Lord of the manor
For those who have dreamed of living in a king's palace, or who believe the phrase "a man's home is his castle" ought to be taken literally, Adam Ulbu has opened Be Happy, a real-estate agency which finds and assists the sale of historical buildings, such as castles, palaces, mills, barns or granaries. The Katowice-based agency offers properties in rural areas throughout the country, though the catalog does not yet include all of Poland's regions. Ulbu has already visited two thirds of the country and has found 4,200 buildings. Currently he is working on a catalog for the Kujawsko-Pomorskie voivodship.
According to Ulbu, the number of prospective buyers is increasing. Earlier it was mostly doctors and lawyers, but now the range of buyers is extending because the buildings are individual. More and more foreigners are beginning to inquire about the complexes, but very often they don't understand that while local authorities don't maintain the buildings, they still refuse to sell them. In the end, it's usually hard-core enthusiasts who buy the property, as the wait to move in can be lengthy.
"On average we sell six or seven historical buildings a year. The value of the real estates is not high, as they are usually in a bad technical condition. On average it's about zł.500,000-600,000 per building," says Ulbu.
Before such buildings can even be put on the market, a time-consuming preparation process must be conducted. "Registering such buildings in the Wielkopolskie voivodship took me four years but the number of them reached about 1,600. There are buildings that can be easily sold and buildings for which the preparation process before the sale takes three or four years," adds Ulbu.
Andrzej Wróbel
