Work / Travel costs to Warszawa (Warsaw) for interview for foreigners [6]


Those agencies do not spend a penny for applicants's travel costs, hotels etc but if you are selected by the client they represent THEY will make money if your application is chosen!( the equivalent of several months of pay)

Just avoid recruitment agencies if you do not yet live in the country where the job interviews take place and cannot afford all these costs, it is a waste of time and money unless the job is highly paid.

They surely should give at least a stipend but usually they don't because they have tons of applicants so they do not care

News / Wal-Mart coming to Poland? [146]


You must be joking. A Huge amount of prosperity for themselves for sure.

Wal Mart is crap, they sell crap, they treat their employees like crap.

I hope Polish consumers will let Wal Mart sink if it ever comes to Poland.

They would have to compete with Biedronka, Lidl, Carrefour,Auchan, Alma Supermarket(gourmet) no chance...

If Whole foods came it would be better since they sell local organic products and not cheap poison like Wal Mart

Life / $3,000-$4,000 a month - would we have enough money to live in Poland? [273]


No I did not. I said that a "Deluxe" way of life in Poland could cost 18 000zl a month.
As for shopping i love food so i go to Hala Targowa open air market ,Alma supermarket and Biedronka ( for basic household products)mais I do not own a car and i do not live in an expensive Warsaw gated community.

I agree that most Poles earn about 3000 zl per month which for a Polish hoursehold would be 6000 PLN.

But believe me some make much much more( restaurant owners,private doctors and surgeons,bank directors etc)

Real Estate / Purchasing an apartment in Tarnow and relocating [4]


120 000 US$ is quite a lot , i would recommend Krakow because although it is more expensive ,Krakow has everything ,albosultely everything ( Culture, Active Business life, Leisure activities, shops restaurants architecture, museums etc etc)

I believe that Tarnow would be 30 % cheaper than Krakow depending whare and what you buy but it will take 10-15 years to Tarnow in my opinion to reach what Krakow can offer if it ever does so it is up to you ,if you are prepared to be patient...

USA, Canada / Polish or American Education? [180]


Well if you are wealthy you can take your kids to the US for an excellent education in private schools which will cost you until they go to college the price of several houses in Poland!

However if you go back to Poland your kids will benefit from an excellent education almost for free compared with what you ll have to pay for them to attend good schools in the US.

News / Wal-Mart coming to Poland? [146]

Wal Mart is the worst.(LOL)
The others focuss on food but Wal Mart focusses on everything /junk mostly but for me it is how they treat their employees and the fact that the mom and Pop's stores in Poland would all go out of business in a minute )

Fantastic Open air markets in Krakow have almost become places for tourists only....

Travel / Watch out for airport personnel stealing stuff on regional Polish airports. [64]


A Polish friend of mine flying from Krakow to Paris had hidden some euros in her suitcase , the money was stolen although she had a small lock !

I think Polish Airports subcontracts the luggage management to some private companies and some of their personnel are thieves ( on a short term contract or knowing nothing much can be done against them).

There is the possibility of wrapping your luggage with plastic, this service is offered in any airport and definitely at Balice Airport Krakow.
Passengers with valuable items should have their luggage wrapped as it seems safer for it's a lot of hassle for the Airport Luggage thieves to steal from those luggage.

Travel / Watch out for airport personnel stealing stuff on regional Polish airports. [64]


Japanese passengers do. They cannot imagine anything they carry in their luggage could be stolen , in Japan you can leave a purse full of cash in the middle of the street and no one will ever take it.....

Work / Polish Salary and Tax [43]


Yes excellent salary In Poland, no doubt, you must be highly qualified ,congratulations.

Law / The Zlotych v the Swiss Franc [16]


You can move your Swiss Francs to the Zlotych now because the Swiss franc is incredibly high versus any currency given the mess in the US , Asia and Euro zone.

On the other hand it is sad for the thousands of Poles who signed for their mortgage in Swiss Francs some years ago.

I don't think that anywhere in Europe( maybe in Hungary too?) banks could propose loans and mortgages in Swiss Francs , a curency which can only appreciate since it has always been a "safe heaven currency".

Law / What's the best way to transfer £20,000 into PLN [31]


t I agree with Convex,take the money with you and exchange it at a Kantor, loads of Poles working abroad do that.

Study / Going to Medical School in Poland (University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn / and others) [51]

You should come to pursue your medical studies in Krakow, very renowned Medical Institute with courses in English and the oldest medical school in Poland:Jagiellonian medical school

I heard that many foreign students /non Polish attend the college ,maybe some members of PF could you give their feed back about the one in Warsaw + Krakow medical colleges

Real Estate / Apartment Rental Agencies in Łódź [16]


i agree however if you do not live in Poland it is quite hard to let potential tenants visit the place, you need to ask your local friends and it is just embarrassing.

