How to buy an apartment in Warsaw

Buying an apartment in Poland on the secondary market by foreigners is one of the most important moments in life, for which you need to carefully prepare. Let's go through the process of buying an apartment together, what expenses you need to prepare for and what formalities you need to complete after receiving the apartment.

Buying an apartment in Poland on the secondary market by foreigners is one of the most important moments in life, for which you need to carefully prepare. Let's go through the process of buying an apartment together, what expenses you need to prepare for and what formalities you need to complete after receiving the apartment.

Credit check

Even before you start looking for an apartment, you should weigh how much money you have for the property you like and whether you can count on a loan for the purchase.

Banks in Poland issue loans to foreigners, but not all of them and subject to a number of restrictions. Therefore, at the very beginning, you will have to find a bank that wants to work with you.

The next step is to check how much loan you can get. Your credit score will be determined by a credit counselor who, based on your monthly income, employer contract, expenses and obligations, will determine the maximum loan amount you can take out and also estimate the contribution you will have to pay.

You can first use a loan calculator on the Internet.

Apartment search

If you are on our OKEASK website, this means that you are either closer to finding a real apartment, or we will jointly select housing for you according to your criteria, including price (remember your credit rating).

We will help you find an apartment by area, number of rooms, district of Warsaw or nearby suburbs, floor, availability of an elevator, garage, transport accessibility, and so on.

Once priorities have been set and suitable properties have been considered, the next step is the process of viewing their presentations, and then visiting the apartment you like. Please note that there may be several such views. Photos and reality usually differ, and in some cases even significantly.

If you have chosen a specific apartment, you must first make sure that it has no legal defects. To do this, you need to ask the current owner to provide the land register number. Then, via the Internet, you can check for yourself whether he is actually the owner of the apartment and whether the premises are mortgaged. Our company can do the same.

As we have already agreed, the OKEASK company will help you in finding and registering real estate. With us, as an intermediary (and with any other), you enter into a brokerage agreement. The contract stipulates all options for cooperation, including payment for services.

All the conditions and formalities listed below for purchasing an apartment for you will be decided by our company; you will only need to monitor their implementation.

Signing a preliminary agreement

A preliminary agreement is required to apply for a mortgage loan. It can be concluded in the form of a civil contract or a notarial deed. Choosing the second option will entail the obligation to pay a notary fee for drawing up an agreement, as well as for issuing notarial deeds and a 23 percent VAT on these actions. The tax fee depends on the cost of the apartment and ranges from 100 to 10,000 zlotys.

For the most commonly used range when purchasing real estate (from PLN 60,000 to PLN 1,000,000) the notary fee is PLN 1,010 plus 0.4% of excess over PLN 60,000.

Copies will cost 6 zlotys per page. However, a notarial deed will protect you from the seller’s failure to fulfill the contract.

If you choose a civil contract, you can only count on compensation.

It is worth including several important provisions in the preliminary agreement. Before signing the final contract, the seller must provide valid certificates of not being in arrears for co-op or housing association unit fees, a certificate of not being in arrears for real estate taxes, and proof of not being registered.

At the stage of the preliminary agreement, you can also enter your claims related to the sale of the apartment into the land and mortgage book.

The preliminary agreement also serves as security for the seller. It will indicate your obligation to pay a deposit or advance, as well as the form in which you will need to pay it.

It is important to note that the preliminary agreement will also indicate the amount for which you will buy the apartment and its division between your own funds and the loan, as well as the final date for signing the promised buyout, i.e. the actual notarial deed of purchase and sale, as well as the date and conditions of transfer of the apartment.

Due to the time-consuming credit procedure, this takes 2 months.

Applying for a mortgage

First, we compare (on our own or with the help of a financial advisor) the specific conditions under which different banks will provide you with a loan. Then we determine the bank (or banks) that will give you a mortgage. As we have already said, this is a difficult process for foreigners in Poland. A signed preliminary agreement is your ticket to applying for a mortgage.

After completing the documents required by the bank and submitting them along with the application to the bank (or banks), a decision on the loan is expected to be issued.

Banks will also require a report on the appraisal of the apartment. Depending on which banking institution you submit your application to, you will be able to choose an appraiser yourself or you will have to rely on the bank in this matter.

Issuing a positive credit decision means the bank’s consent to lend to the client. Usually the bank gives itself 21 days to issue it, although this period may be longer. During this time, all formalities will be carried out by the credit consultant. He will also negotiate the deal in your favor. Then you will have a week to choose the bank from which you will take out a loan.

It is worth reading the loan agreement in advance and not delaying reading it until your visit to the bank.

