Preface
This is a preview to the Preface from the book Buying Property in Poland by Tim Hill.
Please note this text is copyright protected.
When the first foreign buyers arrived in Poland it was the early nineties and they took a risk. It wasn’t a risk in the choice of country, everyone knew this now independent Central European state was primed to grow. It was a risk because they did not know what they were doing.
In these first few years solicitors and estate agents only spoke broken English and often they were unaware of the rules and regulations surrounding foreign individuals purchasing real estate. So it was that these buyers signed documents which were not clearly explained and hoped that the property they had purchased really had been registered correctly in their name.
As is nearly always the case a high but educated risk means you either loose money or you gain, and the gains were substantial with almost every investor seeing triple digit percentage returns over the next ten years.
Today Poland is a very different place, a country at the start of a solid property boom. Despite progress made since 1989 there is still a very undeveloped, but developing, infrastructure. Salaries are low and Gross Domestic Product per capita is less than half that of its German neighbour.
With prices still so low the country is attracting a growing number of people from abroad looking to retire or seek a better lifestyle. Without doubt it is also attracting more and more looking for capital gain. And for the more switched on it is attracting businesses looking to sell to the thirty eight million potential customers who live here.
For the property buyer purchasing in major cities is much more straightforward with English a common second language amongst agents and solicitors. The door is open to anyone seeking a stable rental yield, respectable capital gain, a holiday home, business premises or even a place to retire to – so long as they know where to look and what to look at.
For those seeking something more, say exceptional capital growth or a genuine bargain for themselves, they must go beyond the well trodden path to areas where language barriers may still need to be overcome or where specific development plans may change the face of an area. They need to recognise that there are now properties specifically aimed at and priced for the foreign buyer and those that are marketed to attract the more knowledgeable domestic purchaser.
Buying Property in Poland is the definitive guide for all types of buyers who don’t want to pay over the odds, be taken for a ride, or waste time on purchases that go nowhere. Poland is already being discovered by millions. Within twenty years it will have an economy and property market similar to Western Europe but here and now there is a window of opportunity for those who can see it but just need a little help to grasp it.
The goal is to help both the property investor and the lifestyle buyer alike. The text will be reviewed and, where necessary updated, each year so feedback and ideas from readers are always welcomed.
In these first few years solicitors and estate agents only spoke broken English and often they were unaware of the rules and regulations surrounding foreign individuals purchasing real estate. So it was that these buyers signed documents which were not clearly explained and hoped that the property they had purchased really had been registered correctly in their name.
As is nearly always the case a high but educated risk means you either loose money or you gain, and the gains were substantial with almost every investor seeing triple digit percentage returns over the next ten years.
Today Poland is a very different place, a country at the start of a solid property boom. Despite progress made since 1989 there is still a very undeveloped, but developing, infrastructure. Salaries are low and Gross Domestic Product per capita is less than half that of its German neighbour.
With prices still so low the country is attracting a growing number of people from abroad looking to retire or seek a better lifestyle. Without doubt it is also attracting more and more looking for capital gain. And for the more switched on it is attracting businesses looking to sell to the thirty eight million potential customers who live here.
For the property buyer purchasing in major cities is much more straightforward with English a common second language amongst agents and solicitors. The door is open to anyone seeking a stable rental yield, respectable capital gain, a holiday home, business premises or even a place to retire to – so long as they know where to look and what to look at.
For those seeking something more, say exceptional capital growth or a genuine bargain for themselves, they must go beyond the well trodden path to areas where language barriers may still need to be overcome or where specific development plans may change the face of an area. They need to recognise that there are now properties specifically aimed at and priced for the foreign buyer and those that are marketed to attract the more knowledgeable domestic purchaser.
Buying Property in Poland is the definitive guide for all types of buyers who don’t want to pay over the odds, be taken for a ride, or waste time on purchases that go nowhere. Poland is already being discovered by millions. Within twenty years it will have an economy and property market similar to Western Europe but here and now there is a window of opportunity for those who can see it but just need a little help to grasp it.
The goal is to help both the property investor and the lifestyle buyer alike. The text will be reviewed and, where necessary updated, each year so feedback and ideas from readers are always welcomed.
