Property tag team
The partnership behind Keen Property Partners (KPP) forms a "one-stop shop for overseas investors." KPP specializes in the Polish residential real-estate market and arranges financing, sales and acquisitions, interior design and fit outs, and lettings and property management. "We don't intend to deal with locals, we are geared up solely for Western investors so we want to act as their arms and legs in Warsaw and Poland," says Richard Keen.
Safe hands
The pair has a wealth of experience to make the arms safe and the legs sure. Although the firm only began trading in January, the duo believes that they have hit the ground running, with Keen's London property background and lucrative UK client list, and Sev Zakrzewski's knowledge and strong connections in the local Polish market.
Keen saw the potential in the Polish market when he came over as an investor. "I first came to Warsaw in the middle of last year with a view to buying up some residential property for myself and a couple of associates. I was basically looking for a company in Warsaw that could handle the fit outs, the lettings and the management all under one roof and there was nobody in the marketplace offering this service. I saw the sheer volume of overseas investors that were coming to Warsaw for the same purpose that I came and they were all coming across the same problem that I had, namely that they couldn't find someone who could cater to their needs."
Keen wasn't the only Londoner getting excited about property in Poland. "I introduced a development to some business associates from London. They had a look at it, and some didn't even bother coming to see it, they just saw what they liked on paper. When it is completed, we will fit them out or sit down with the individuals and decide what kind of concept or scheme of living they want to put in there, the price range, what they want to focus on and then hopefully let them and manage the units as well."
In Keen's experience, these investors are only interested in buy-to-let properties. "As the marker moves forward it may change but at the moment the sole purpose is to keep them and let them, certainly for a five- or six-year period. I think you have a mixed bag of investors. Some, particularly the Irish, invest solely for the purpose of capital growth."
Style issue
Like many foreign investors, it is the high-end of the market that attracts most of KPP's clients. "We want to try and focus on the more exclusive developments, smaller blocks with up-beat accommodation that will attract expatriate tenants." Poland's real-estate market is somewhat less sophisticated than that in the UK, for example, but the firm hopes to bridge the gap. "It's the taste factor," says Keen. "I saw some new blocks and Polish owners and investors had fitted out these blocks with kitchens that were being used in the UK back in the 1980s, quite dated styles."
This kind of style factor is what Keen and Zakrzewski believe sets them apart. "This is all new to the market," says Zakrzewski. "If you think five years ago, investors were buying investment opportunities in cash because there were no financing options that there are available now. Fit outs are also completely new, I think Ikea is the standard on the market. But this will change as the market matures."
KPP currently has 20 units of the Przy Wiśle development, being constructed by Viterra near the central business district, on its books. Delivery of this project is expected in the first quarter of 2006 and the units range in size from 70 msq to 105 msq. It is also involved in several other developments in Warsaw and Kraków.
Mortgage blues
One of the frustrations that many foreigners experience in Poland is the unsophisticated mortgage market, which is lingering behind its western competitors.
"The mortgage market is very immature," says Richard Keen. "Two years ago you could pretty much only buy a property with cash or certainly a very high proportion of cash. Now you can get loans of 70, in some cases 80 percent. It has changed an awful lot in the past two years and it will continue to do so.
Despite this, Poland looks set to become an FDI real-estate hotspot, despite tough competition from its more established Eastern European neighbors. "The yields are double what you can get in the UK," asserts Keen. "The big thing you look for when investing in property is growth. The only reason there are so many Western people coming over here is that the growth is coming to an end in the UK and Ireland, for example. So people are forward-thinking over the next five to seven years about where their 50, 60, 70 percent growth is going to come from."
Safe hands
The pair has a wealth of experience to make the arms safe and the legs sure. Although the firm only began trading in January, the duo believes that they have hit the ground running, with Keen's London property background and lucrative UK client list, and Sev Zakrzewski's knowledge and strong connections in the local Polish market.
Keen saw the potential in the Polish market when he came over as an investor. "I first came to Warsaw in the middle of last year with a view to buying up some residential property for myself and a couple of associates. I was basically looking for a company in Warsaw that could handle the fit outs, the lettings and the management all under one roof and there was nobody in the marketplace offering this service. I saw the sheer volume of overseas investors that were coming to Warsaw for the same purpose that I came and they were all coming across the same problem that I had, namely that they couldn't find someone who could cater to their needs."
Keen wasn't the only Londoner getting excited about property in Poland. "I introduced a development to some business associates from London. They had a look at it, and some didn't even bother coming to see it, they just saw what they liked on paper. When it is completed, we will fit them out or sit down with the individuals and decide what kind of concept or scheme of living they want to put in there, the price range, what they want to focus on and then hopefully let them and manage the units as well."
In Keen's experience, these investors are only interested in buy-to-let properties. "As the marker moves forward it may change but at the moment the sole purpose is to keep them and let them, certainly for a five- or six-year period. I think you have a mixed bag of investors. Some, particularly the Irish, invest solely for the purpose of capital growth."
Style issue
Like many foreign investors, it is the high-end of the market that attracts most of KPP's clients. "We want to try and focus on the more exclusive developments, smaller blocks with up-beat accommodation that will attract expatriate tenants." Poland's real-estate market is somewhat less sophisticated than that in the UK, for example, but the firm hopes to bridge the gap. "It's the taste factor," says Keen. "I saw some new blocks and Polish owners and investors had fitted out these blocks with kitchens that were being used in the UK back in the 1980s, quite dated styles."
This kind of style factor is what Keen and Zakrzewski believe sets them apart. "This is all new to the market," says Zakrzewski. "If you think five years ago, investors were buying investment opportunities in cash because there were no financing options that there are available now. Fit outs are also completely new, I think Ikea is the standard on the market. But this will change as the market matures."
KPP currently has 20 units of the Przy Wiśle development, being constructed by Viterra near the central business district, on its books. Delivery of this project is expected in the first quarter of 2006 and the units range in size from 70 msq to 105 msq. It is also involved in several other developments in Warsaw and Kraków.
Mortgage blues
One of the frustrations that many foreigners experience in Poland is the unsophisticated mortgage market, which is lingering behind its western competitors.
"The mortgage market is very immature," says Richard Keen. "Two years ago you could pretty much only buy a property with cash or certainly a very high proportion of cash. Now you can get loans of 70, in some cases 80 percent. It has changed an awful lot in the past two years and it will continue to do so.
Despite this, Poland looks set to become an FDI real-estate hotspot, despite tough competition from its more established Eastern European neighbors. "The yields are double what you can get in the UK," asserts Keen. "The big thing you look for when investing in property is growth. The only reason there are so many Western people coming over here is that the growth is coming to an end in the UK and Ireland, for example. So people are forward-thinking over the next five to seven years about where their 50, 60, 70 percent growth is going to come from."
