Buy house in Eastern Europe

Talc1234

It is possible to make money from this, (I have) but you need to follow a few rules

Stick to those countries already in the EU
Stick to capital cities
Choose nice areas with good transport to the City Center
Visit the place
You will need a local bank account
You will need help with the local language
The buying and selling process is different to the UK.
New builds are sold without doors, kitchens, bathrooms, floors etc and will need substantial money spent for finishing them
Older prewar buildings might not have been repaired for decades.
Getting a mortgage will be from tricky to impossible

Lowest risk is Poland (Warsaw) and Czech (Prague).

zwobott

I suggest Krakow.



Almost 1m inhabitants (the city and the metropolitan area), good communications links and expanding airport (at least 6-8 direct daily flights to the UK - http://www.krakowairport.pl/en/ several best Polish universities and polytechnics - second after Warsaw academic center in Poland with its Jagiellonian University - one of the oldest universities in the world, medieval St.Mary's Church - Kosciol Mariacki, quite close (2hrs driving time) to Zakopane - Polish ski resort. HSBC, Google, Motorola, Shell, and several others (mainly German - Lufthansa or American companies) installed themselves out there in the last 10 years or so, due to easy access to qualified workforce. Pretty safe. The authorities do try to attract the best and put great emphasis on attractiveness of the city. Lots of investments, improvements in public transport, and other facilities. It is cultural capital of the country. The city, as well as surrounding areas are growing rapidly. People, especially youngsters do speak English.


My advice is to go there first, spend few days, see it and feel it, then take decision. Stroll around the old town, see the museums, spend time at the Rynek Glowny - medieval, largest in Europe Market Square with its Sukiennice, go to the old ''Schindler's factory'', visit Wieliczka Salt Mine and so on. Summer time is quite ''lazy'' - students are out, lots of cultural events, tourists come from around the world - recently quite a lot of Chinese, American or guests from India. Not to mention the English I have not lived there for the last ten years, so maybe some things have changed, but I come from there, so can recommend. After my time is done in the UK (don't know exactly when), Krakow is my next destination.


REMEMBER: Do not ever hand in any money to anyone for promise of anything. If you decide to acquire a property, the best thing to do is to find a lawyer/solicitor and require them to do all the necessary checks if e.g. property is owned by such and such, has not got any outstanding debt and other things and is not ''illegally built''. Construction law in Poland is quite strict, so not very often there are situations when something is ''illegal''. That is why, a lawyer/solicitor will do it for you. Also, a 1-bedroom flat in Poland is ONE bedroom+kitchen+bathroom (no living room), 2-bedroom is two bedroom+kitchen+bathroom (no living room). One usually buys e.g. 2-bedrooms which is e.g. 50m2 and price is per sq meter.


If talking about money, from my observations - if you want to buy as an investment, which will be let, in a good location, a 2-bedroom (e.g. 50 m2), ready to be rented out, furnished or unfurnished, price tag is about 350k PLN = circa £70k and monthly gross rental income around £300 (bills paid by those who live in). Any questions, feel free to ask.



I do not work for any body or any council.
Just love Krakow!



But before you start, sit down comfortably and see it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDz1ZZptIso




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUJ-wyQW8BE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSUXnJ7cgnw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4xQVAgS0vI
http://www.krakow.pl/english/
http://www.local-life.com/krakow

zwobott

I will write answer how it works in Poland. I have done myself some time ago, the only difference is I am Polish, so language was not a barrier. I also applied for a mortgage. There is not such thing in Poland like BLT - Buy to Let. You just apply for a mortgage.



Stick to those countries already in the EU
and then always have some kind of piece of mind


Stick to capital cities
not necessarily, not everybody goes and stays in Paris, Madrid, Rome or Berlin

Choose nice areas with good transport to the City Center
if it is buy to let, then yes, nobody wants to live in the outskirts and commute for hours, unless one lives in London


Visit the place
to start with

You will need a local bank account
unless paid in cash - money transfer from e.g. UK bank account to other RECOGNIZED bank's account, safest form, rarely handing in cash


You will need help with the local language
no other option, I've mentioned in my previous post - if you take on a lawyer/solicitor, these days most of them speak English, I do not know how much they charge, I guess maximum £400-500 for transaction, and also I did not need to have one, because I bought new-build, so all dealings were done between myself-bank-construction company, my advice is, for anybody's piece of mind especially if you are foreign and not buying new build, to be secure - hire one, to make all necessary checks


The buying and selling process is different to the UK.
if new build, then you usually you have to deal with bank (if taking mortgage) which will make its own checks on company that delivers the property and the construction company itself

if second hand, then my suggestion is to get a lawyer/solicitor to check if everything is ok with the property from the law's point of view, then visit bank if mortgage is required, if not again lawyer which is called NOTARIUSZ, and exchange of money/rights to the property



New builds are sold without doors, kitchens, bathrooms, floors etc and will need substantial money spent for finishing them

new build, usually look like one on the picture:

http://ogloszenia.bialystokonline.pl/galeria/00/58/68/49/6.jpg

typically, you are to spend around £200 per sq meter in Krakow and then you can live in (unfurnished), I mean that kitchen is done, bathroom ready to use (no white goods), carpeted or wooden floors etc.

http://www.mojelokum.pl/public/gallery/148028/dom_stan_deweloperski.JPG



Older prewar buildings might not have been repaired for decades.

and also, before the II World War a lot of buildings, belonged to the Jews who were exterminated by the Germans then, which were later taken over by the f*****ng Communists, now they are empty, because their legal status is not clear, you would not want to buy something and they find out and it is not yours



Getting a mortgage will be from tricky to impossible

not sure about mortgage from the UK, definitely none of the big banks will give one. There are some UK based companies that offer mortgages to buy properties abroad, but they charge 10-12% interest rates, I never tried/used one.

if you want a mortgage from a Polish bank -from my experience I had some deposit, UK earnings, it was not easy, but I got one; I do not know how it works if you are a foreigner neither resident nor domiciled , but try.
That one below, is the biggest and most trusted bank in Poland. Maybe it will help.

http://www.pkobp.pl/pkobppl-en/uk-customers/

not123

Hi,

If you can't speak any European language (apart from English) or if you don't have friends (relatives) who already live in whichever European country - I would recommend not to buy.
Some countries won't allow non-residents to enter the property market. Real nightmare is dealing with electricity, gas, water companies (re setting up, for example, direct debits,...), tax authority (I am assuming you will be renting out the property) or solicitor (registering the property in your name in land registry.).Another issue is a language barrier. If you decide to buy "outside" capital - less people speak English. You can end up with spending a fortune on certified translators.

Bantex_2

Always fancied Transylvania myself. Seems to have a bit of character.