Life / Funeral arrangements for a foreigner in Poland [28]

Because most of them enjoy seeing their own imagined "clever" words rather than saying anything substantial. Like a lot of people these days they make it about THEM instead of helping or just staying out of it. And when you get angry at their nonsense they again turn it around and act like YOU are the issue. Typical passive aggressive nonsense and it is very transparent.

It's become clear this forum is more of a place for such people to "hear themselves speak" as it where rather than actually provide help and info.

Real Estate / Poland's flat rental agents and the anger they brew in me.... [60]

Thanks Pip I will check that site. I rented my last two flats without agent but now I am having a harder time finding direct options. It would be different if the agents found a great flat that you couldn't find yourself, but to expect one month's rent as a fee to spend a few minutes letting me in and photocopying a standard rental agreement is just mental. Most will offer 50% if you push but today I had a woman who insisted she did a lot of hard work like showing me the place and preparing the contract so it was fair for her to be paid a full month. I told her I wouldn't be calling her back. Sorry for being ********** frustrating.

Real Estate / Poland's flat rental agents and the anger they brew in me.... [60]

I like you...our common anger binds us ;)

Real Estate / Poland's flat rental agents and the anger they brew in me.... [60]

Yeah thats what aggravates me...that even though I do all the leg work I still have to get through them as an obstacle to see a place as they are often the only contact...Gumtree used to be mostly private offers but its tipped to agencies. Not sure where they get the cheek to ask for so much money to get in the way ;)

Real Estate / Poland's flat rental agents and the anger they brew in me.... [60]

It's not a matter of speaking Polish...most of the ads are listed by agents so you have no way to contact the owner without calling the agent. Lately they are even refusing to give you the address exactly, and many are requiring you to sign agency contracts before seeing the flat, because they know people will try and go there and leave a note or something. It's getting out of hand.

Real Estate / Poland's flat rental agents and the anger they brew in me.... [60]

I understood you and agree it's best...but the problem is most of the ads are not from the landlords and you have no way to contact them. You MUST contact the agent if you want to see a certain flat. I wish it wasn't like this but more and more are listing with agents. Lately it seems the flats I like the most are listed by agents unfortunately.

Real Estate / Poland's flat rental agents and the anger they brew in me.... [60]

In my experience Gumtree is now more agents than direct. It used to be mostly direct. You can filter out agents of course but you lose more than 50% of the open flats doing so.

Just now I checked the site and filtered down to 292 flats with my criteria....192 are with agents...100 without.

Real Estate / Poland's flat rental agents and the anger they brew in me.... [60]

That seems to be a problem with all the sites. A lot f the listings are old, or just resubmitted over and over even after being rented. Several flats seem to be listed with multiple agencies and they don't have current information. It is quite frustrating.

Real Estate / Poland's flat rental agents and the anger they brew in me.... [60]

Mike...it's also as good a time as any to start learning some Polish. You can pick up pretty quick what the basics are for flat related stuff. And yeah...Google Translate makes short work of any issues if you cannot understand. Flat listings will be the least of your communication worries so don't give up before you start.

Life / Health system in Poland - NFZ costs EU? [18]

Thanks...guess I wasn't paying close enough attention when looking at that site. Appreciate it.

Real Estate / Poland's flat rental agents and the anger they brew in me.... [60]


And they are nearly ALWAYS lies. The places that make it a point to mention how quiet they are for example...never are. Flat hunting is not a fun experience. Even pictures are often very deceiving.

Real Estate / Poland's flat rental agents and the anger they brew in me.... [60]

It is easy to rent out a flat without an agent. Just take pictures...post on the portals...and show it. Yeah it takes time but in most cases the owner is present when an agent shows the flat anyway so why do you need them? As a client searching they do nothing but get in the way and force themselves into the middle man position not allowing you to have the owners number etc. If you aren't in the same city and have no friend/family that can do it then you have no option...but the agents don't really do anything special or that anyone can't do. And they expect a LOT of money for this. They lie and claim the law requires they be involved etc. And they lie between the client and owner during negotiations. I may have no choice since I haven't found a flat I like with a direct listing but I am not happy about it....and won't ever choose to use agencies if I have other options.

