Not cheap, more than average, but sensible.

Law / Buying a car in Poland or Germany? [36]

You register the car at your local wydzial komunikacji. If you import from abroad you will need to pay an import tax depending on the engine size and I think more recently, age. There is a process which has been discussed elsewhere on thsi forum. People say cars are better in Germany but the reality is that you won't be able to buy a good car in Germany, or anywhere else for that matter, for peanuts. You can find cars in Germany that are cheaper than their equivalents in Poland, but they will have been prepared for sale. Nobody will sell you a good car on the cheap, that's the truth. As long as you are prepared to pay for it, you can buy a quality car in Poland that won't let you down. You can of course buy the same abroad, just be prepared to pay for it.

Work / Confused ... 1 yr London Vs Poland Base hiring [30]

Its not a question of boarding schools. A good private school, with an entrance exam attracts clearly the brightest pupils, but also better teachers as they will be paid a lot better and will get to work with kids that want to learn, rather than those that don't. It only takes one or two to hold the whole group back. Futhermore, the contacts you make there along with the after school network once you leave, means progressing in that city becomes so much easier.

Real Estate / Help need advice on buying property in Poland and dealing with the seller [16]

If you are worried about any debt, you need to get the KW number of the flat from the owner. With this you can go online and check if there is any debt in realtime. Your precontract will have included certain wording which stipulates whether the deposit is refundable of not. Zaliczka is a form of deposit that must be returned, while a zadatek does not demand legally a return of funds. As for letting the owner live after the sale, that's not that unsurprising. Often people need time to find somewhere else and secure a loan or whatever and you can write this into the precontract and final contract. Not long ago I purchased a house and agreed similar terms. It all needs to be on paper via a notary. although you can skip the notary at the precontract stage if you know what you are doing and can write the precontract yourself. As for payments, they can be made via the notary, so everyone is then secure.

Real Estate / Buying a house in Poland. How realistic is the seller's pricing? Discount negotiation. [6]

The further out of town you go, the more hit and miss the pricing. Generally the difference between asking and sale price is about 20-25% when it comes to regular sized houses. Its not unheard of two have two similar properties in similar locations with a difference of 50% in price or more. But dont let that deter you. I was recently looking at a property in Wroclaw with an ask of 2.5M. It wasnt something I was really interested in but it was a means to an end. Anyway, the property was worth probably somewhere between 1 and 1.5M and after a short time discussing, the seller pretty much acknowledged that they need to come down. I didnt buy in the end as it wasnt something I was planning to do but it does show how out of line peoples thinking is sometimes. At the end of the day, people expect to be knocked down and that reflects in the asking price. Because there tend to be few transactions than in the west, people will acknowledge the buyer and reduced the price if pressed. Its still a buyers market in Poland, certainly for houses and flats, though good commercial is getting tough to find at good prices.

Work / Taxes and ZUS on a second job in Poland [11]

Yes its called maly zus these days its about 440zl all in from memorey. You get the lower rate for 2 years and then it goes up to the full 12xx or whatever it will be in two years time. Its an incentive for people to start their own businesses. From 2017 the tax rate I think is due to drop to 15% from SMEs, not sure if parliament has voted on it yet or not, but likely to go through.

Real Estate / To buy a property in Poland - a basic starting point needed. Where is a good region to buy and why? Finances. [7]

You need to decide what you want from the property first. Where its going to be a pure investment vehicle or not. If you are looking to stay in the property for any period of time during the year, then that rules out commercial and puts you into residential territory. But to give yourself the option of taking advantage of the property yourself, youll have to stick to the largest cities or those with the largest influx of tourists during the in season. Otherwise renting short term isnt really viable, there wont be the demand for short term.

But if youre not planning to use the property yourself, you can go for commercial. Every city is slightly different, but stick to smaller units (50-200m) on the ground floor, which are located by or close to the market square. You can buy ready rented with long term contracts upwards of 5 years, but expect to pay more for this. But even so these kind of properties are available with a yield of around 7-8%. While its a buyers market, the best properties demand strong prices and wont come up for sale too often. They tend to crop up most when property rprices have been booming for a while. Poland has been pretty much unloved for some time by foreign investors, so those holding the aces havent felt the need to dispose of their prize assets at current prices.

News / How will BREXIT affect the immigrants in UK and Poland. [1114]


Im afraid it is. It is all about the bottom line for multinationals. A deal will be done to ensure the vast majority of trade continues as is. Billions are spent each year lobbying, the politicians are in these corps pockets, you may not like it, but thats the way of the world. German corps will not allow costly tariffs to damage their bottom lines. The exchange is already going to make things difficult for them, its a done deal to keep trade largely as is.

Real Estate / Planning permission for garage building in Poland [5]

Yes they are the rules. You will have to apply for permission and will signed consent from your brother in law and this needs to be submitted as well. Best to go to the planning applications desk and tell them what you want to do and they will tell you what paperwork is required.

