Real Estate / Apartment Admin Fee in Poland / Krakow? [4]

Both parties often pay, but some agents don't charge one side or the other. Standard ask is usually 1 month's rent as the admin fee or 500zl. In the past I've negotiated an ask of 1 month's rent down to a half and perhaps less (I can't remember). 500 zloty is a cheap fee if it's for a flat not a room.

Real Estate / Lost keys for communal letterbox in Poland [5]

Sorry, I thought you meant a communal or shared box.

In which case if it's an individual box's lock, occasionally there's a number on the lock or original key. That number corresponds to a pattern which the manufacturer or some key cutter or locksmith outlets can use to make a duplicate key. Alternatively, a locksmith (and some key cutting shops if they have locksmith experience) should be able to open the lock in about 5 seconds but can also make a key if you show ID. In all cases, ID may be asked for, for obvious reasons! (There's also a chance the building admin or managers have a spare - so ask them first before going down the locksmith route.)

Real Estate / Lost keys for communal letterbox in Poland [5]

Can't her brother show ID to a neighbour and get the neighbour to open the box, and then maybe pay the neighbour to get a spare key cut?

Work / Suggestions for starting a business in Poland ( I have 50/60,000 USD ) [59]

Might be a better idea to invest it in a specialist fund that invests in many startups at once rather than becoming a business angel yourself in just 1 or 2 ventures.

But, remember that the value of your investment can go down as well as up. Only invest what you can afford to lose.

You might also want to watch Dragons Den on Youtube for an idea about hits and misses when investing in new, small firms.

youtube.com/watch?v=sAT7dhDrDRg

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

I don't read any formal reports. Some of them (don't know about the ones you mention) could be biased to talk the market in one direction or the other (although usually up, for obvious reasons) and so I go by my own finger in the breeze. In summary: patchy but generally down so far except for some new builds which seem to have leapt off the shelves, presumably due to MDM or some cheap deal.

That said, some stuff coming to market is ambitiously priced, so I am guessing the media is spewing encouraging words about recovery and employment prospects. Many of these flats would need a senior manager's salary or two to be sensibly related to wages, however.

The bad luck (or is it good luck, if prices continue to fall?) continues ... an agent who speaks English phoned me and promised to be in touch to set up a meeting in his office to "choose from our very big selection". Nothing.

And the owner of a flat totally failed to show up to an appointment. No call, nothing. Silence.

In both cases, I have decided not to phone and chase up the parties who let me down because I don't want to do business with people I already know are just wasters.

UK, Ireland / Living in England - the reality. I am now returning to Poland. [30]


Just want to add for anyone browsing the thread in the future:
- the majority of agents (or all in my experience) in some towns don't cease marketing when a buyer offers to buy and starts conveyancing. They may even leave the For Sale board up until the day contracts are exchanged. I had this experience in the South West in the 1980s. I was most taken aback that the agents refused to consider anywhere as sold until contracts exchange day. I later discovered it was commonplace there. Of course, some agents probably suppress interest so that they can sell a place cheap to some contact giving them cash in a brown envelope. Such corruption probably happens in several countries, though. As for deposits, agents are supposed to ask for a holding deposit of a few hundred quid if someone says they're buying, but I think they do have to return it if the deal doesn't go ahead. The deposit paid on exchange of contracts however is not usually refundable if the buyer backs out.

UK, Ireland / Living in England - the reality. I am now returning to Poland. [30]

OP, sorry to read of your experiences (I am a Briton).

Firstly, lawyers come in all shapes and sizes, and some are fair and some are expensive but whatever they charge there's always the few whose main interest and knowledge mainly centres around where the best places are to drink and the horsepower of some car or motorboat they want to buy. Not meaning to boast, but a friend's friend who is a lawyer once told me I could forget my claim against a large national co in the UK and I had "no chance". I then quoted the law to him, he looked a bit confused but repeated his doubts. 3 or 4 weeks later I had my money out of that company, every penny. And my friend's friend was no ordinary lawyer but a partner at a central London firm on true megaquid per hour. I kid you not.

I'm also surprised to hear about what sounds like difficulty selling your house or flat because we're told it's a sellers' market in the UK and buyers have to toe the line. In England, it's always been the case that a seller or buyer can withdraw at the last moment. It's a risk we've always had to live with (Scotland is different). Many buyers lose hundreds of pounds in surveyor and legal fees when a seller suddenly withdraws or sells to someone else for more. It happened to me once too. I lost GBP600. But you must have done very well if you bought a house or flat, so England was quite a lady for you really :)

Your English is really rather good, and I'm surprised you didn't go for a better job somewhere. As for references, few employers check them much or at all. That's one of the problems there, nobody really bothers. As a care assistant, you would have been CRB checked, and if that's clear then you would likely be able to find another job as a CA. Although, as commendable as caring roles are, they are not for everyone, and with very reasonable or rather good English I'd have been tempted to look to an office role if in your shoes.