Real Estate / Poland's flat rental agents and the anger they brew in me.... [60]

I was arguing against Janek's post that it would be impossible to manage without an agent. I agree that agencies behave very poorly and are unprofessional. But in order to advertise you have to post on places like Gumtree. Shame they harass owners. You'd think there would be some legal recourse.

Life / Symphonies/orchestras in Warsaw? [3]

I'm not a musician as I am talentless...though I always wanted to play the cello...but would love to know what is out there in Warsaw as well. If you need a date to a performance let me know.

Work / Advice on Teaching English in Poland [709]

Whole two room flats in the center are 1700-1800pln roughly at the low end lately...sky is the limit on the high end. Not sure what people are renting rooms for if you don't go in halfsies from the beginning. I'd guess around 800-1000.

Work / Advice on Teaching English in Poland [709]

Your first mistake is expecting things to make sense in Poland ;)

Lots of stuff doesn't quite work with the math like that here. I have never understood it. I have Polish friends I know don't make enough for what their rent is so not sure how that works.

Real Estate / Poland's flat rental agents and the anger they brew in me.... [60]

It's just the attitude here. I have the same experience in Warsaw and have in years past when I rented. Even agents won't follow up or return calls for days and often by then the flats are rented. There really is a social apathy in regards to customer service and communication in Poland. Don't get me wrong I am not a Poland hater and chose to live here. But there ARE differences in "business" attitude and it ca be quite annoying. The excellent customer service/return policies etc are about the only thing I think the USA is better at than most places. The EURO might be making it worse but it has always been like this.

Life / Let`s compare prices of services and products in Poland [359]

Yes families do live in single rooms here. I know "four person and a dog" families that live in one room flats. I even know a couple 6 person familes that live in two rooms flats...meaning one main room and one bedroom. It's uncommon to have more than two rooms for most people here. That means if you have a family they grow up in tight quarters and that is just how it is.

In Warsaw renting a two room flat starts in the 1500 or so range..I couldn't say the avg. You can always get a better deal if you know someone...but I haven't seen even crappy flats listed for less than 1500. 1700 and up is more realistic for a decent standard anywhere near the center.

Real Estate / Poland's flat rental agents and the anger they brew in me.... [60]

Yeah I don't think they understand what "good standard" means as they all claim that and very few actually are. I started showing up 30min late for appointments because I got tired of standing around that long nearly every single time waiting for them to show up. One had the cheek to give me a hard time about making her wait 10min when she was already 20min late herself. It's getting harder and harder to remember WHY I wanted to come back here.

Real Estate / Poland's flat rental agents and the anger they brew in me.... [60]

I didn't say it was specific to Poland. But it IS much worse here than in many places like the USA, Canada, certain Western European nations etc. I am not slamming on Poland...it's just reality here. Every nation has it's better and worse points. Depsite the rhetoric for example I think American heallthcare is horrible. There are fancy hospitals and lots of equipment, but the attitudes and worse the inflate costs are criminal for example.

Life / Let`s compare prices of services and products in Poland [359]

I would hardly say the families I know living in one or two rooms are living in filth. In fact their places are nice and clean. The biggest issue is privacy for everyone. I am not sure what your point is as the normal situation in this country is closer quarters living and flats are not huge in most places for the average person. Normal people in New York don't live in huge places either. Maybe if you come from a suburb you don't understand what city life is like but space is not as plentiful.

Saying people live cramped just so they can "say they live in Warsaw" is stupid. People live in what they can afford where they want/need to live. Half a million US dollars will get you a pretty big house in some boring suburb in middle America...and won't even touch a house or apartment purchase in New York or Los Angeles. If you choose to live in a city you get less space per unit of currency and that is how it is...but not everyone wants to live out in the burbs or rurally.

