I am considering buying an apartment to rent in a main town and a house to live outside a town, in the Walbrzych/Swidnica/Bolkow (South west of Wroclaw) region. I would be grateful for advice on the following points:
Is this region considered to be a desirable location? Are there any important points to consider when buying and renting an apartment? What is generally the minimum period of rental for an apartment? What are the advantages and disadvantages of renting out an apartment?
There are people that can give a better answer so wait for their views.
No that is not a desirable area - it was hit very hard by the end of communism but is making a steady recovery. It is too far from Wroclaw to commute and you will not have any student market. So your potential tenants would be young families who want to stay in the area. But eventually hey will buy.
As for advantages and disadvantages then all the usual that you can google but some specific Polish ones -
You will find it tough to get a zloty mortgage if you don't earn in zloty
Factor in tax to your calculations - there are two methods of paying which you can google but roughly you will lose 10 percent of your income to tax once you have deducted expenses
Laws are quite tenant friendly at the moment - so best to ensure you have tenants you can trust
There are a few people here who are probably getting yields around 10 percent but they are doing that professionally, watching costs, more experienced on building and repair costs etc - my personal experience is about a 5 percent yield, less if I factor my wife's time, petrol etc. still it's better than getting 1 percent at the bank.
Make sure to check the air quality in the area. Wałbrzych used to be one of the most polluted cities in Poland back in the 1950-1990, but now it seems much better (still, the weather is not pleasant during winter). Świdnica is a nice city with a lot of economic development and jobs, but it seems to be sort of polluted too. I'm not sure about Bolków, other than it's much smaller than the two and probably less economic opportunities. The best overall location is probably Świdnica (close to Wrocław and also the Czech border), but personally it'd probably be best to keep much closer to Wrocław, which has become one of the major modern cities in Poland. You may also consider pleasant towns like Środa Śląska.
Thanks for your feedback on my post...your comments are appreciated.....there are of course a lot of things to consider....air quality seems to be much improved and not as bad as the Krakow area where I currently live.....all other information you have both provided is very helpful.
