Buy or sell house in Poland

<%@LANGUAGE="JAVASCRIPT" CODEPAGE="1252"%> Buy or sell house in Poland

Properties For Sale/For Rent	Advertise Your Property in Poland	Polish Legal Regulations for Foreigners Wanting to Buy Properties in Poland	Property Buying Process in Poland	Examples of Written Contracts		Our Services & How to Contact Us
Nieruchomosci Na Sprzedaz/Do Wynajecia	Sprzedaj Swoj Dom w Polsce	Polskie Przepisy Prawne Dotyczace Kupna Nieruchomosci Przez Obcokrajowcow	Etapy Kupna/Sprzedazy Nieruchomosci	Przyklady Umow		Nasze Uslugi i Kontakt

Finding the right property

As in other EU countries, properties can be found by Buyer either directly or with a help of an estate agent. Email us now with your requirements. Finding the right property takes on average about 70% of the buying process. Check out at least a few properties to be sure that what you are buying is a good value for what it is. HouseInPoland.com does an independent search of good value properties both advertised by the estate agents and by private Sellers. Email us with your requirements. We charge a small fee per property presented to you.

Price negotiation

This is the first stage of buying process after finding the right property. There is absolutely no point to proceed any further unless both the Seller and the Buyer agree on price. Generally Sellers tend to advertise properties at a bit higher price to allow room for negotiation. It is always worth trying to negotiate to save yourself some money. HouseInPoland can provide you with the interpreter needed for your negotiation in Polish (email us). Keep in mind all the other expenses of property buying - estate agent fees (if you use one to find your property), lawyer's fees, mortgage, tax, etc (see Sale Agreement section below).

Legal status of the property

When the price has been agreed with a Seller, the legal status of the property must be checked.

Is the person you negotiate with the property's owner?
Can he/she sell it?
Is there any debt secured on the property?

The best way to check this is to see the legal document (Akt Notarialny) on basis of which the person we are talking to has become the owner of the property. We will find there the number of property's deeds (Ksiega Wieczysta). Anybody can have a look into the deeds in the local Deeds Office (Urzad Ksiag Wieczystych), however only the owner can obtain a copy of the deeds document. Ksiega Wieczysta is like a property's ID card. It will tell you where is the property, who is the owner and if there are any debts secured on it (Hipoteka). If you are not sure how to read and understand it, check with the lawyer (Notariusz), possibly in the presence of the Seller. Some properties - flats in particular which are owned by a Housing Association (Spoldzielnia), do not have the deeds (Ksiega Wieczysta). The Housing Association (Spoldzielnia) will write a document which specifies who has legal rights to the property. If the flat has not got deeds (Ksiega Wieczysta), it is advised to set them up after purchase .

From the Seller you should also get a note from the Registry Office (Urzad Gminy), local to the property, which informs about persons registered (Zameldowany) as living in the property. These persons should un register (Wymeldowac) themselves from that address, ideally before you proceed with buying contract. The registration under certain address does not give them any right to live there. However, if they do not un register by themselves, we might be forced to take matters to Court afterwards.

Having all the documents does not mean that we are able to interpret them correctly. It is always advisable to check with the lawyer (Notariusz).

Payment and property transfer

Next we need to agree with Seller date and type of payment and the date of property transfer. Ideally from the Buyer point of view, property transfer and un registration of all people registered as living in the property should happen before the sale agreement. However this is not always possible.

Pre-sale agreement

Pre-sale agreement is only needed if the sales agreement for some reason has to be delayed. In pre-sale agreement (Umowa Przedsprzedazy) Buyer pays Seller a percentage of the property's price (a deposit) and specifies the time of the sale agreement. If the Seller does not fulfill his/her part of obligation and the sale of the property cannot take place in the time specified, the Buyer can demand double the amount paid to Seller as deposit. If the sale does not take place because of the Buyer, the deposit can be kept by the Seller.

Sale agreement

When buying property the sale agreement has to be taken in front of a registered lawyer (Notariusz) in form of Akt Notarialny, any other form of property sale contract is not valid. Text of this contract is written by the lawyer in accordance with the law and requirements of both parties. To avoid any problems in the future, Akt Notarialny should specify when any outstanding balance will be paid and when the property will be transferred to the Buyer.

Costs of the sale agreement are quite high and are usually covered by the Buyer. They include: tax from transaction (about 2% of the value of property), court's fee and lawyer's fee depending on value of property, estate agent's fee (usually 1% to 3%) - if you used their services to find the property, mortgage cost, interpreter costs if you do not speak Polish (email HouseInPoland.net for translation services).

Final arrangements

With the sale agreement (Akt Notarialny) in your hand, the money paid off and keys for the property, you still have to remember about a few formalities. You need to take on new contracts with the electricity and water board and/or telephone/internet provider company. The lawyer will contact Deed's Office (Urzad Ksiag Wieczystych) to inform them about new ownership, so you should receive a letter informing about new entry to your property's deeds (Ksiega Wieczysta). If your property has not got the deeds (Ksiega Wieczysta) you should set it up.

After all these you can say that your transaction has been successfully completed.