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Posts by polishinvestor  

Joined: 28 Dec 2015 / Male ♂
Last Post: 24 Aug 2018
Threads: 1
Posts: 361

Displayed posts: 362 / page 5 of 13
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polishinvestor   
1 Apr 2016
Law / Buying an unregistered car in Poland? [8]

Yes, often car are advertised as sprowadzone or do oplat. If they say oplacone gotowe do rejestracji then thats different. But you should still check that the vat has been paid, you can do this at the urzad skarbowy if you ask nicely (since its not yet your car they dont often want to help initially).
polishinvestor   
1 Apr 2016
Law / Buying an unregistered car in Poland? [8]

You could read a hundred books on this subject and still not be suitably prepared to avoid being fleeced. So I would say go to view a car with someone in the industry. Essentially if the car is not on the dealers books, you will be technically buying the car from the original German, French or Italian owner, or from wherever the car has been imported. Thousands of people do it every week, but you can understand the legal implications here.
polishinvestor   
25 Mar 2016
Life / Trying to remember Polish movie [5]

Maybe Tato, starring Boguslaw Linda. His kid gets kidnapped and he chases down the bandits but cant remeber how the beginning went down to be honest. Or it could be another one of his films Sara, where there are some tragic consequences for his kid after he picks up his dads handgun.
polishinvestor   
25 Mar 2016
Real Estate / Changes to mortgages for EU citizens in Poland with foreign income. [34]

Quick question : if you're paying cash, can you expect a sizable discount?

Absolutely. In most cases yes, for a quick deal, as organising a loan from scratch can take between a couple of weeks to a month or more depending on relations with you bank. If its been on the market for a while or if theres a pressing debt issue the owner is experiencing a quick cash deal can be the carrot on the stick. But yes its true, often there is no concept of time is money or opportunity cost in this country and some poles will keep an unrealistic asking price for years and then sell for peanuts when the going gets unexpectedly tough for them. So it can be frustrating sometimes but as i say its a buyers market now and plenty of great properties to go for.
polishinvestor   
20 Mar 2016
Real Estate / Changes to mortgages for EU citizens in Poland with foreign income. [34]

As peterweg says, your best option is to pay cash. Its a buyers market, it has been and will be for some time. Liquidity is in most cases nothing like in the UK. Often properties are listed for sale overpriced and continue to be listed as such for a number of years. There are properties which have seen the asking price fall by 30% or more in the last 2 or 3 years. You can get some really daft prices. Often time is not money in Poland and it takes people a while to drop their prices.
polishinvestor   
18 Mar 2016
Real Estate / Changes to mortgages for EU citizens in Poland with foreign income. [34]

Foreign income is more of a risk on many fronts, but you have to remember banks arent here to help people, they are out firstly to preserve capital and secondly to make a profit in the most efficient way possible.

We had a couple of foreign income buyers turned down (non eu in both cases) both pretty wealthy based on polish standards. Establishing a true picture of a foreigners debt abroad is quite difficult and not worth the hassle for something as small as a loan for a flat.
polishinvestor   
15 Mar 2016
Real Estate / Buying property in Poland [41]

Thats the key, you are bound by what you agree to when signing precontract. The terms zadatek and zaliczka are often misunderstood as being the same.

Of course if the seller provides false or inaccurate information which materially alters the value of the property its grounds to void the precontract. Technically when you by a property you are stating that you are aware of the condition and nature of the property, but false information from the seller is enough to get the contract voided.

Essentially you must not take anyones word for anything and demand documentation for anything that can materially alter the value of a property. It often ****** them off but its currently a buyers market so they generally have to say how high when you ask them to jump.
polishinvestor   
15 Mar 2016
Real Estate / Buying property in Poland [41]

This is why you sign a pre contract at the notary. Normally the buyer makes you pay a non refundable zadatek, so if you pull out, the deposit is lost, but if he pulls out, he is required to repay you double the deposit and this you can take to court to uphold if necessary.
polishinvestor   
14 Mar 2016
Real Estate / Buying property in Poland [41]

1) When do banks normally formally approve a mortgage?

