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Posts by andy b  

Joined: 26 Nov 2007 / Male ♂
Last Post: 1 Dec 2009
Threads: Total: 4 / In This Archive: 0
Posts: Total: 156 / In This Archive: 39
From: Krakow, Poland
Speaks Polish?: a little

Displayed posts: 39 / page 1 of 2
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andy b   
19 Oct 2011
Law / Online Polish banking (in English) [27]

Citibank Handlowy also has internet and phone banking in English, I have had an account for more than 5 years and the service is good
andy b   
12 Aug 2011
Real Estate / Best Mortgage Lender in Poland? [25]

I am paid in Swiss Francs and at the moment it makes sense for me to take a mortgage in CFH.

From a few internet searches, it looks like the following banks will still loan in CHF in Poland right now:

Bank BPH, Nordea, Multibank, mBank, Polbank, Alior Bank (cheapest margin is Bank BPH).

I found the table with information and margins etc on the following Polish-language link:

strefabiznesu.nowiny24.pl/artykul/ranking-najlepszych-kredytow-hipotecznych-%E2%80%93-lipiec-2011-62457.html

Scroll down for the CHF table and information, it's nearer the end of the article
andy b   
19 Nov 2010
Real Estate / Flat/apartment Rental Sites in Poland [12]

There are lots of national real estate portals, here are some of the bigger/better ones:

krn.pl
gratka.pl
oferty.net
morizon.pl
nportal.pl
domoklik.pl

and don't forget gumtree
andy b   
19 Aug 2010
Genealogy / Von Straski, Polish surname? [22]

here is a good search site for finding surnames in Poland: moikrewni.pl/mapa/
andy b   
26 Jul 2010
Real Estate / Information on suburb in Krakow - is Gorka Narodawa a good suburb to live? [3]

It depends on whether you have a car or not - if no, I don't think it is very well connected in terms of public transport. This area is on the Northern outskirts of the city, near the road to Warsaw, but also close to Opolska which will get you to other parts of the city. Most of the housing is quite new. One benefit is the fact that there is lots of nice walking/cycling in the vicinity - outside of the city limits. It is also a hill (górka) so some of the flats will have nice views over Krakow. It is not so close to the centre, but even though it is on the outskirts of the city, it's only about 5km from the centre via al. 29 Listopada
andy b   
12 Jul 2010
Travel / Bus travel Krakow to Przemysl [5]

I think you can forget the bus for this trip. Train is the way to go. It isn't very quick, but bus would probably be slower anyway.

I checked the website for the Krakow bus station (rda.krakow.pl/pl/index.php) and there is only one bus at present from Krakow to Przemyśl.

It is a night bus leaving Krakow at 2am and arriving in Przemyśl at 6.45am! But it only looks like it runs during the summer months.
andy b   
8 Jul 2010
Real Estate / Buying a flat in Krakow; prices are still falling? [200]

Yes, it is possible to negotiate successfully on the price of rental apartments - though not always, it depends on the owner. Make an offer and see what the reaction is!

There has been downward pressure on rental prices for the past few years, and this has been particularly evident this year - many apartments which were bought by investors during the boom have only recently come on to the market.

A three room apartment could be 60m2 or 100m2, so the price of electric heating in winter will vary according to size. You could pay between 400-700 PLN per month for electric heating in winter. Much better to go for a flat with gas heating where you will pay more like 200-300 PLN per month for heating.
andy b   
8 Jul 2010
Real Estate / Buying a flat in Krakow; prices are still falling? [200]

Prices have been relatively stable in Krakow for the past year, after falling 20-30% from the peak in mid-2007. For the past few years, it was possible to observe a kind of stand-off in the market, with a big gap between expectations of buyers and sellers. In recent months, we can see this gap getting smaller, and so more transactions are now beginning to happen.

One of the biggest problems in Krakow is the unrealistic price expectations of owners who want to sell. Many of them won't accept that the true market price is actually much lower than the price they think it is worth - this is made worse by many agents agreeing with the higher prices of owners. Why they do this is a mystery, as they can't sell these overpriced flats and hence won't make any money from the sale.

