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Mortgages, transaction costs, districts and developers, step by step. Plain answers with numbers and sources, written for buyers from abroad too.
Buying
Editor’s pick
From checking the developer in the KRS register and the escrow account, through the reservation and developer agreements, to collecting your keys. A practical guide to buying on the primary market.
23 articles (page 1 of 2)
Questions & answers
Short answers for foreign buyers: when a permit is needed, whether banks lend to foreigners, down payments, residence documents, non-residents, foreign-currency income, loan terms, the stress buffer, credit history, documents and state schemes.
Questions & answers
Short answers on notary fees and who pays them, court fees, the November 2026 notary changes, PCC, VAT rates, mortgage costs, fit-out budgets, property tax and extra costs for foreign buyers.
Know-how
A risk score summarises a developer's filings, finances and track record. It is a screening tool: it cannot see a project's budget, group structure or your contract. Read it together with the escrow type, the DFG, the land register and the prospectus.
Know-how
Polish supervisory rules do not mention citizenship: your residence document and income currency decide. With a residence card and złoty income, expect about 20% down (10% with insurance). What banks ask of each group, late-2026 costs and currency risk.
Know-how
Shell-and-core means walls, screeds and installations ready for finishing; turnkey means ready to live in. Neither is a legal term: you get what the finishing annex of your developer agreement describes, so compare that document, not the label.
Questions & answers
Short answers on when the handover happens, attending, the handover protocol, the developer's 14-day answer and 30-day repair deadlines, refusing a flat with a significant defect, the 5-year warranty and late completion.
Know-how
Banks take confirmed net income, deduct living costs and existing commitments (including unused card limits), and test the instalment at a rate at least 2.5 points higher. A worked example shows why the buffer alone can cut the maximum loan by about a fifth.
Playbook
At handover you inspect the flat and list every defect in the protokół odbioru. The developer then has 14 days to answer in writing (silence means acceptance) and 30 days to fix accepted defects. Here is what to bring, what to check and what to do next.
Investor notes
Gross yield divides annual rent by the price; net yield deducts empty months, tax and owner's costs and divides by everything invested, including fit-out. Mid-2026 city figures were about 4.7–6.4% gross. A worked example shows 6.0% gross falling to 3.7% net.
Investor notes
Sell before the end of the fifth calendar year after acquisition and the gain is taxed at 19% (PIT-39). For a developer flat the clock is generally counted from the transfer deed. Spending the proceeds on your own housing within three years can exempt part or all of the gain.
Questions & answers
Short answers on rental yields in Polish cities, the flat-rate rental tax, spouses, utilities and deposits, non-resident landlords, lease types, short-term rental rules, the 6th-flat PCC rule, buying through a company and the 5-year sale rule.
Investor notes
A mortgaged flat can be sold: part of the buyer's money repays your bank, the bank consents to deleting the mortgage, and the entry is removed from the land register (court fee 100 zł). The usual sequence, the costs, and what to ask your bank first.
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