Work / Polish private pension - is it obligatory to join? [13]

Recently the current government have been talking about moving part of the burden onto the private sector by forcing employers to set up private pensions for employees. This would go in hand with state pensions. Details are sketchy, they are at this stage just throwing out ideas looking for feedback. While debt to GDP is a very respectable 51%, if you include pension liabilities then its somewhere in the region of 200%. I dont think there will be quite as many pensions to pay out in the future and size of packets might be overestimated (thats my own personal view), but something needs to be done to bring the pensions black hole back in line.

News / Anti-government opposition wants to impeach Poland's President Duda [44]

Sadly its in the nature of Poles to argue amongst themselves and put themselves first when in positions of authority. These days its best to try to get along with as many people/groups as possible. This generation needs to pass through for a fresh start but until I see it I wont believe it.

News / How will BREXIT affect the immigrants in UK and Poland. [1114]

Greece has no jobs on offer thats why there is 50% unemployment amongst the youth (you wonder what our lot of students in the UK were thinking about voting for remain. Maybe they wanted to stay eternal students). Immigration would just make things worse, but of course you wont see any as their is no incentive to go to Greece. Germany and the UK are far more attractive. Greece can solve its problem by leaving the euro, while remaining in the european union (although the germans are unlikely to let them leave easily). Essentially what Poland has today. You get the single market access but also retain the ability to debase your currency if necessary and gain that advantage over partners.

News / How will BREXIT affect the immigrants in UK and Poland. [1114]


House prices will drop 20%, markets will collapse, taxes will go up 2p in the pound. Daft? Yes But lukewarm? Come on! They threw all kinds of rubbish at it. Youre starting to look like a blinkered remainer!

There are about 1.2 million expats abroad not 5 million btw. And immigration is good for the economy is not a full stop statement. To a degree they can be, but too many or too many of those milking the system creates a drag. For most people, we are here.

There will be no second referendum. Its done. Its just sour grapes on the part of the losing side. All elements of those with the potential to be in charge have said it will happen, it just a question on what terms. Youve just had Leadsom guarantee the rights of EU citizens in the UK the right to stay, but immigration from here on will be on the UK's terms. Hers is probably the best mixture, although UK expats may get a better deal from a May leadership.

News / How will BREXIT affect the immigrants in UK and Poland. [1114]

jon it seems to me you think that everyone that voted to leave did it on racist grounds. There are ghastly minorities on both sides, but its very much not the case for most people. Even those that had a problem with immigrants taking benefits, youll find most of them blame the EU for tying the hands of the UK government, not particularly the immigrants themselves for trying their luck. There will always be the few that tarnish the rest, but that goes for most arguments in all walks of life.

News / How will BREXIT affect the immigrants in UK and Poland. [1114]

Hes given up on getting rid of the deficit by 2020. And I think most investors will be prepared to see through that short term given the reasoning behind the move. Certainly if sterling can continue to weaken and stay weak, youve got some very favourable conditions for new foreign businesses to enter the UK, or indeed current ones to add at favourable levels.

UK, Ireland / Transfer Money from UK to Poland [36]

Yes you can use a sterling account and convert when you wish. PKOBP do an online dealer service and from memory its about 8 big figures spread so about 4 figures either side of market. Its 100zl/m to keep the service so makes sense if you convert once a month or more and are using larger sums as it keeps things safe and legal. If changing a few grand than a kantor makes most sense and if buying pounds most let you buy at market as it saves them having to send the daily pound collection to the bank.

News / How will BREXIT affect the immigrants in UK and Poland. [1114]

Well osbourne has today told parliament that corp tax will fall to 15% from the current 20%. Last week BoE head Carney said interest rates are likely to fall over the summer and should help those worried about their monthly payments for their homes as well as boost for those wanting to borrow in the UK to expand their subsidiaires.

News / How will BREXIT affect the immigrants in UK and Poland. [1114]

the EU runs a surplus with the UK, so it has more to lose tradewise, its that simple. Multinationals that lobby the governments will not allow anything but similar to current terms, but even if there would be tarrifs on both sides, the UK will offset that with new agreements with the likes of Japan, South Korea, Australia etc. But as i say, its a net lose all around if no trade agreement, so it will get done one way or the other, sooner or later. The EU cannot be seen to be soft on a member leaving but at the same time will not cut off its nose to spite its face. Germany and its corps will be the biggest losers on any non agreement, which is why Merkel is keeping the middle ground.

As for any legal case, you have had the UK vote with a small majority wanting to leave. But if you remove the Scots votes you get an even bigger majority wanting to leave - outside of London, there were only a handful of regions that voted net remain, the bulk were for leave.

ig.ft.com/sites/elections/2016/uk/eu-referendum courtesy of the ft.