Real Estate / Residential real estate values go down in Poland [455]

staging is one thing- but cleaning is another. i have a link to the work i have done but i don't want to give out too much info and the photos are in flash so i can't copy them to prove my point.

yes, staging is for sellers. you want to show your home when it is clean, no clutter and nothing in ill repair. you want to get the most money for the sale. and you want to show the space. how can a potential buyer see how much space there is in a 25m2 room if it has a sofa, chair, table and all the other stuff of life.

paint can't hide damage. it can only change the look of a room and clean it up.

question for you. would you want to see a home that has pictures showing dark purple walls and death metal posters as well as empty bottles of vodka on the shelf?

this is an example that I showed when I was teaching a course. An agent put this picture on oferty.net. Not to mention a sink full of dirty dishes, a cat on the kitchen counter and loads of clutter.

you don't get past the photos- and today people do their initial shopping on residential listing sites.

you can't stage a 250,000 pln 30m2 flat in an old block to look like an 80m2 flat in a new construction building. but you can clean it up, fix the damage, do small renovations, fresh paint and update any old things so that a potential buyer doesn't only see how much work they have to do.

but once again, staging is not tricking or lying. part of it is doing all repairs before you put the place on the market.

i know some people will never "get it"-- this has nothing to do with channel 5. it works and usually in co operation with agents- clearly in poland agents need all the help they can get.

Real Estate / Residential real estate values go down in Poland [455]


actually they don't, nor do many people- not specifically Polish.

It doesn't have anything to do with tricking or deceiving somebody- it has to do with presenting a space to the best of its ability. It has nothing to do with imagination to look past somebody else's stuff. It is staging a home so that people can view it with the least amount of hassle and distractions. Being able to see a space with no clutter allows a buyer to be able to put themselves there. I am not making this sh*t up. It actually works. There are loads of books, courses, and clients to prove that it does. I can attest that it works here in Poland. If you have a look through oferty.net you will see loads of homes full of sh*t. They don't sell because people don't get past the pictures on the website- this is why people want new flats. They don't want somebody else's crap nor do they want to paint or clean somebody else's mess.

It doesn't matter if you think people can see past the crap. There is evidence that they can't. And beside that- most people don't know how to design or decorate in order to please the potential buyers.

the idea behind staging a home is to present it so that it appeals to the most amount of viewers. In Poland people don't get past the website pictures because they are so full of clutter and crap. don't believe me? look on oferty.net.

Real Estate / Residential real estate values go down in Poland [455]


actually it is anything but. I used to teach a course in home staging. the entire concept is getting rid of the clutter and all personal items and junk to show the entire space. Everything should already be repaired and in good working order. If somebody is trying to hide a leaky faucette or broken pipes then they are not staging a home for sale- they are cheating.

there is no lying- there is cleaning and painting and fixing. that is what home staging is. it is not lying or cheating to make a sale.

And it works. here in poland and elsewhere. I sold my home in 3 months in an osiedle where 6 other same models were for sale. the homes were not staged. In the spring I also helped a colleague stage her home- this involved a kitchen reno and new laminate flooring- the house sold in three days. And that is no lie. It was a resale home in an old 70's block that was sold to a retiree. He wanted to buy the entire contents of the flat- including the pictures and the sofa.

Space doesn't have to be big- but it has to be useful and in Poland so many people try to cram as much stuff as possible in a small space- leaving it full of clutter and no room to move.

Real Estate / Residential real estate values go down in Poland [455]

I don't get what you are talking about. Never ever have I said anything with regards to Poles buying what they can afford. If you look back to what I have said it has never argued that point. My point is that there is no property bubble and I think that there is a resale market in Poland that is untapped. First time buyers are not looking at flats that are already finished they, for the most part, are looking at new. There is a reason for this. Resale homes are not sale ready- the pictures that the agents put on the web are stupid stupid stupid. messy and ugly. It is not difficult to stage a home for sale but agents don't do this.

I stand firm in my belief that agents in this country don't know their arse from a hole in the ground. They know nothing about the market, how to sell a house or client relations.

I don't have a superiority complex- but you have been spouting the dribble of housing bubble for quite some time and now you are saying that small flats have always sold? make up your mind.

now developers are offering perks because the market has slowed. this includes new cars, lower prices and bigger spaces.

there still is no bubble and 35m2 have always sold and will continue to sell- for more reasons than what Poles can afford. Polish people have different spacial concepts than those in the west.

Real Estate / Residential real estate values go down in Poland [455]


that says it all, doesn't it. you don't live here and you don't get the mentality. people still buy less than 35 m2 flats. they have been selling all along. the retiree's are buying them as are singles and private investors.

