Poles are not at all harsh about the shell of apartments, however, they prefer turnkey pickups

28 February 2023

It would seem that the ever-increasing pace of life accompanying us will make us expect a ready-to-live space when we receive a new apartment. A report commissioned by Echo Investment “There is no place like home, or how Poles live” partially contradicts this thesis. This is because it turned out that 24% of the survey participants are willing to take on the effort of finishing an apartment and agree to a unit in its raw state. In general, however, Poles prefer to receive finished units. The turnkey formula was indicated by 39% of respondents.
Nearly one in four Poles is determined to choose the right flooring, bathroom fixtures or interior doors on his or her own before settling into the M of his or her dreams. Less often, the youngest respondents aged 18-24 (16% of indications) would go for this type of solution, and more often older respondents with established jobs – in the 45-54 age group, this percentage was 29%. The report proved that income also matters a great deal in this regard, but interestingly, the higher the income, the more often respondents indicated a shell condition. Among the lowest earners, 18% of people would opt for raw walls and floors, while among those collecting between PLN 15,000 and 20,000 a month, as many as 58% of respondents pointed to the shell.

Why do Poles decide on the raw state of the apartment? As many as 74% of respondents simply want to finish the purchased property themselves. In turn, 32% of respondents each marked the options “turnkey finishing is too expensive” and “all developer-finished apartments look the same.” In addition, 31% say they do not trust realtors and want to control everything themselves, while another 14% have a proven finishing team. Piotr Sztechman, manager of the warranty service at Echo Investment, has been observing the phenomenon for many years. He confirms that buyers of apartments from a developer mainly decide to receive the keys to the property without finished walls or floors. Most clients have their own vision of finishing and use their own teams. So they carry out the works and arrangements as they see fit. However, I also notice a trend that, for example, because of convenience or time savings, Echo Investment’s clients are increasingly opting to buy the finishing packages we offer.

The above trend can also be seen in the report “There’s nothing like home, or how Poles live”. Respondents are more likely to opt for an apartment finished by a developer in a turnkey formula than for the shell of a developer. This may not come as a surprise, since a decorated kitchen, bathroom, painted walls and laid flooring offer the possibility of almost immediate habitation right after receiving the keys. This option was supported by 39% of respondents. In addition, 14% of Poles are interested in buying premises ready to move in, that is, not only finished, but also equipped by the developer with furniture or household appliances/RTV. The report, created on behalf of Echo Investment, indicates that 51% of those questioned do not have time to buy materials and keep an eye on the finishing team, 34% do not know how to finish apartments, and 2% less value the comfort of invariability of the price of the service guaranteed by a signed contract with the contractor. Next places were occupied by: 3-year warranty on completed work (26%), the ability to save 15% on VAT on finishing materials (20%), and the use of top-quality materials that will last longer (11%).

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