Depends on the history between you and the bank but signing final umowa for bank loan can take up to 4 weeks, for foreign income loans can take 6 weeks.

2) I have read that the initial deposit (5-10%) is normally made to the seller which sort of worries me as I am used to giving the deposit to a neutral party eg. estate agent/notaire.

The deposit should be paid the the seller after a notary pre contract has been signed. That way it is classed as the deposit, otherwise the bank may refuse to recognise it as a payment in relation to the purchase. In any case this is payment is normally done after you have got clearance from the bank that you will get the loan. The agent of course will always press for a healthy deposit after precontract so that they can quickly get their agency fee, but I digress.

3) At what point is the final payment for the house made and who to?

The final payment is made either on the day of signing the contract, or by whenever is set by the terms of the final akt notarialny, usually 24-48 hours if cash. If bank loan we normally given people up to a month for the bank to make the transfer, but in practice it takes about a week. We did wait 14 days once. After signing the final aktyou should be given the keys to the property as there will be no reason for the bank not to pay the money due within the given time frame. I would certainly press to get the keys on the day as usually the notariusz will ask if keys have been handed over while reading the text of the akt to both parties. The only time the seller needs to insert precautions into the akt/ksiega wieczysta(deeds) is for cash deals where payment is to be made a number of days after the final act and where the buyer is considered to have "questionable morals" in regards to keeping up their end of the deal. Again I digress.

4) We intend to ask for some conditions to be placed in the first contract

Once you sign the precontract and pay a deposit you will be obliged to complete the transaction by the date set in the precontract, normally about 2 months. If you have been to the bank and have been told officially that you will get a loan, then you can go ahead. If it has just been the case of a basic talk with their financial adviser then I would wait to get an official decision from the bank. This step is called getting a pozytywa decyzja. Once you have this you can go ahead. Be careful re the terms of the deposit. eg a zadatek is non refundable, while a zaliczka is refundable.
polishinvestor   
4 Mar 2016
News / Poland's post-election political scene [4080]

Net Poland pays in less than it gets out. You can argue about non tangibles but those are the facts. Anyone elses opinion other than that is simply wrong.
polishinvestor   
29 Feb 2016
News / The dossier of TW "Bolek" - Poland's IPN assisted by police enters the home of the late general Kiszczak [306]

This joke was told to my father many years ago while he was in france training to be a priest. Yes that clearly didnt work out for him, but the joke was told by a Polish bishop and goes a long way to explaining the mentality of Poles and in part why some are acting the way they are towards Walesa.

The devil goes down to inspect the cauldrons full of bad people. Each nation has its own cauldron and its own two guards standing by the cauldron to ensure that anyone trying to climb out gets knocked back down.

The devil inspects each cauldron one by one. The French, the English , the German cauldron and so on. Everything seems in order but then he looks to the left and notices a cauldron with no guards beside it. He calls over one of the guards from the german caludron and asks why nobody is guarding that cauldron on the left. The guard tells him thats because its the Polish cauldron and whenever one of the Poles try to climb out, one of the other Poles inside pulls them back in, so there is no need for guards.
polishinvestor   
28 Feb 2016
Study / Primary school education for children (PRIVATE) [14]

It seems that if a kid is already good at something then they are considered to be better people and more deserving than other kids who are perfectly well behaved but don't score highly in an IQ test

That I didnt say and its a different question entirely.

So would teaching a kid who didn't score highly in an IQ test be a 'waste of time'?

Everyone deserves a chance at an education. But bringing together those that show the most talent and want to learn increases the chances of getting even better results. Exam based, fee paying schools in the UK tend to attract the best teachers. The get paid well and dont have to worry about disruptive pupils in the vast majority. Life is competitive and the kids learn this from an early age, each one trying to get the best results in the class. Often in state schools kids get bullied for being seen working hard and this is a problem for the rest of the class as well as the teachers and the school.