It looks to me like more owners are willing to accept the 'market price' now, and that is the reason why the levels of transactions are beginning to rise. Buyers are also finding it easier to raise mortgage finance now than in the last few years, and many that have been on the sidelines for the past few years can now see that prices have stopped falling.

Another positive for buyers is the larger stock of mainly new apartments, which can be bought either from the developer or on the secondary market. Whereas a few years ago, buyers had to take the risk of buying off-plan and hoping the developer would deliver, it is currently possible to choose from a lot of new apartments which are ready for delivery - buyers can see exactly what they are getting, which is a big advantage. I believe this excess stock will have largely disappeared come the end of 2010 and the beginning of 2011, and many new developments have been started this year by developers, which won't be ready until late 2011 or early 2012 - so if you don't buy this year, you will probably have to buy new apartments off-plan again next year.

At present, pretty much all offer prices, whether the property is new or second-hand, are negotiable, at least by 5% and sometimes by more than 10%
andy b   
23 Jun 2010
Real Estate / Polish mortgage providers - overview of offers? [10]

It's a very competitive offer, but of course the income requirements are a little higher than other banks.

Yes, definitely clients with uncompetitive offers from banks like Dom/Noble/Metrobank should consider refinancing
andy b   
23 Jun 2010
Real Estate / Polish mortgage providers - overview of offers? [10]

Frankly they're all a crock of **** compared to 2-3 years ago.

Commission (marża) has rocketed from a standard 2% (negotiable downwards with the right people) to 4-5% and above, offsetting any gains you might have from the overall drop in bank interest rates.

Not true, although there are still many bad offers on the market.

Probably one of the best at present - and available also to non-residents of Poland - is with Bank DnB Nord.

Their promotion for May - not sure if it is still valid - had the following main points:
0% loan commission
0% bank margin in first year - after that 1.7%
0% early loan repayment commission (either part or full) during life of loan.

Oh, and now would not be a bad time (in the next 2-3 months) to take out a CHF or Euro denominated loan. Sllly season is over as far as the run on the PLN is concerned (WTF was that 5.04 against Sterling the other week all about?) - the zloty can only strengthen in both the short and medium term.

I agree with you
andy b   
7 Jun 2010
Real Estate / Do any UK banks offer mortgages for Polish properties. [37]

You generally won't find banks willing to lend on property which is located in another country. If a mortgagee doesn't pay, then a bank needs recourse to the legal system, and a UK bank isn't going to risk having to deal with this in Poland.

Your best bet would be a Polish bank with an office in the UK, such as PKO BP:
pkobp.co.uk/index.php?id=placowki_pkobp_w_uk&=&lng=en
andy b   
11 May 2010
Work / Girl looking for job speaking English apart from teaching English. Ideas? [30]

I am not saying it will be easy to actually get one, but there are many jobs offered in different Polish cities on this website for which native English speakers should be suitable. They are in international companies where the language of the business is English: jobrapido.pl
andy b   
10 May 2010
UK, Ireland / EXCHANGE RATES BETWEEN POLISH ZLOTY AND BRITISH POUND [73]

are worldwidecurrncies a reputable company??

Like Wroclaw Boy says, there are lots of currency exchange companies out there.

We have been recommending Worldwide Currencies to our clients for more than 4 years and no complaints
andy b   
10 May 2010
UK, Ireland / EXCHANGE RATES BETWEEN POLISH ZLOTY AND BRITISH POUND [73]

300 000 PLN / 4.5 = 66 666 GBP

The thing about these currency companies is that the rate they offer includes their commission, so if they give you a rate like 4.5 PLN / 1 GBP, then that is the rate you get - there are no extra charges
andy b   
10 May 2010
UK, Ireland / EXCHANGE RATES BETWEEN POLISH ZLOTY AND BRITISH POUND [73]