If a reference for you is very questionable, it may go beyond what is called "fair comment", reasonable or privileged and yes it is actionable in law.

For the UK
gov.uk/work-reference
findlaw.co.uk/law/employment/employment_law_basics/getting_a_job/500307.html

For Ireland
hayes-solicitors.ie/news%5Cnews_11_2003_June_5.htm

I am surprised that E Sussex was as dud for you as it sounds. But you return to Poland the richer for it in many ways and are likely to prosper due to your improved English and world experience, if you're in a fairly good part of Polska! I hope all goes well!

Real Estate / Any Good Real Estate company in Krakow getting the rent from tenants? [3]

I assume you mean as a tenant. I always negotiate here. The most I ever paid was 50% of what the agency initially asked for. Of course if the market is red hot there for real or your employer is paying, then maybe that's discount's not possible or not of consequence.

To the OP, I think 10% of the rent may be standard but haggle for a better deal with other agents.

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

x2 in some outskirt areas, x3 in many areas, and after that any price up to several million.

Somewhere that had been for sale for over 1000 days (at what price I don't know) sold just 10 days after I requested a viewing. The usual agency disinterest meant that it took several communications to even get one of the agents to phone back. When he called, he didn't speak English, and my Polish helper was not available. He just hung up. No English speaker ever called back. This was a large, national firm. The next day, the place was sold! Yes after over 1000 days on the market. I assume that it must have recently been reduced in price for it to come on to my radar and that of the successful buyer.

A quick check at the same agency website (a large national company with a website in English and Polish) shows that about 1 in 100 listings are sold, with selling times of 130 to 1100 days, mostly 200 days or more. The thing to do is keep an eye on the prices and selling times, to try to detect if the secondary (used) market is picking up.

Another thing is an increasing number of agents are not charging a buyer fees but most still do. I advise voting with your feet and not using agents who charge buyers unless the property is cheaper anyway. (When it comes to rentals, the 1 or agents that don't charge tenants a fee sometimes have the property advertised at a higher price, however.)

Spoke to an agent, perhaps unsurprisingly he said "Agents are selling the cheaper houses, a few more sales now than before, it looks better than before."

On the other hand, looking at new-build flats on an estate in a good part of town: the estate agent told me that a certain price they stated was the last and final price, no further discount possible. 2 months later, that same estate and same size flat (maybe the same flat, maybe not, I don't know) is now nearly 10% cheaper.

Very patchy story it seems.

Is some law coming into force from January, meaning that buyers will need to find more of their own money for a deposit or down-payment?

I ask because I stumbled upon this in a newsletter, in Polish, which seems to say exactly that when I try to translate it.


Could anyone put more flesh on the bones of that for me?

Flat in good part of the city, seems to have been reduced from approximately 600 tys to 450 tys

Same 106m2 flat, same agent, 1/4 of the asking price shaved off...

600 K cnk.pl/index.php?fidx=7&sortby=POW_CALKOWITA&desc=1&pg=pi&st=10&lm=10&pidx=431

450 K gumtree.pl/cp-mieszkania-i-domy-sprzedam-i-kupie/wroclaw/mieszkanie-wroclaw-krzyki-106m2-nr-14567-612165718

I think the reduction is very recent. That's 25 % off.

Must admit I wish the properties I was interested in would drop similarly. So far, they're sticking to their price and some of them have been holding out for years.

Work / What is deducted from a salary in Poland apart from Income tax? [155]

I think the first deduction is national insurance/social security, then they take the tax off that figure.

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


How dare thee!!

I don't know anything about Warsaw (and not that much about Wro either, of course! it's all a mystery to me!) but hopefully someone will have some answers for you...

Life / Are there any launderettes in Katowice? [5]

Please note that 5asec is what we in the UK would regard as a dry cleaners. Such places are often found in shopping centres/malls. They do however also wash shirts and blouses, and iron them. They won't however do general laundry as far as I know, and are nothing like Dot Cotton on Eastenders...

Life / Is there a public swimming pool in Katowice? [5]

u r welcome :)

Life / Is there a public swimming pool in Katowice? [5]

Here's a choice of a few infobasen.pl/baseny/Katowice.html

Life / Where to buy a Virgin Mobile SIM card in Krakow, Poland? [4]

I doubt it, but you can always have a look if passing the door.