Life / Which services is Poland still waiting for? [218]

Travelers often need a laundrette. Washing your clothes in the sink/tub isn't fun. Of course high/middle level hotels have laundry service but not all do...and you ar trusing your clothes to who knows who..hoping they won't come back shrunk or blended colors. Poland is the only place I have ever been that I haven't found publc laundrettes. I suggested it as a business to several people here but all blew it off. If I had the funds I would give it a go. Yeah locals won't use them, nor do they in most places. They are for people passing through or people who have washers break and need a few days to get things replaced etc.

Life / Which services is Poland still waiting for? [218]


Kebabs. And you can buy sandwiches in all sorts of places from grocery stores to small delicatessens. With meat, cheese, eggs whatever.

I am not sure if you live in Poland or not Fuzzy, but I don't think it is a good fit for you based on the amount of things you have a problem with here. And I am not Polish just living here so I don't have any nationalistic need to defend the place. It has a lot of issues. But the things you dont like such as small flats and food options seem to be pretty petty.

Life / Which services is Poland still waiting for? [218]


Off and on for 7 years. But in Warsaw so cannot speak to Wroclaw's sandwich situation. Here there are sandwiches everywhere. Yeah most are premade but its not like what you want doesn't exist in any form. And here there are several Subways as well.

Life / Which services is Poland still waiting for? [218]


This is something I think you have been conditioned to worry about...not that it is an actual threat. I have never heard of a kid falling out of a flat here. Nor is my flat full of bugs due to the lack of screens. I normally tip my windows back at the top and don't swing them open like a door.

Polish flats retain energy a lot better than wood frame buildings in the USA for example. In the winter I never have to turn the heat above half way and in the summer even without air conditioning it is much more even than in the USA where people turn the AC on and make it cold and run the heat up and down in the winter. I hate forced air heating common there. Since I got back to Poland my bloody noses and dry skin have healed since I am not being subjected to that nonsense.

A lot of the stuff I see in this thread is "make it like I am used to in the USA or UK" not what is actually missing.

Life / Which services is Poland still waiting for? [218]

Much more "even". Meaning consistent and without the constant up and down that forced air heating causes.

I also don't choose flats on the parter or low levels, or with trees up against the windows, which is surely helpful with bugs.

Life / Which services is Poland still waiting for? [218]

I have noticed from Fuzzy's posts he is in the "Poland sucks" expat phase. We all go through it...I may go through it again as I just moved back after a break. But he does seem to complain about a lot of stuff that either isn't true or is just "different" than other places not worse. If he was going on about customer service, or office workers (government AND private both) lying and passing blame without ever giving you accurate info THEN I could get behind it as a cultural issue. But bug screens and sandwiches? Silly.

Life / Which services is Poland still waiting for? [218]

Fuzzy,

First...the things you have listed are available to those who want them. Most people don't so they might not come standard (bug screens for example) meaning YOU are the outlier and it's not something Poland could "use".

Regarding A/C I grew up in the US where everyone uses it and thought I "needed" it as well. But when I adjusted to life here I found I didn't and was more comfortable in the long run. Same with the lack of electric dryers for clothes as a standard. When I went back to the States I found I hung my clothes up so they didn't shrink...and hated AC as it felt WORSE going in and out of massive temperature extremes. Sure maybe if you live in Rome and it's 50 in the summer you might say hot is hot..but Poland is ever so hot like that. There might be some days in the 30s but it's ridiculous to act like its intolerable.

Its pretty clear you **** and moan constantly about Poland and life here. I know lots of expats like you and have even been that way at times so I get it...but it is off putting. Following your own rude advice...if you don't like it move back to a place where you can have a 50sq meter living room and sandwiches to go as you like them and you won't have to deal with uncivilized life with flats too small for your superiority since you NEED so much space and all these special things.