The one I attended had the post playschool entrance exam, then the post primary then post gsce. So kids could try at all levels to get in. Scholarships were provided for those that showed particular talent (not just academic) but whose parents couldnt afford the fees. Ive no shame to admit I wasnt one of the brightest there academically but its better to be at the bottom of the top 5% than the top of the bottom 5% and you got a whole lot more from the school than just study. Certainly going forward, universities at the time looked at applicants differently as did prospective employers. You pretty much had a network for life and its one of the aspects I miss about the UK.
polishinvestor   
27 Feb 2016
Study / Primary school education for children (PRIVATE) [14]

A mate of mine went to a fee paying private school. But it wasnt entrance exam based and really was just for wealthier kids, with the school promising more attention to detail but in reality the results were no better than elsewhere. I think a proper private education along the lines of whats on offer in the UK, would be a good draw and beneficial to the quality of education. The teachers would be dealing with the brightest students, without having to waste time on those not wanting to learn. So this would be a draw for both good teachers and parents. But it would need to be entrance exam based. Also if possible, to use the more upper level of examining board/curriculum in order to really test the students and that would in time be favourably looked on by universities.
polishinvestor   
26 Feb 2016
News / Poland's post-election political scene [4080]

bankier.pl/wiadomosc/MSP-chce-wygasic-proces-prywatyzacji-3491481.html

Seems they are awash with money to be considering such things. Still things could be worse, they could nationalise and become Venezuela.

Always include a short translation when posting a link to Polish text
polishinvestor   
25 Feb 2016
Work / Average salary in Poland for PhD in IT [40]

8 to 10k per month per million invested. Rental. Thats before capital gains. Not impossible but tough to make big money in Poland working for someone else.
polishinvestor   
25 Feb 2016
Life / What don't you like about Poland or Polish People? [117]

Chinese make want the West demanded. We wanted cheap so we got cheap. But they are just as capable in making high quality products to compete on that front with the West. The whole package. Lenovo is a case in point. We just stereotype Chinese products as cheap and of low quality.
polishinvestor   
25 Feb 2016
News / Cameron's EU reform good for Poland [95]

Inflation is the holy grail. Something all central bankers want, but none have achieved for tennyears now. And the uk will get it for free! Government and corp wages are usually linked in some way to cpi while lower sterling will encourage investment here over europe as the foreign entity gets more for its buck. That said sterling will just be short term phenomenon, but something to take advantage of and monetise all the same.
polishinvestor   
24 Feb 2016
News / Cameron's EU reform good for Poland [95]

HSBC said 15% vs a basket. Anyway thats not the full story, they just told half. Dolny dont worry about sterling.
polishinvestor   
24 Feb 2016
News / Cameron's EU reform good for Poland [95]

The city will move us forward, they are the ones in control anyway. Like it or loathe it, it provides a great investment environment. Thats why Londons a draw and will continue to be. Its no coincidence that the current mayor Boris and likely future mayor Zac Goldsmith are both for the brexit.
polishinvestor   
24 Feb 2016
News / Cameron's EU reform good for Poland [95]

Its actually one that the money markets attach a fair amount of weight to. In any case, its too close to call so people are taking precautionary action.
polishinvestor   
24 Feb 2016
News / Cameron's EU reform good for Poland [95]

Yesterdays Yougov for the Times (UK), 38% leave 37% stay 25% undecided. Taken after Camerons EU deal but before Boris' commitment to leave camp.

In addition:

A second poll, ComRes, indicated 51% to stay 39% to leave, 10% undecided. This was a phone poll while the Yougov was internet based. If this was a picture it would tell a thousand words.
polishinvestor   
23 Feb 2016
News / Cameron's EU reform good for Poland [95]

Took over europe and not a life lost, well for a while at least until the crisis which wasnt sourced in house. Its marketing at its greatest. Convincing nations they needed the euro. I was once told all geniuses end up salesmen. I laughed it off. Well maybe I was mistaken.
polishinvestor   
23 Feb 2016
News / The dossier of TW "Bolek" - Poland's IPN assisted by police enters the home of the late general Kiszczak [306]

It's easy to be a hero in 2016 and say that you would resist and so on, but I think it's a totally different state of affairs if you're in a windowless, stuffy room in the average SB building with some guy with a perfectly ironed uniform sitting across...

