Who here owns?
Out of context: Reply #67
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- rafalski0
I bought a small one bedroom apartment last year, in a historical center of the city in Poland I come from. It is as central as it gets, on the main square with a view at the town hall. I could have bought a few bedroom place to live for that money, but I don't plan to live in Poland anytime soon. Also the idea was to get something which value would sustain even a major market slump and to have an option to let it to tourists some day. Central location with a view is one of the factors that can ensure all this.. well, at least to some extent. There is a bigger chance a well located place will go absurdly high in price as well.
It was still a bit below the market and I bought with no middlemen involved, I can't complain. I missed the Eastern European gold rush a year before though, prices were considerably lower.
Right now the prices are going slightly down elsewhere but the center, as predicted.The apt was in a terrible state initially. It was previously owned by the army who rebuilt the whole building after the WW2, then gave the apartment to some brass who didn't renovate it since the 70's. He was letting it to students or rodents, not sure by the condition of it.
Luckily my gf is an interior designer, she did a marvelous job of actually tearing the interior completely down including the flooring, bathroom, pipes, electrical wiring, doors, windows and the intersecting walls then rebuilding the whole thing again. I keep telling everyone, we only bought the location, she built the apartment and there is no exaggeration in that. It only took her 4 months and she managed to make it look classy within the tight budget we had.
We are currently renting it out to an agency that sublets it on a short term basis. We were afraid to do this initially, as it suggested increased wear and tear by random people who don't care. Actually, the agency has a cleaning person there at least twice a week who keeps it tidy and has an eye on any possible damages. I saw it after the first couple of months, looked untouched.
Getting a flat fee regardless of their bookings is very mortgage friendly I must say, they take the risk. Good thing I can exclude some dates from rent if I contact them with some notice so I could stay there if I wanted to (but I obviously want to stay with my family when I'm in the country).The worst part was parting with it. It was finished just before Christmas and we spent it there. As a teenager I dreamed of living in the center. Now I technically could, but needed to find someone to pay for it first. For, like, 30 years.
Now if I could only find a place to live.. No way I am buying anything in Ireland with these crazy prices, even if they fell 40% in 2 years(!!!)