Making an offer on a new flat in Poland

Hi,

My partner and I are looking at buying a flat in Poland (our first property). I don't know if it matters, but we both live and work in the country (she's Polish).

We have seen a new flat in the primary market (i.e. we hope to buy a brand new flat, which we will then furnish etc).

The flat we've seen is advertised at just over 300k zl. Can anyone give any advice about making an offer - basically, what kind of offer is appropriate? I appreciate that there are many factors that might influence things (location, demand etc), so it will be hard for anyone to give any completely relevant advice; however, any input would still be welcomed. For example, are developers more or less likely to accept negotiations compared to private owners (on the secondary market).

We were thinking of putting an offer of 290k o start with, which works out at a little over 4% under the asking price. Does this sound fair? Personally, I don't think this is excessive, I we'd be willing to negotiate further (for a higher price), if necessary; however, we don't want to offer too much, if they might be willing to accept less! Having said that, we don't want to look like we're wasting their time, especially if they don't take us seriously, and end up selling to someone else (we like the flat we've found).

Thanks for any help!

Offer them 240 - 250K cash and the'll snap your hands off.

I will give you some good advice though. Make sure (and be sure 200 per cent) that the person selling the flat has the right to sell it, that the flat does not have a lien against it and that the developer has paid all the firms building and finishing the flat. You may find that when the developer goes bankrupt before all the paperwork is done, you will not get your money back. Go to the Town Hall and have a look at the Ksiega Wieczysta and make sure.

I always thought developers or co-op do not accept any negotiations.

There are 2 chains of thought on this. You buy from a developer. You pay the developer during the build - he may run away with your money,. You buy a ready-made flat. You are suppose to have a guarantee which is not worth the paper it's written on if the developer goes bankrupt or if the flats are put up as security for a loan and the bank comes after them.

You buy flat/house from a private person - there is much room for negotiations.

Stupid move. His profit is 40% legally.


Today they have to put deposit.


and you buy a land and who has land has flat.

co-op never go bankrupt. Mafia cannot bankrupt ;)

Of course you can negotiate with developers. At 240k i doubt he would be snapping your hand off - build cost is about 4000 per sqm - add finance, marketing, tax on top of that and it would not leave him much profit on say a 50sqm place.

But 290 certainly would keep you in his mind - a few years ago you could probably go with 275k but good new flats go quickly these days and market information is good. What town is that in ?

I can only go off what is happening in Krakow. Some 10 years ago people paid for newly built flats and it turned out that the flats were used as security for a developer who had gone bankrupt. It took the people over 10 years of solid legal wrangling to finally be told that the flats now belonged to them. So it does happen.

Like as I said before: make sure that the person you are buying off has the legal right to sell (whether a developer or a private person) - always check the ksiega wieczysta for details.

I read in Interia today, that although prices for flats/houses have increased tremendously over the last 10 years, on housing estates newly developed flats are being left empty. Empty flats mean lower prices. I would offer as little as possible for newly built and see what they say.

Newflatbuyer, price is not everything in Poland, you should consider your neighbours as the priority, it makes more sense to pay a little extra to have good neighbours.

It was but it not is


no, developers in new buildings can control temperature via internet, cut heating costs and fight for months. If they have three blocks they sell flats in only one. Two are in "stanby" mode.

Syndicates buying blocks of flats can easily get double figure discounts on some nice locations but even if buying just one you shouldnt accept the headline price. What you will get depends on location and at what stage. If completed developer will often take a larger cut off the sale price to reinvest in new builds even if the block is in a good location. Time is money///most are debt funded. Flats prices in big cities have, on large, gone no where over the past year so its a case of selling to reinvest, I doubt any developer will not meet you half way.

We assume that you have cash - cash is a powerful tool when buying property. Bargain with it. If you offer cash and they agree the flat could be yours within a week.

I have just read that the building regulations concerning newly built flats are changing and that now the minimum can be 25 m2. For most single people that will be enough, so larger flats may not sell as well.

25-35m2 has held its price the best over the last year. Up to 50m2 can be shifted without too much problem, but bigger ones are getting harder to shift as there is a lot of supply on the market. Office space even more so, best to keep away from that area for a few years.