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Hi, we live in Dubai, and have bought 2 apartments in Poland. I agree that if you buy ready built apartments, you need to have someone Polish on the ground. Remember that it is also a buyers culture and that good deals are snapped up in a flash.
I bought 2 off plan units, close to the metro, in 2 different developments by 2 well known developers and the process was very easy. I did have to visit twice but during this time, I found a good lawyer, good fitout guys and property managers.
I did not need an estate agent and my experience with them not too good.
I’ll be happy to help where I can if there are any questions.
We live in Dubai, own property here, financed some of it and have paid a % of some of it as they are still under construction. One small townhouse is being let out at Dhs110,000 pa, another is due for completion end of 2007 and we will let this one out at not less than Dhs150,000 pa.
The bottom line is, just be careful what you buy and who you buy from. There is still room in the market for villas and townhouses from reputable developers. Just to give an example of demand, EMAAR, one of the major players here, released 159 small villas a few days ago. You had to register the day before and they only took 1,000 names. There was a queue from 7am until they said enough. The next day they did it like a raffle and only picked 150 of the names. The price started at Dhs2,500,000 for 2500ft2. You needed 10% immediately, so theres no shortage in the market here of cash.
Re supply and demand. Yes, there are an enormous number of apartments being built, but according to the statistics released a few days ago, there are 250,000 new residents since end of 2005. Apartments being delivered this year(and villas but these are a small number) have dropped by 30% due to construction delays. The new number is about 25,000. Compare this to 250,000!
Sure, apartments are becoming harder and harder to sell but if you have a good product aimed at the right market, there is demand because rents are so high.
But they have capped rent increases at 7% so that might quell the investors interest a little.
I believe, specifically with villas, Dubai still has a couple of years to go of growth. Even if it grows at 10%, its still doing better than many other places, plus your rental yields are high.
Just my tuppence worth.
