Real Estate / Poland's apartment prices continue to fall [1844]


Leave the EU, try get a vote on that and I suspect you will be told to **** right off.

Real Estate / Question about a POLISH HOUSE PRICE (total cost?) [11]

Well, you better live in it if you don't want it to be looted. I've had my farm robbed twice in two years. There is little left to steal now.

Life / Is it me or do people "seem" to live longer in Poland? Life expectancy among Poles. [52]


That some generalisation covering a billion people. Hpwever, two facts

Americans die younger. On average, the richest Americans have poorer health at age 50 than the poorest British.

So maybe your don't see as many old Americans becuase they are in hospital or a coffin.

USA, Canada / Moving from United Kingdom to USA. Is it worth it? [136]


The best options is to save the money in the UK and buy back in Poland. Failing that, buying somewhere outside of the South East of England will make a massive difference.

Work / Got a job offer (involving Hungarian and Romanian languages) in Krakow. Potential salary? [28]

There are people in Krakow earning 1000pln a month. My brother in law is earning 1500/month driving quarry equipment. Maybe 5-6000 is normal in Warsaw, but the head of a university department only earns 7K in Krakow.

I'm sorry, but language translators with no other skills are not highly paid.


Probably a fair assessment


Obviously not a a translating position, that should make for interesting support calls..

Real Estate / Question about a POLISH HOUSE PRICE (total cost?) [11]


His wife is Polish

USA, Canada / Moving from United Kingdom to USA. Is it worth it? [136]


I don't know, lots of dirt poor neighbours and too low fences?

USA, Canada / Moving from United Kingdom to USA. Is it worth it? [136]


So you can buy $2 worth of food for $10 and think its the definition of cheap? Its the cost of the raw material which matters as I'd make my own pizza becuase quality and taste is more important than cheap and quantity.


Its how the US is perceived around the World, get over it.

Real Estate / Question about a POLISH HOUSE PRICE (total cost?) [11]


Why would it be wrong? its in the price range (75K pln)of a similar house my parents-in-law bought 100km directly North West of your location. Although that had 1.4ha of farm, orchard and woodland so its comes with the benefits of the farmer social protection as well as the income.

If you want to determine a fair price for property , multiply the average local wage by three and take away any repair work/improvements required. So 64Kpln seem ok assuming its only needs 10k to fix up.

Work / Got a job offer (involving Hungarian and Romanian languages) in Krakow. Potential salary? [28]


Languages are almost worthless skills. Companies do not want to pay for it and I suspect it would pay less than the national average which is 3500pln. Teaching English to private clients seems to be quite lucrative in Poland. However, to become a professional translator it took my friend 15 years, 20 languages to earn a average wage (£27K) in the UK (its way below a London average wage though). He has no job security, they replace a group of 5 Asian specialists within a day of sacking them.

So 2200 maybe poor, but unless you have other skills I doubt you could expect much more.

Real Estate / Question about a POLISH HOUSE PRICE (total cost?) [11]

Its a small wooded house in the middle of nowhere. Good luck with that, notice there are no internal pictures.

You will have to pay taxes of a few percent

Life / Is it me or do people "seem" to live longer in Poland? Life expectancy among Poles. [52]

I'm shocked how young people die here. Cancer, strokes they are getting it in their early fifties. I know loads of people in their early twenties whose parents have died in Poland. Nobody in the UK like that.

"but there isn't too much sunlight in Poland. "

Not so, Poland's annual hours of sunshine are equivalent to Northern Italy, higher than most of Germany for instance.

USA, Canada / Moving from United Kingdom to USA. Is it worth it? [136]

I'd say you have no chance of getting a visa. Australia is a better bet, I think your trade might qualify, but you will have to check.

News / Wroclaw man helping police after recent events in Norway [48]


Not quite true. A prisoner who is still a danger to society can be detained indefinitely. Imprisonment is increased every five years after the 21 years are up.

Real Estate / Buying agricultural land in Poland as an investment opportunity? Cost of ploughing? [16]

Another thing, you can buy agricultural land with a permit now. It takes time, but it should be possible.

If you you are desperate for farmland, buy in the UK, its cheaper, £4k/acre for the best agricultural land against £20k/acre for this land in Poland.

Real Estate / Buying agricultural land in Poland as an investment opportunity? Cost of ploughing? [16]


How so? If he has a contact address in Poland it doesn't mean his company is dodgy, you cannot be everywhere and he can have representation here.

How do you figure out that? My understanding is that you have to have adjacent building land for a change in use. Is that a the case? How does the fact that its separated into small lots work with that?

Why is the vendor selling the land cheap if he is confident of getting permission which will double its value?


