Posted on 04/15/2005 1:57:26 PM PDT by Grzegorz 246
Wealthy Poles are invading the border regions of Germany and snapping up properties at rock bottom prices in what estate agents call a dramatic reversal of historical roles.
The widespread expectation that after Poland joined the European Union that its cheap homes would be bought by Germans has been turned on its head as the Poles search for lebensraum in the west.
For centuries Germans have headed east - as knights, traders or, most notoriously, as builders of a Third Reich. Now the Poles are going in the other direction, not just as migrant labourers but as house buyers.
They are attracted by average prices of around €17,500 ($29,300) for a family home in good repair. A run-down cottage can be bought for as little as €300 and a "chic manor house with indoor pool" can be had for around €320,000.
The trend says as much about the desperate economic state of east Germany and the exodus of locals as it does about the Poles' entrepreneurial zeal and desire to catch up with their richer neighbours after decades of communism.Michal Wojtysiak recently became the owner of a quaint, century-old building in Penkun.
The 42-year-old Polish catering manager bought the village butchers, family house and florists all for a ridiculous €5400. A few streets away a retired doctor, Andrzej-Jerzy Wroblewski, 62, proudly strolled the grounds of the derelict Apostolic church, now his for €1400, as is the old bakery nearby, a steal, even by Polish standards at €1070.
Both are from Szczecin, a shipbuilding boom town whose citizens can no longer afford to live there. More and more are buying property in eastern Germany and commuting to their homeland over what was once a tightly-controlled border. "I would pay at least four times this if I was fortunate enough to find anything similar on the outskirts of Szczecin," said Mr Wojtysiak.
Penkun is not a rundown dump but a picturesque village flanked by two lakes and a peach-coloured castle.
On the surface it does not look economically depressed. But the money spent on its revival has failed to deter two-thirds of Penkuners from moving elsewhere and leaving a third of local houses empty.
"The properties on offer are nothing less than giveaways, even if they need a little investment," said Magdalena Pysz, a Polish estate agent.
"Poles love the Prussian order, the cleanliness, the lack of corruption and the neat, cobbled streets."
The Poles are moving to Germany, buying cheap houses, but where will they work with German unemployment so high??
In Poland. Duh. (grin)
I love it.
In fact, I should buy some.
"They are attracted by average prices of around €17,500 ($29,300) for a family home in good repair "
What??
To hell with the Boston real estate market - I'm movin' to Prussia!
So why aren't the Germans moving to the borders, working in Poland?
The article says they are working in Poland, just across the border.
Give it time.
Because while many Polish speak German, few Germans speak Polish. That, and there is some odd reason why Germans can't find employment in Poland... I wonder whatever that could be....
That's exactly what I thought.
Chicago. ;)
Tell me about it. I live part-time in Chicago. Love the polish delis!
I wonder if they have to pay double taxes like so many people, if they don't have property tax but it is based on income that could really hurt.
"Many of them buy houses a few miles away from the border, beside German unemployment rate is much lower than Polish."
The overall unemployment rate might be lower, but it isn't lower in this area, which is the former East Germany. The rush of investment and new jobs just hasn't happened, at least not nearly to the degree predicted. As a result, towns are emptying out as people relocate to other areas to find work. Or, at least that is my understanding.
If they are Polish citizens and work in Poland then they pay taxes in Poland, besides there would be nothing left If they had to pay double taxes.
C'mon Polish cousins, let's push them back to the Rhine! ;-)
It must have happened some day. Moscow will be next.
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