UK, Ireland / Modern day slavery in the UK [36]

Sheds with beds

telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/immigration/10143697/Blighted-by-an-epidemic-of-beds-in-sheds.html

Life / Where to buy a Virgin Mobile SIM card in Krakow, Poland? [4]

Auchan hypermarket in Krakow should have them for 5 or 10 ZL. If not near one, try any of the newsagents or little booths in shopping malls like Teletorium. But the newsagents should have one. Some other supermarkets also have them. Zabka (the frog logo convenience store) sometimes also have them but be sure to make clear you want the card not a top up. Say phonetically "Prosh-ah Virgin/vergeen mobeel seem carter?" and that should be enough to get you understood. Of course, the shop assistant might speak English so you might get the response "You want what, darlin'?"

Real Estate / What is the rent of a house in Warsaw? [4]

In a city such as this, from approx. 3000/4000PLN a month plus service charges such as rubbish or security or communal fees, plus utilities such as water, energy.

An agent will also try to charge a fee of about 1/2 or 1 month's rent. If you check Gumtree or OLX, you'll see most property is handled by agents. About 1 in 10 or less by owners directly.

Of course, some houses are much more expensive, and very occasionally some are cheaper than the figures I have given.
You'll pay a lot less outside of the major cities.

From another thread I see you are probably hoping for Warsaw, in which case it's probably more for somewhere reasonably nice, but you can check here olx.pl/nieruchomosci/domy/wynajem/warszawa/q-dom/

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

Area and indeed street where there are 2 or 3 new blocks under construction in addition to several already completed recently and a few years ago.
As you can see, the developer has sold almost all:
dewelopart.pl/inwestycje-realizowane/scalino/znajdz-mieszkanie/#

I would have thought the number of blocks of flats being built in that area would result in serious over supply and yet we see they appear to almost all be sold in the link above. There are more blocks yet to be built there I believe, and it will be 'interesting' to see how the area copes with what will surely be a tripling or quadrupling of residents. The only conclusion I can draw is that there is a large drain from smaller towns and rural areas to the cities, and somehow they have the money to buy. Whether that's the MDM programme or other means I have no idea. Of course, if might also be foreign investors or local landlords, not forgetting Poles abroad buying with money they made in the UK etc. I have been very surprised at the sales. Some other estates not far away although perhaps a little more expensive still have empty units from having been built several years ago, however. Those empty units are not always over the size limit of MDM. Some developers have slashed prices on their last few units to shift them, not all have yet been offloaded.


Perhaps.

This past week saw me get my Polish speaking helper call 3 agents about 3 different properties, 1 listed in July and the other 2 in the past fortnight. All 3 agents failed to call back with appointments or any contact at all. 1 of the agent's main offices said to book the viewing via the specific agent's mobile phone. But that agent simply didn't answer his mobile phone nor reply to an SMS. The other 2 agents said they'd call back with appointments but didn't call back at all. The last 2 also ignored emails that I sent in Polish. Going back a few weeks or months, I recall one place that I tried to see 3 times. Each time the agent said they'd call back and never did. The first call was when the property was fresh to market, the second a week later, the third when it was relisted as still available. I have no real idea why it's supposedly for sale when they don't even let anyone see it :D

This is by no means unusual. Same thing happened a week or two ago with 2 other places in the same street with 2 separate agents. 1 place then disappeared from the listings and the other remains for sale to date, officially at least. Never heard back from 1 of the agents, the other agent made contact after 2 phone calls and 2 emails and just asked for my phone number which I had already supplied twice, in fact he only needed to look down the page for it. Hopeless. And yes it was the right number and my phone works fine.

Not far from the almost sold out estate mentioned in my above post yesterday, I note from Gumtree today there are 4 or 5 nearly finished flats on the market via an agent on behalf of the developers. The ads suggest a 2 to 5% price reduction on the flats because the price in the ad text does not match the main price in the ad. Unless of course the agent increased the amount in the text but forgot to amend it in the price field! This is a very recent change. So, it's quite a mixed picture. My general impression though is it looks like prices continue to drop in actual fact on many secondary and some new ones too it seems. But that said, most of the new ones do seem to be sold already, whether at full price or a discount I can't know.

Unless I'm misunderstanding it, this newbuild house in a village near Wrocław has been reduced in price by 15% (check difference between price in ad text and price field)

(assuming price field is updated after ad text!)

olx.pl/oferta/dom-krzykow-134m2-garaz-20m2-7km-od-wroclawia-dojazd-asfalt-CID3-ID7c12n.html#ece2ee6401;promoted

Nevertheless, with flats in Partynice having been something like PLN3250/m2 for 70m2 about 8 or 9 years ago, prices don't exactly seem cheap when coming in to the urban areas.

