Buying
Buying a flat in Poland without a pośrednik
Otodom, OLX and Gratka all carry private listings and let you filter for them, so the Polish question is not where to look but what the purchase actually costs you.
English
Where private sellers actually list in Poland
Each of these is a separate pool. A saved search on one tells you nothing about the others, so set up alerts on every one you intend to use.
- Anyone.com Listed by the owner
Flats and houses listed by their owners, gathered rather than mixed in with agency stock. You deal with the owner and settle the price between you, and the notary then does what Polish law requires either way.
More than 31 million active listings across 31 markets, agent-represented and owner-listed together. Otodom carries agency, developer and private listings, filterable by advertiser.
Search owner-listed homes ↗ - Otodom Owners can list
Buyer filter An advertiser-type setting with a prywatne option, and listings carry an oferta prywatna badge
Poland's largest property portal carries agency, developer and private listings together, and unlike Idealista or Immobiliare it actually lets buyers separate them. Set the advertiser type before you do anything else and the search becomes a different exercise.
- adresowo.pl Owners can list
Buyer filter No toggle, because every result is badged either bez pośredników or przez agenta
Built around owner-direct listings and it says so in its own strapline. It also de-duplicates the same property listed by several agents, which is the other thing that makes a Polish search tedious. Not owner-exclusive, so read the badge.
- OLX Owners can list
Buyer filter A private advertiser option in the listings filters
Free and heavily used by owners, particularly outside the big cities and at lower price points. Less structured than Otodom and worth running as a separate search rather than assuming overlap.
- Gratka and Morizon Owners can list
Buyer filter A from-a-private-person filter that excludes agency listings
Smaller than Otodom but with the same filtering, so they cost little to check. Stock overlaps with Otodom more than it does with OLX.
How many homes this really covers
Poland is the most open market in this set rather than the most underserved, and that is worth being straight about. All the major portals take private listings and most let you filter for them, and adresowo already positions itself around owner-direct search. Nobody publishes what share of Polish sales happen without an agent, so treat any percentage you see as unsourced. The value here is in the money and the process rather than in finding listings nobody else can see.
The PCC exemption for a first home, article 9 point 17 of the transfer tax act
Since 31 August 2023 a natural person buying their first dwelling on the secondary market pays no transfer tax at all, instead of the usual 2 percent. That covers a separate residential unit, a single-family house or a cooperative ownership right, and it survives having previously inherited a share of no more than half. On a 600,000 zł flat the difference is 12,000 zł. The notary applies it at the deed, so tell them before completion rather than trying to reclaim afterwards.
In force since 31 August 2023. Read the legislation
Buying one, step by step
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Set the advertiser filter first, on every portal
Otodom, OLX and Gratka all have one. It takes five seconds and changes what you spend the next month looking at. Add adresowo, which badges every result and removes duplicate agency listings of the same flat.
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Work out whether this is your first home
If it is, and you are buying on the secondary market, the 2 percent transfer tax disappears entirely. On a 600,000 zł flat that is 12,000 zł, which is more than any price negotiation is likely to win you.
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Check the księga wieczysta yourself
The land register is searchable online by its number. It shows the owner, mortgages and any claims. Ask the seller for the number at the first viewing; a reluctance to give it is itself informative.
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Read anything an agent hands you at a viewing
Polish law names no payer, so the brokerage contract decides. If you sign one, the commission may be yours. If the seller engaged the agent and you signed nothing, it is not.
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Agree the deed date with a notary early
The notary's fee is capped by regulation and quotable in advance, so ask two. Either party can choose them in practice, and paying for someone you have spoken to is better than turning up to one the seller picked.
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Complete at the notary
The deed is read and signed, the transfer tax is collected there, and the land registry application goes in. Ownership passes at that moment and not before.
Check before any money moves
- The księga wieczysta number, the registered owner, and sections three and four for claims and mortgages
- Whether you qualify for the first-home PCC exemption, worth 2 percent of the price
- For a cooperative right rather than full ownership, what exactly you are buying and whether a land register exists for it
- Outstanding czynsz, media bills and any fundusz remontowy arrears attached to the flat
- For a block, the wspólnota or spółdzielnia accounts and renovation works already voted
- Whether the seller acquired the property by inheritance or gift recently, and if the tax position on that is settled
Selling one instead? See where to list a home yourself in Poland , or the full guide to selling without an agent in Poland .
Common questions
Can I filter Polish portals for private sellers?
Yes, and this is where Poland differs from Spain or Italy. Otodom has an advertiser-type setting with a prywatne option and badges those listings oferta prywatna. OLX and Gratka have equivalents, and adresowo badges every result either bez pośredników or przez agenta.
Who pays the agent in Poland?
Whoever signed the brokerage contract. There is no statutory payer and no cap. Usually it is the seller on the secondary market, but buyer-pays and split arrangements are both lawful, so what you sign at a viewing matters.
Do I really pay no transfer tax on a first home?
If it is genuinely your first dwelling and you are buying on the secondary market, yes: no PCC instead of 2 percent, since 31 August 2023. A previously inherited share of up to half does not disqualify you. Tell the notary before the deed.
Can I buy without a notary?
No. Article 158 of the Civil Code makes a notarial deed compulsory for transferring property. Anything signed privately between you and the seller transfers nothing at all, whatever it says.
What does the notary cost?
The maximum is set by regulation and scales with the price. On 600,000 zł the ceiling is about 3,899 zł including VAT, plus copies and the land registry court fee, and many notaries charge under the cap. It is worth asking two for a quote.
Sources
Every legal, tax, and process claim on this page traces to one of these. We re-check them on a schedule and date the page when anything changes.
- Kupno mieszkania lub domu na rynku wtórnym bez podatku PCCMinisterstwo Rozwoju i Technologii · gov.pl
- Kodeks cywilny, article 158: notarial form for property transferArsLege · arslege.pl
- Maksymalne stawki taksy notarialnejINFOR · infor.pl
- Ogłoszenia nieruchomości bez pośrednikówadresowo.pl · adresowo.pl