Your bank will be able to do it for you, but the exchange rate will not be great.
In this situation, it is best to use a specialised currency exchange company - personally, I have used a company based in the UK called Worldwide Currencies, and they always offer a much better rate than banks which will save you a lot on a transfer of this amount: worldwidecurrencies.com
andy b   
29 Apr 2010
Travel / Cracow - Gdynia, what is the best way to travel between the two? [11]

I have taken the overnight train from Krakow to Gdynia a few times in order to attend the Open'er festival. Yes, it's slow, but it's also pretty cheap and a relaxing journey. Get a bed/couchette and it's possible to get a good night's sleep and wake up refreshed - unless you make some new friends who make you drink vodka until the early hours. They also do a pretty good scrambled eggs in the dining car!
andy b   
14 Apr 2010
Travel / Sopot Music Festival [9]

I think you are talking about the "Top Trendy" festival in Sopot, but there doesn't seem to be a date set for 2010 yet: toptrendy.pl
andy b   
1 Apr 2010
News / POLISH ALCOHOL RESTRICTIONS... [9]

I was in Australia recently and it was such a refreshing change. I couldn't help myself a few times and offered the correct change, but more often than not, they didn't want it. Some places even had this nifty change machine which meant the shop assistant only had to handle the notes, and the coins were automatically dispensed. And one final thing which Australia did around 10 years ago which makes a lot of sense. They got rid of the one and two cent coins, and now everything is rounded to the nearest 5 cents.
andy b   
1 Apr 2010
News / POLISH ALCOHOL RESTRICTIONS... [9]

And it will be against the law for Polish shop assistants to ask for change. If they don't have the correct change, they will be fined!
andy b   
30 Mar 2010
Love / Arranging a Polish wedding with a beautiful Polish girl next summer [4]

Hi, there is quite a lot involved if you want to get married in a Catholic Church in Poland.
I am part way through this process myself.
You do need to go to pre-marital classes before the marriage.
In my case, this involved four classroom sessions of an hour each, followed by three consultations ("poradnia") - two together with your partner, one by yourself. Each time we got stamps and now the completed documents have been given to the church.

You will also probably have to provide the church with certified copies of your baptism and confirmation documents.
In terms of the legal stuff, I think most of this is to be completed in the "urząd cywilny" no earlier than 3 months before the wedding. You also need to provide a document to say that you are not already married in Ireland.

Good luck!
andy b   
25 Mar 2010
News / Polish nightclub guard whacks off client's hand with saber [58]

Here's a link:

newpolandexpress.pl/polish_news_story-1842-bouncer_hacks_off_punter's_hand.php

A bouncer of a sex club in Krakow has been arrested for hacking off the wrist of a customer with a machete after he refused to pay for the club's services.
andy b   
23 Feb 2010
Travel / Best way to get from Krakow to Katowice for 10.40 am flight.... [9]

The service which rich55 is referring to is run by another company, so if you are flying with someone other than Wizz, it's still an option to get to Katowice for a flight.

Not cheap, but I don't think there are any other alternatives.
You can check departure times and book here: matuszek.com.pl/transfery_en.html
andy b   
25 Nov 2009
Real Estate / Is there a Real Estate bubble in Krakow? [60]

Hi spammer, you and your multiple aliases are responsible for all of the same deluded lies and misinformation being spread on this forum.
andy b   
8 Sep 2009
Real Estate / Luksa - Big problems with developer in Lwowska, Krakow [79]

I can't see that they have any reputation after the Lwowska residence fiasco.

Having said that, the new development they are building nearby is fairly close to completion, so provided the build standard is ok, potential investors probably won't have any issues with this one.
andy b   
7 Sep 2009
Real Estate / Luksa - Big problems with developer in Lwowska, Krakow [79]

there is a development nearby currently being sold called "Willa Avangarda" - if you do a google search you will find a website for this development. It has sold fairly quickly at prices between around 7800 PLN per m2 and 9000 PLN per m2 (developer's standard, prices including 7% VAT). Luksa is also selling apartments in their development on Plac Bohaterów Ghetta called "Villa Wisła", you can find pricing here:

neodom.pl/Inwestycja/Kraków/Kraków_VILLA_WIS£A/6