- For foreign buyers
- Built with local realtors
- Updated this quarter
Here's 99% of what you need to know before buying in Warsaw.
The 12 documents we wish we had before buying in Warsaw. What each district costs, how long a flat sits before it sells, and what it earns once let. Plus the things nobody writes down: the claim that can still sit on a pre-war address, and the lease you have to sign to ever get your flat back.
The 12 documents to make a good real estate investment in Warsaw in 2026
Every property here has a register you can read online in five minutes, and almost nobody arriving from abroad opens it. It shows the owner, the mortgages and, on a pre-war address, whether anyone has claimed the ground back. These documents show you what is actually earned and paid. They are put together with agents, notaries and owners we work with in the city.
Questions
Do you list your sources?
Yes, on every table. Each one says where the figures came from and the month they were collected: the land and mortgage register, notarial price data, published tax and notary rates, listing histories we track ourselves, co-operative and community accounts shared with us by owners, and what the agents we work with in each district are seeing week to week. Anything that is an estimate rather than a recorded number is labelled as one.
Can a foreigner actually buy property here?
For an apartment, yes, freely and without a permit, whichever passport you hold. For a house or a plot of land it is different: a buyer from outside the European Economic Area generally needs a ministry permit, and that changes both the timetable and the price you should pay.
What is this claim on pre-war buildings?
All land in the city was taken into public ownership in 1945, and the descendants of the former owners have been reclaiming it ever since. On an older address a claim can still be open, or can have been settled in a way that leaves a trace. Document 08 shows where to look before you commit.
Do I really own the land underneath?
Sometimes only on a long lease from the city, with a yearly charge that can be revalued. Much of the residential stock has been converted to full ownership but not all of it, and the difference shows up in your annual bill and at resale. Document 06 sets out both.
Am I buying a flat or a co-operative right?
Both exist here and the listing rarely spells it out. One is full ownership with its own register entry, the other is a right granted by a housing co-operative, which is harder to finance and slower to resell. How to tell them apart is in document 08.
Is it easy to remove a tenant who stops paying?
No, and this is the thing landlords from abroad learn too late. With an ordinary lease, eviction is very slow and effectively suspended in winter. There are specific forms of lease that make it workable, and they have to be signed at the start. Document 12 explains which and how.
How long are the documents?
One to four pages each. They are tables and checklists rather than reports, so any one of them takes about ten minutes to read.
Which areas do you cover?
Eighteen districts and quarters: Stare Miasto, Śródmieście, Powiśle, Muranów, Wola, Ochota, Żoliborz, Bielany, Mokotów, Stary Mokotów, Sadyba, Wilanów, Ursynów, Saska Kępa, Praga Północ, Praga Południe, Targówek and Białołęka. If you need somewhere or a specific building that is not in there, write to us and we will put it together for you at no extra cost.
I have a question about my own situation.
Ask us. If the answer is in the research we already have, we will send it. If it needs a call to someone in that district or a look at a specific building, we will do that too and come back to you, at no extra cost.
Is $99 a lot for a set of documents?
You are about to spend the better part of a million złoty in a market whose paperwork you did not grow up with. A claim on the address, a right that is not ownership, a tenant you cannot remove: there are plenty of ways this gets expensive.
What format are they in, and when do I get them?
PDF, so you can read them on your phone, tablet or computer. The download link appears on screen straight after payment and a copy arrives by email.
How often are they updated?
Every quarter. Our contacts in Warsaw re-check the numbers before each release, so the version you download today is the one updated this quarter.
I have another question.
Ask us on the contact page and we will get back to you.
Three packs
The first pack has 4 documents, the second has 6, and the third has all 12 of our Warsaw research.
All the data and information in these documents was checked this year with agents, notaries and owners working in Warsaw.