My interest is in old country properties. I started out 'stary eyed', as most do. To have a dream can be quite intoxicating... the harsh facts of reality are very sobering!
Agreed, you need to be careful.
Every pile of rubble is now described as having the potential to become a hotel, sauna, health spa etc - and what appears to be a favourite, that you could breed race horses there! And, of course, these 'wonderful business opportunities' (piles of rubble) have prices to match - anything up to eight million zloty!!!!
It all comes down to the above (be careful) really, I have viewed many a historic property and many are in run down rural areas far away from main roads with poor neghbours. Many piles of (rubble) are not even worth 1 Euro as the renovation costs would be millions. Structure is and has been my main concern followed by roof condition.
As an owner im sure that does happen but hasnt been my experience at all. My local community are honest hard working people most have nice houses and employment to match. Sure i throw some work to the locals every now and again but that would only be chopping wood or gardening work for the local lads.
And then there are the sitting tenants! The sitting tenant will not understand that neither you, nor the state, owe him/her anything.
If you buy with tenants its your problem the government namely ANR havent legally been able to sell historic properties with sitting tenants for years. They re house them then sell.
Every historic property owner is worried about the conservator and thats not exclusive to Poland, again we have an excellent relationship and the odd box of chocolates and bottles of whie pay huge dividends. They can make life very difcult so best stay on their good side.
Prices in Poland are an issue and i would say the best way to price is based on m2, take into consideration type, age, location and price accordingly. With historic its infinetly more complicated as they often have large amounts of land with out buildings.
If you try to point out that they are mistaken, they will get very upset and angry - accusing you of not being a 'serious buyer', and the like!
At the end of the day it all comes down to how much somebody is willing to pay, who are you to claim they are mistaken?
So, in answer to the question 'will prices go up or down' - as in all aspects of buying and selling, it depends on one thing and only one thing.... the price you bought for in the first place. If you pay to much, you will be a loser.
Not really it depends on many things, the biggest issue at the moment is the market and lack of mortgages. However if you want to pin point profit and loss, the over riding factor is timing.
Lets wait and see what happens.