What i also find strange is that management companies I talked to decided what the rent should be, offer to pay you the rent directly instead of the tenants doing it, i would prefer that they just deal with finding a suitable tenant, making them sign the tenancy agreement under the owner's name and not the agency's name, deal with the documents , send you the czynsz etc get 10% commission on the year rent and that's it.

i mean let the tenants pay you .
Anyway I did not fully understand this kind of organisation.

Life / Getting pretty tired of the postal service here in Poland [58]


send them by registered Post.

Life / How many Jewish people live in Poland? [145]


Common but false and stupid comment.
Have you ever read Daniel Mendelsohn great (autobiographical )novel entitled "THE LOST"?
Then read it.
Have you ever realized that in Yad Vashem Memorial most of the "Justs" are Poles?
Then go to Jerusalem.

Real Estate / Poland's apartment prices continue to fall [1844]

My impression is that prices for Polish apartments will continue to fall and eventually crash .

This is logical if one takes into account these factors:

1) Almost everyone in Poland got a property mortgage no matter how much they earn and the private debt is considerable
2) A big percentage of these mortgages are in Swiss Francs so people will be struggling and get rid of their property
3)There is an abundance of rentals and the rent prices areridiculously low compared with the rest of Europe
4)The situation could be compared with the one in Miami where millions of people invested in property and the prices crashed.

Which means that cities attracting international investors/buyers(Warsaw, Krakow) will rebound like Miami now with the Brazilian buyers but there will be a huge price correction- Crash) before international buyers arrive or come back on the Polish market and in the meantime the Poles will go into renting homes and not buying them.

Real Estate / Poland's apartment prices continue to fall [1844]


What do you mean by" pariahs immo?" Apart from places like Iran or Albania ,if a country is nice and the economy looks ok, it always attracts a mix of local and international property owners.

Spain and Ireland did not need the investments of foreign buyers to have their real estate market crash.They did it by themselves.

Real Estate / Building a house in Poland need advice from anyone that has built [100]


Never ask a Polish company their fees, they ll rip you off. Just calculate your budget and ask them ( in the manner of take it or leave it) to stick to your budget.

If you don( find anyone , get a quote from a Chinese builder ( they are doing the highways aren(t they) or a British one.

Real Estate / Poland's apartment prices continue to fall [1844]


Oops, i bought such a property , but it is a holiday home we rent to cover our costs.
had i known about Polish developers before we would have bought it in Western Europe and just rent in our beloved Krakow...

Real Estate / Poland's apartment prices continue to fall [1844]

Avalon , these facts also applied during Spain & Ireland Golden Age in Real Estate Boom? And look at what happened?
Spanish Real Estate is definitely cheaper now than Polish Real Estate for sure!

Real Estate / Poland's apartment prices continue to fall [1844]


Sure,especially in Spain in Ireland and even in Miami...

Let's be optimistic and hope for the best in the Polish Real Estate market.

Real Estate / Poland's apartment prices continue to fall [1844]


yes Negative Equity.
Let's cross our fingers it does not happen in Poland.

News / HIV infected Nigerian has bitten bus ticket's controler in Cracow! [56]


Grubas, I never heard this term Afro African ? what do you mean? If he is from Nigeria, Africa can't he just be called an African?

Also does it really matter that this chap was black yellow or white ? He cheated on the Bus and tried to escape by biting the conductor that's all.

I am even surprised that a Gazeta Wyborcza jounalist wrote an article about that.
Pathetic..

Law / Why are the Poles following the Swiss Franc? [17]


You are totally right. Some people are naive and will get whatever is cheaper at the time and will believe anything a bank employee who gets bonuses will tell them.

Honestly it is sad that one must always mistrust every ine and double check everything.

Real Estate / Poland's apartment prices continue to fall [1844]

milky

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negative_gearing

News / HIV infected Nigerian has bitten bus ticket's controler in Cracow! [56]


I did not know that all Africans had HIV!
Besides in the US + Europe there is now a treatement against HIV but Cancer + heart attacks kill more people in Europe the world than HIV

Law / Poland on its way to Greece? [64]


The problem is that Poland committed to switch to Euro.They should not have done so and kept their own currency like the UK has kept its £ Sterling Pound.

I think Poland needed so much money from the Euro zone, all these funds they received , they had to modernise their post communist society ,everything was falling apart.

Travel / Whats your favourite Polish city and why? [132]

Krakow for everything Wroclaw ,Lublin, Gdansk have exept for the Ocean!