I have worked with a good number of builders and this is what is selling- less than 40m2. When you have to fit out an apartment on top of the purchase of the place- it is expensive. A good purchase, in my opinion, is a resale apartment. Usually you can get bigger and it is finished so that you can live in it while you slowly refinish it when you get the money- instead of spending a lot for the initial purchase and then the extra for the fit out and cost of hiring a carpenter.

There are loads of resale places in blocks that are less than ten years old. the problem in this country is that residential agents are beyond a fcuking joke and have no clue how to sell a house or in fact have no knowledge of client relations or professionalism.

Real Estate / Residential real estate values go down in Poland [455]

it'll do. Prices in Poland have been inflated- I think 30% as an average is pretty fair. Some places will see more and some less.

Real Estate / Residential real estate values go down in Poland [455]

no- between konstancja and zawady- i don't want to give too much of my personal information.

i am curious about the prices of osiedle patio- we looked there too. the houses are great but the access is not great.

Real Estate / Residential real estate values go down in Poland [455]


what can I say- it is true. my husband is also in real estate and i deal indirectly as well.

The prices being offered today in all of the following have dropped from 2008

oaklandpark.pl/upload/cms/lokalizacja/dojazd.pdf
harmonium.sjm.pl
konstancja.pl

Rezydencja królewska

of course they have dropped- they were hugely over priced and now they are leveling out to market value. there is no bubble- the houses are still selling. people are wising up. why buy a house where the konstancin bottle neck begins. why buy a house in zawady where the traffic lights are stupid full at vogla.

when we bought our house we looked at all of these things. incoming outgoing traffic, access to schools, privacy, security- traffic was number one- after living in piaseczno for 5 years I was done with Pulawska.

look at the osiedle's that are still being built out there. besides the massive miasteczko wilanow- which incidently will see construction start on a mall bigger than galeria mokotow- there is an exclusive osiedle- residencja palac next to the stables and another one a bit further down from that. all high end houses that will easily start in the 3.5 range. and of course there is a new osiedle that will be lux on the edge of kabaty forest.

I am not arguing that there is a decrease in prices- this is evident. i am arguing that there is no bubble. a bubble is defined as massively inflated prices followed by a sharp drop. There is no sharp drop- there is a leveling out to reach fair market value.

incidentally when we were looking to buy there was an osiedle next to ours that were selling for 2.5 million- but you had to finish the elevation and fence and garden and a few more things like windows and garage by yourself. there were maybe two that sold- they lowered the price to 1.5 million and they all sold this summer- it was unbelievable.

News / Will Poland be badly hit by Recession ? I don't think so. [70]


well at least two of us know what is actually happening---funny that we are foreigners.

News / Will Poland be badly hit by Recession ? I don't think so. [70]

I posted this a couple of weeks ago and it was ignored.

blogs.wsj.com/emergingeurope/2011/11/30/polish-economy-expands-at-impressive-rate

Poland's economy grew a surprisingly robust 4.2% on the year in the third quarter, boosted by rising fixed investment and a weak currency that makes the country's exports more competitive.

The growth rate was "impressive given that it came against a backdrop of escalating troubles in the euro zone," said Neil Shearing, an economist at research firm Capital Economics.

Real Estate / Residential real estate values go down in Poland [455]


with all due respect sir, I live in this area. I know exactly how much the houses are here. Osiedle Konstancja is still selling 2.5 to 3.5 million. There are osiedle's in Zawaday still at 2.5. The prices are not dropping. In my osiedle- the prices are exactly the same as they were two years ago.

could you get a discount for 20%? absolutely, but that doesn't mean that there is a property bubble. Prices are leveling out to get closer to market value and buyers have more choice. The market is saturated.

Real Estate / Residential real estate values go down in Poland [455]


wow- you pretty much make up your own history.
no where did I compare car, oil or real estate prices in Poland. what I said was that developers are now offering "perks" such as a mini cooper. will this cause somebody to buy a 2.5 million pln house over a 1.5 million pln house- clearly no. but somebody looking for a 2.5 million pln house in a upper scale neighbourhood of warsaw may be enticed to buy a house there if they get the car for free. and no, I am not stupid enough to think the car is actually free- but some people are.

Real Estate / Residential real estate values go down in Poland [455]


do you have proof that GTC has discounted their prices up to 40%--if so please send me a link because I will buy it today. That is the one I am talking about. I checked today and shell and core 180mr is 2.5 million pln. The bigger houses are 3.5 million pln. I have friends that live there and they didn't buy a house for 6 million- so perhaps you are off on your estimate. And if you drive by you can see on their signs that they offer a mini cooper if you buy a new house.

