Introduction and help w/employment opportunities and Polish housing prices etc.

Hi fellow PF members,

Thought id come and introduce myself, my name is Matthew and i'm an English man looking at moving to Poland, Warsaw to be exact.

A bit of background, my fiancee is Polish, we met in London and after living in London for 5 years it's time i experience life in her homeland. I have been to Poland many times over the past few years, i have only ever enjoyed my time in Warsaw, its a great city.

My Polish language skills are weak at best, but i can get by. Im hoping that once i am actually living in Poland my language will improve, jeez it has to!

I stumbled across this forum when trying to do some research on potential employment opportunities and polish housing prices etc. To say the details i uncovered have dampened my previous enthusiasms is an understatement. I am lucky that my fiancee has a job as it appears i have very little chance of getting a job in my 'field'. I am an environmental consultant, specialising in contaminated land, so if anyone needs an old industrial site investigating i'm your man :-)

Unfortunately it appears that native speaking is really my only employment option. Given the popularity of this work stream can anyone tell me if it is difficult to find work as a native speaker. Would i be required to have any formal teaching qualifications?

I have contemplated starting my own business in Poland, as this is how ive worked in the past. Could anyone tell me how long it may take to start my own business and are there any cost implications.

I have some experience of property development, is this something which is common in Poland? Does anyone know if there is scope to do this in Poland? Is capital gains tax an issue?

Apologies for all the questions, but i really am quite daunted by the prospect of trying to earn a living in Poland and any help would be massively appreciated.

Thanks
Matt

Plenty of work there. The problem is that all the source material will be in Polish.


You are not required to any at all but the better schools (i.e. the ones which pay more and are usually like likely to treat you like shiit) will require that you have a CELTA (but doing one of those only takes four weeks). Teaching isn't a bad way to get started, you can make some decent contacts and then use them to move into another career path.


Not a good time to be developing property here, not with the market the way it is now!

If you're taking people's money for it, yes. Also, the market isn't good at the moment.


The paperwork is annoying but straightforward. Anything else depends on your business plan. What sort of capital are you looking to invest? If you want limited liability there has to be a certain amount of share capital (50k zl when I last did it).


Quite high proprty prices in warsaw, but a very good letting market provided you're there in person. The Polish equivalent to Capital Gains Tax is an issue. So is VAT if the property is over 250sqm or on a luxury development with communal pool etc. Unless they've recently changed that.

True. But you can also register your business in person at pretty much no cost. No need for sp z o.o. (llc) if it's a start up company and then you're taxed at 19% on your personal income as well :-) (plus social security etc., obviously)

Though that's much cheaper for the first two years after you register!

after you learn some Polish and attract the right Polish business partners you can probably become a successful representative of bigger Western businesses in your field

Thanks very much for all your replies, seems like a friendly forum.

@ Harry - Im not sure there is a huge amount of work in the environmental field at the moment. My fiancee is in the same industry and although she has a job, it is on short term contracts as and when the consulting companies are able to win projects.

Why is it not a good time to develop property, is the market on the way down? Surely if the market is relatively stable there is money to be made from renovating 'tired' properties. Or is it the case that there is not a market for refurbished property e.g. people would rather buy and do work themselves?

@JonnyM - I am not looking at opening an environmental consulting organisation initially, so i dont think liability etc would be an issue, correct me if im wrong. I would like to open a coffee shop. I would be doing this with one other Polish investors who have a little experience in this field. We would obviously like to reign in initial investment amounts, given rents seem to be quite high, however we would not want to compromise the final product, 50K zl is potentially available though.

Regards property development, I heard that capital gains i around 19%, but can be avoided if you sell after a certain time period. Do you know if you are capital gain tax exempt if the property is your primary residence?

@Zman - Could you elaborate on this registration process please. What is an sp z o. o. ?

Thanks again, your insight is really appreciated.

That would be the one.

Sadly, it's something much less whimsical than a petting zoo, which was my initial reaction. Just a boring old limited liability company. If you guys ever open any cafes outside of Warsaw, I demand at least a job interview (that's how bored I am of my desk) for providing that crucial bit of illuminating info. :)

There are enough coffee shops in Warsaw, there is room in the market for a company that will provide good quality refits for new builds and reforms. If you provide a professional service and maintain high standards at a good price, you will have plenty of work.

Well it wont be 'just' a coffee shop.

We are looking at providing products not currently available in Poland, this will hopefully set us apart from the rest of the market.