That said, I am told lots of department managers in Wrocław are earning 12PLN tys gross upwards per month. If that's widely true and there's enough of them, they aren't likely to care too much about today's higher prices. (Team leaders or Junior Managers are on around PLN6-8 tys, I'm told).

Law / Emailing of direct marketing mailshots in Poland - laws? [3]

Thanks Looker.

I thought as much, so I shall hold off on the mailshot emails until I get that permission somehow - although in reality I don't think it's going to be possible. This perhaps means I can only send mailshots via snail mail, which is prohibitively expensive really.

UK, Ireland / Curious about differences Polish people see with the British? [95]


And in Moscow and probably other parts of Russia.

I also notice that when I open a door for a woman of any age here (eg going in or out of a shop or public place) I almost never get a thanks. Earlier today I stopped a barrier from hitting a 30-something woman's leg (I grabbed it before it hit her thigh). No thank you, smile or other acknowledgement. In the parts of the UK I know of, that omission would be unusual. Here it's normal.

UK, Ireland / Curious about differences Polish people see with the British? [95]


A cup of tea and 2 Rich Tea biscuits are about the most a casual visitor may get, more if it's a reciprocal visit and they're owed a meal or something special. We have been known to run to a half-packet of Basics tortilla chips and a jar of Value dip if really pushing the boat out.

Life / UK British TV in Poland for free [7]


I hope you find something soon. I know it's pants money, but maybe try a little conversational teaching. Market's saturated here it seems, but maybe better luck there?


One of the addons I tried last year was flagged up as having malware present, and took 2 programs to get rid.

UK, Ireland / Curious about differences Polish people see with the British? [95]


Very few in Wrocław except for weekend booze up trippers, frankly, or that's how it seems. Does anyone know how many Brits live in Wrocław? I hardly meet any but am guessing just 100!! I only know of 10.

Food / Fluoride in the water - is there a chart in Poland? [11]

Thanks for posting that, Pam. I feel reassured now. I was checking the bottled water yesterday and saw various levels. Of course, some would say that water in any plastic bottle is a no no anyway, and people should only drink from glass. But that's another show... :)


Yes, I heard it used to be in the water before, but not any more, and there isn't any added now (and from Pam's post it seems that's correct). And Smurf also says the same while of course reminding us that some naturally occurs (but it's not the same stuff as the byproduct some water companies add in some countries).


Thanks Smurf, and I agree, it is not a good idea to swallow it at all.

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

The price of flats is all the more remarkable when you consider the czynsz (monthly service charge) on many of them. I was looking at renting one in Klecina today. The charge per month is stated as 1070 zl in addition to the rent and electricity. This is a rental of 1500 zl per month, 2-room. Landlords or owners now also have to pay tax on their parking spaces or garages - I have been told this charge has risen by a factor of 10 in recent years and that's why the czynsz is so high on flats with parking. I have no real way of checking, but that's what I was told.

Take a trip to the smart blocks and the smart houses and the residents seem to be ordinary retired people or ordinary working and waged people (on Polish incomes). I could be wrong, but considering those 'better' flats are now US$800 tys. and houses are US$2 M it's hard to imagine that they would have been able to buy at today's prices. If so, this city must have a very high proportion of wealthy individuals given how many expensive blocks and expensive detached and semi-detached homes there are. It must rival Knightsbridge!

Food / Fluoride in the water - is there a chart in Poland? [11]


Thanks, if I discover any info I shall post here.

Food / Fluoride in the water - is there a chart in Poland? [11]


Yes someone told me residents' teeth allegedly got damaged through too much of it, or something like that. And of course there are other negatives said to be possible. I was told Wro removed it from the water, but I'd like to be sure. I may also move out of Wro and would like to know where water's the most natural. Wro might get some of its water fed in from mountain sources, I'm not sure, I can only hope...


Krakow of course has another issue, allegedly krakowpost.com/article/6285

Life / Best / cheapest PAYG sim card for data and calls in Poland? [19]


Email them first, they speak English, and make sure I'm right. It's been a while since I used their internet packages. virginmobile.pl/cmok

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

Yeah but they promised to spam me :) They asked what I am looking for and promised to send me stuff. Only about 1 in 10, perhaps less, bothered. I actually put a written offer in to a dev in proper Polish a while back (by hand and email) and they totally ignored me! Not the first time. Think I was too low? Well, just 6 months on and the price I offered is within a couple of percent of the prices they're now advertising. Yet did they now contact me and say OK or come up 2% and we'll boogie? No. Not a word.

I strongly recommend that sellers either should sell directly or do test phone calls and emails to their agents and pretend to be buyers, to see if the agents bother much. If I ever buy here and then need to sell, I know exactly which agents to use but I'd still test them in case they'd gone downhill. And there are only 2 or 3 I'd thumbs up at most.