Which, of course means that you do not own the land. So the directors can sell the land and hand themselves a large bonus while you get to keep your share certificate.


Worthless and meaningless. The land owners know what the probability of the land getting permission is, and they choose to sell it without. Thats very instructive. If the land cannot be built on, its (any remaining land, sales income will be long gone) assets are worth 1/5 of what they were sold to you. So who is going to finance this guarantee? Again, thats a solid evidence of a scam.

Also, what about media, water, gas electricity? Besides the large potential cost, there is no guarantee they will install it due to capacity restrictions and this is almost a nation park - it maybe impossible. Why isn't it already installed? its normal in building land.

There is loads of building land available in Poland and planing permission is reasonably easy to get. So why over pay for agricultural land on the very vague (and almost certainly no) chance that it can be converted?

Real Estate / Foreign investor, properties in Poland, walk away from mortgages? [209]


No, in the UK.

mglaze

How are you getting on?

Real Estate / Buying agricultural land in Poland as an investment opportunity? Cost of ploughing? [16]

If its agricultural land you can't build on it, thats not going to change. It looks like an elaborate scheme to sell you land for several times its worth, these sort of cons are very common in the UK.

Run. Away.

I paid 5zl/m2 and it included a 80m2 house, barn.

Life / Poland has to pick a nation and accept 3 million people of that nation - who do you choose [59]


My impression from spending time with South Americans is that they are a basket case, like many of their countries. Suffering from over inflated ego's and delusions of grandeur.

On the other hand..

Real Estate / Foreign investor, properties in Poland, walk away from mortgages? [209]

You should have gone to an IFA (Independent Financial Advisor) if you wanted an explanation of the risks and issues involved. The fact that you obviously didn't makes you entirely responsible. IFA are insured and would have given you someone to sue, if they had advised you to take a FX loan (which they probably would not). The salesman isn't responsible for your buying decision, unfortunately.

Law / Which currency is better for Poland and the Eurozone? Euro or Zloty? [36]


nope, cold hard practical fact that the markets follow to a tee.

Where is the CHF now? Are the markets emotional?

Law / Which currency is better for Poland and the Eurozone? Euro or Zloty? [36]


No it isn't. The US is a country led by lunatics with no grasp on reality, investors elsewhere are not encumbered by American dilutions.

CHF is where you want to be.

Law / Which currency is better for Poland and the Eurozone? Euro or Zloty? [36]

Obviously the Swiss Franc is the best currency at the moment.

Real Estate / Foreign investor, properties in Poland, walk away from mortgages? [209]


ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2011/07/14/622806/the-swiss-national-bank-of-poland-and-other-cee-countries

Real Estate / Foreign investor, properties in Poland, walk away from mortgages? [209]


Definitely get interest only. While you are at it demand a lower interest rate, I don't know what rate you are paying but CHF interest rates are >0.2%, anything above is profit. Threaten them if need be.

Real Estate / Foreign investor, properties in Poland, walk away from mortgages? [209]


wbj.pl/article-55364-polish-govt-acts-to-reduce-foreign-currency-loan-costs.html

Real Estate / Foreign investor, properties in Poland, walk away from mortgages? [209]


50% of total mortgages in certain years. There is probably 5million+ mortgages in Poland so its no where near 50%. Some will have been old enough to not be under water due to rapid prices rises.

A lot of overseas investors will have taken the CHF loans., speculators like yourself. Foreign currency loans are for gamblers and you should be aware of that rather than blaming the bank for giving you what you want.


You were investing in a foreign currency loan and your income was a foreign currency. In the US and UK you are not allowed to take that sort of loan except if you have income in a foreign currency. Thats the differance.

Real Estate / Foreign investor, properties in Poland, walk away from mortgages? [209]


I suppose that is good for him. I have heard that banks have pursued debtors all over the world, in particular a £20k debt to Thailand. Ever heard of such a thing, banks chasing debts outside the EU?

Real Estate / Foreign investor, properties in Poland, walk away from mortgages? [209]

You cannot get rid of the debt by transferring it to a Ltd company, too late. As for running to the US, just don't try coming back to the EU as they will pick you up at the border. And hope the US never accepts a European arrest warrant. I'd expect many countries around the world will eventually accept them.

I still think you should wait for the CHF to fall, it may happen in a year or two.

Real Estate / Foreign investor, properties in Poland, walk away from mortgages? [209]

mglaze

I don't know if you figured it out yet, but its seems very obviously that the banks will not allow you to walk away from the debt and will pursue your assets abroad. They will do this with a relatively small debt and your debt seems large.

Its not a culture thing, its Polish law.