The school in Kabaty is the International American school- not the same thing.


not accurate. they are adjusting to market value.

Real Estate / Residential real estate values go down in Poland [455]

what is interesting in Warsaw anyway, is that builders are starting to add "perks"--there is an osiedle close to me- extremely overpriced but the houses sell- it is next to the American school of Warsaw- they must have slow sales because they are offering a mini cooper if you buy a house there. 180m2 starts at 2.5 million pln. a developer I did work for have also lowered their asking price and offer 100% financing.

still no bubble.

Real Estate / Residential real estate values go down in Poland [455]

I doubt it. If you can't get a job than you can't buy anything.
Here in Poland there are jobs.

Life / Polish water safe to drink? [50]


I didn't write that!!

Life / Polish water safe to drink? [50]


hmmm....no I don't thinks so- but it works just as well, for Warsaw anyway. Thanks for looking btw.


got a source for that?

Life / Polish water safe to drink? [50]

you can drink the water after boiling- ie. tea and coffee. do not drink the water straight from the tap. the problem is that the water starts out clean but as it makes its way to you it picks up stuff because the pipes are so old. I believe there is a story about this in the warsaw voice - but I am too lazy to look for it.

Law / Shipping a car from USA to Poland [86]

what is wrong with the turn signals that they should be changed?

As for furniture- there are plenty of furniture stores here- Poland is the main exporter to the rest of Europe. There is also Ikea. Depends what you like. I have done what you are about to do. Sold all my stuff, packed four suitcases and moved to Poland- completely starting over. Ikea is handy because if you leave your stuff behind you can buy everything you need to start in one store.

Life / Whats a good gift to send to someone in Poland for Christmas [40]

we can pretty much get everything here. a nice gift would be a sports shirt or jersey or cap--something like that.

News / The quality of Polish media coverage [50]

he is right.--and I mean correct.

Law / Polish Zloty rates 2011 [20]

ok, but they are all low. why would the zloty be the only currency to gain strength. It will always follow the Euro- for obvious reasons.

Law / How to get custody of my children? I am a foreigner on a Poland's karta pobytu (temporary residence card) [29]

I haven't damned anybody. the crazy train runs both ways- I am just going by what she has written. I think I have already said a few times- get a lawyer.

Law / How to get custody of my children? I am a foreigner on a Poland's karta pobytu (temporary residence card) [29]

I disagree. Obviously nobody knows the real situation- and we only have her words to go on. If her husband is verbally and on occasion physically abusive -what do you think this is doing to the kids.

People don't change and no amount of therapy will change this behaviour. People can be taught to control their behaviour but not change it.

Being in an abusive relationship of any sorts changes a person- it will definitely change the kids.
some relationships just can't be fixed with therapy. He has control issues by her words- how do you think he will react to therapy.

and as for the kids- it is healthier for them to see their mother happy and strong instead of weak and in an abusive relationship.

She needs a lawyer now.

Law / How to get custody of my children? I am a foreigner on a Poland's karta pobytu (temporary residence card) [29]


that is such an ass thing to say.


don't even think this. go the legal route. she would be living her life in constant fear and worry. don't do it. get a lawyer and get one fast.

Law / How to get custody of my children? I am a foreigner on a Poland's karta pobytu (temporary residence card) [29]

get a lawyer, stop listening to your husband- just because he has the money doesn't mean you don't have rights.

seriously, step one english or spanish speaking lawyer.

Life / Gifts from Poland (I'm returning to my country after a year in Poland) [36]

Hit the sukienice in Krakow. Wood carvings, amber, leather, wooden boxes and toys, highlander slippers, silver jewelry, glass-not very practical but nice.

that alcohol with the gold flecks is nice.
baskets

News / Will Poland be badly hit by Recession ? I don't think so. [70]

I don't think statistics yeah or nay the op. Poland is an enigma. You can do your best to predict what will happen but ultimately nobody knows. All of the other countries you are comparing don't have the same history as Poland. All of the big ticket items that Poles never had before are still being purchased, homes included. There is also a strong desire for foreign companies to invest still- they haven't saturated the market yet.

News / Will Poland be badly hit by Recession ? I don't think so. [70]

Slightly. What is interesting is my husband works in commercial real estate and he has done many deals this year from American companies and German, among others. It seems as though the countries that were hit hardest by the recession are still investing abroad- but not in their home countries.

I think Poland will not have too much to worry about.

Life / Free online Polish Television (TVN). [15]

TVN is the fox news of Poland. They practice reporting half truths and encourage hysteria for the sake of t.v. profits.