Yes they were different times and you did what was necessary to get by. Did Walesa believe he was to go on to greater things at the time? Doubtful. You can never know, which is why most people have some kind of dirt way back in their history. Nobody is perfect.

But he did take a stand where others felt safer to stand to one side.
polishinvestor   
23 Feb 2016
News / Cameron's EU reform good for Poland [95]

Collapse in sterling tells its own story - bookies amongst others will be hedging their exposure through sterling. Todays letter in the FT from almost 200 large corps supporting stay contained some notable omissions. Threatening people with job losses is going to be the stay camps best way to attract votes, as its a huge consideration for most, but it could be an outsider such as ISIS or another leg of the immigrant crisis in europe that swings the vote, as its immigration that has driven most to the brexit side. The stay camp will be hoping for a quiet spring/summer and hoping people behave themselves.
polishinvestor   
23 Feb 2016
News / Cameron's EU reform good for Poland [95]

Ladbrokes took 20 grand today at 15/8, biggest bet on brexit so far they say.
As for the Scotish vote, there was an important reason why the polls suggested a marginal win for leaving the UK, while the actual result was otherwise. Not going to go into details and dopeoples job for them but it will affect current polls and the brexit vote in the same way, but the swing/error will favour the exit camp. Stay camp need to be leading 55/45 before the vote to avoid defeat in the actual vote.
polishinvestor   
23 Feb 2016
News / Cameron's EU reform good for Poland [95]

Beggars cannot be choosers. Poland is much better off in the EU as it requires inwards investment so it has to take the bad with the good, accepting it cannot force the agenda. The UK can bat for itself and can choose to go alone officially, although it will remain integrated in europe whether brexit or no brexit.
polishinvestor   
23 Feb 2016
News / Cameron's EU reform good for Poland [95]

People dont matter unfortunately, nations are always guided by those lining their pockets. German companies gained greatly from the euro, at the expense of those of other european nations. Germany and only Germany got to borrow at ultra low rates, while having an artificially weak currency. A dream situation from an economic perspective and one which cemented Germanys place at the top of Europe.
polishinvestor   
23 Feb 2016
News / Cameron's EU reform good for Poland [95]

The french are inconsequential, a stain on the german shirt sleeve. Economically they are dead weight and these days thats all that matters when ascertaining who calls the shots. World war 3 was financial and the germans got europe at the third time of asking.

These of course the bundesbank is recalculating the costs of the euro. Germany managed to cripple its european competitors while at the same time enjoying a weak exchange rate. Euro bonds backed by the ecb was the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow for other participants. Of course they are no nearer to it and the germans will never allow it.

Overall it was a solid plan, the eurozone, but the germans couldnt foresee the unveiling of quantitive easing by the usa nor the bail outs that were forced upon the german taxpayer. So the minuses keep racking up which is why they are playing more hardball and making countries look for "internal" solutions to their debt problems.
polishinvestor   
22 Feb 2016
News / Cameron's EU reform good for Poland [95]

Nonsense. The French insisted that the Germans give up their DM as a prerequisite for the reunification of Germany.

The Germans very infinitely happy to trade the mark for the euro. Its has been immensely profitable for them. Really, having their cake and eating it.
polishinvestor   
22 Feb 2016
News / Cameron's EU reform good for Poland [95]

The ECB has negative interest rates and will decrease then further in March. They currently have a multi trillion quantative easing program underway (essentially printing money and so debasing the euro) to which they are likely to add/expand in March. The euro is a funding currency used to invest in other higher yielding assets. The surplus that the euro enjoys is the only thing keeping it from collapsing given its funding currency status.

Yes the mark was stronger than the pound towards the end, but the Germans needed a weaker currency to dominate Europe (and non EU exports) and so they were eager to set up the eurozone.

The pound has stronger fundamentals which is why its been near multi year highs vs the euro. Rates are expected to rise in the UK before they do in Europe. It has fallen back a bit since xmas due to the brexit uncertainty (the need to hedge against a brexit means crudely selling pounds). Companies have been holding off capital investment decisions and this will clearly put a handbrake on growth in the first half of this year, so inflation and growth forecasts have been set back a little and this has also contributed to the downfall of the pound this year.