Signing a notarial deed

Having a positive credit decision, you can sign the final agreement, that is, the corresponding notarial deed, on the basis of which you will become the owner of the apartment. The seller, for his part, will have to present a certificate of absence of arrears in payments to the cooperative and tax office, as well as a certificate from the commune office confirming the absence of persons registered in the apartment.

You will also have to pay a tax for creating a mortgage, a court fee for registering property rights and a mortgage, a notary fee for filing an application in the land and mortgage register, a notary fee for drawing up a purchase and sale agreement along with a declaration on the creation of a mortgage, as well as a notary fee for extracts from notarial deeds. The last two fees will be subject to VAT at a rate of 23%.

With a notarial deed confirming the purchase of real estate and the application for the creation of a mortgage, you can go to the bank to sign an order for the repayment of the loan. You can also do this through a financial advisor.

However, remember that entering a mortgage into the land and mortgage register takes several months. Until then, the bank will charge us a bridging insurance fee. Therefore, when you receive the entry notice in the mail, you will have to take it to the bank.

Activation of the loan and the bank’s transfer of money to the seller will become a mechanism for transferring the apartment. In the notarial deed, the seller usually reserves the right to transfer the premises one or two days after receiving funds. The bank will tell you if the money has been transferred.

Civil Action Tax

Until the end of August 2023, when purchasing an apartment on the secondary market, it was always necessary to pay a tax on civil transactions in the amount of 2% of the amount specified in the notarial deed. The tax was always collected by the notary.

However, from September 2023, people who bought their first apartment will not pay this tax. This is the result of changes introduced by the Law of May 26, 2023. An exemption is granted if the buyer is an individual or individuals and none of them has title to the apartment or house at the time of purchase. and had no right to any of these rights or interest in the property before that date.

According to the Ministry of Finance, the exception applies to persons who, on the day of concluding the purchase and sale agreement, own or before this date owned a share in such rights, but it does not exceed or did not exceed 50% and was acquired by inheritance. These people can benefit from the release.

Transfer of apartment

When transferring an apartment, it will be necessary to prepare a transfer and acceptance certificate. If the transaction was completed through an agent, he will most likely prepare the appropriate form himself. Before signing the document, you will have to write down the meter readings (water, gas and electricity). This will be the basis for us to take the next step - to transfer the meters to the new owners.

The acceptance certificate will also include equipment that the previous owner agreed to leave in the apartment.

As we have already mentioned, the acceptance certificate will also be useful when transferring meters. The transfer will allow the current owner to pay the gas and electricity supplier, and the new owners to sign contracts. This way, you will avoid a situation where the previous owner’s debt to suppliers will lead to the disconnection of utilities in the newly purchased apartment.

Formalities after purchasing an apartment

If the apartment you bought is in a housing cooperative, you will be able to become a member. If the apartment is a separate property, you do not have to do this. However, it is necessary to report the purchase and change of ownership. To do this, you will need a notarial deed, and if some utilities, for example, water, are paid for by the cooperative, also a transfer and acceptance deed.

In a co-op, you will have to indicate the number of people who will live in the premises you purchase and whether any business will be conducted there. Based on this, the co-op will calculate the rent you will pay each month. During your visit to the cooperative, you will also receive information on how to pay rent, as well as the account number or individual sub-account to which you will have to transfer the money.

Membership in a housing cooperative - benefits

Completing a membership declaration and joining a housing cooperative has a number of benefits. First of all, you will have the right to vote - you will be able to choose members of the supervisory board yourself and run for office yourself. Once you join a cooperative, you cannot be expelled from the cooperative.

As co-op members, you will also be able to participate in general meetings and votes where decisions regarding renovations and investments are made. Membership also gives you the opportunity to reduce your rent. This will happen if the cooperative rents out premises from its assets to entrepreneurs. In many cases, the funds received from the lease agreements will later be included in the rent that residents pay.

Visiting a city or commune office

Within 14 days of the transfer of the apartment, you will also have to go to the city or commune administration and register as the new owner, since from that moment you will be required to pay property taxes. You will become a property tax payer from the first day of the month following the month in which you purchased the property.

If the apartment has co-owners, it is enough for one of them to come to the office. The rest will have to sign a tax return in advance, which must indicate the area of ​​the premises and shares in the land plot located under the house. If you conduct business in an apartment, this information must also be included in the declaration.

The office will also complete formalities related to registration - temporary or permanent. This will be useful, among other things: when you need to send your child to kindergarten or school.

You can also register through the obywatel.gov.pl platform. However, only owners of an active trusted profile can take advantage of this feature.

If you bought an apartment through an intermediary, you will still have to pay the agent who handles the transaction, as well as update your mailing address with your employer, bank, social security and any institutions that issue bills.

In preparing the article, materials from the website bankier.pl were used.