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Every business starts with some kind of story. Ours begins in 2015 on Targowa 47 in Łódź – in an apartment that had been empty for years. That apartment became the first real estate investment of my life, three years full of lessons, a sale at 76% return, and an idea that eventually grew into The Golden Square. If you have ever wondered how to start investing in rental property – or whether it is worth it at all – this story is for you.
It all started with my great-grandmother’s apartment. A municipal flat on Targowa, 40 m², two rooms. My sister and I were holding on to it after her death – I am not sure why. Probably sentiment. Nobody lived there, but neither of us wanted to let it go.
One day an investor showed up. He had bought the entire tenement to renovate it and sell off the separated units. He gave us an ultimatum: either we buy our flat from him or we move out.
At that time my sister was the one taking care of the flat. She did not know what to do. The developer wanted 80,000 PLN for our unit. That was 40 m², two rooms – about 2,000 PLN/m². From today’s perspective it sounds absurdly cheap. Back then it did not feel that way at all.
The flat needed a complete renovation. I was in a poor financial situation. My sister was a bit better off. Neither of us knew anything about the real estate market – but again, probably driven by sentiment and emotion, we said “yes”. I borrowed money from my sister and we bought the flat, feeling that we were overpaying. I guess that is the norm when you buy something for the first time.
That is how our adventure with real estate began.
After the purchase we started the renovation. The assumption was simple: prepare the flat for rent at the lowest possible cost. The cost of renovating a rental flat is the biggest unknown for a beginner investor – and our case was no exception.
The unit consisted of two rooms. One was a kitchen with a partition wall enclosing a small bathroom. The other was the living room. We decided to do a full overhaul: rip everything out and rebuild from scratch.
From the room that used to be the kitchen with bathroom, we made a bedroom. In the living room we played a real Tetris game – we carved out a windowless kitchen, a bathroom and a separate room. Two rooms turned into three. In a 40 m² flat that is a huge functional difference.
What was part of that process?
What an adventure that was. Anyone who has ever renovated a rental flat knows this mix of chaos, decisions and compromises. The full renovation cost 40,000 PLN. Together with the purchase – 120,000 PLN sunk into a flat that was just about to start earning.
OK. The flat was ready. How do you rent out an apartment? We learned that question from scratch.
We took it step by step. We took photos. We posted the listing. We waited.
First calls, first viewings. Eventually a great candidate showed up. We had to:
Everything went well. The flat started earning – 1,300 PLN per month plus utilities. That gave us about 15-16 thousand PLN of annual rental income. After three years of renting – almost 47,000 PLN earned before the flat was even sold.
But earning was not the end of it. Like everyone who rents out an apartment for the first time, we quickly learned that this is not “passive income”. Phone calls kept coming – something was leaking, something stopped working, something needed replacing. We had to pay utilities, settle taxes, answer the tenant’s questions. Without experience, every such issue is a small crisis.
The tenant turned out to be a long-term resident. A student from the Łódź film school – Targowa 47 is literally a 2 minute walk from campus. Perfect location. She lived there for the full 3 years.
After three years I picked up a phone call that changed the entire story. The father of our tenant called. He said it straight: “I don’t want to keep paying rent. I’m thinking about buying an apartment in Łódź for my daughter. Would you consider selling?”
We didn’t want to. The flat was renting well, generating steady income. But we figured that if someone was already asking for an offer – we should give one. And it had to be the kind of offer that, if the buyer accepts it, leaves no regret on our side.
We proposed 5,300 PLN/m². That meant 212,000 PLN for the entire flat. At that time it was an astronomical price – almost three times what we had paid.
And you know what happened? The tenant accepted.
That’s how we closed our first complete investment cycle. Let’s do quick math:
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Flat purchase (2015) | 80,000 PLN |
| Renovation (3 rooms, bathroom, kitchen) | 40,000 PLN |
| Total investment | 120,000 PLN |
| Sale after 3 years (40 m² × 5,300 PLN) | 212,000 PLN |
| Profit on sale | 92,000 PLN (76%) |
| Rental income (3 years × ~15.6k PLN) | ~47,000 PLN |
| Total return on investment | ~139,000 PLN |
Total return is almost 116% in 3 years, not counting the time we spent on supervision and management. Sounds crazy? Back then it felt that way to us as well.
That was the first real eye-opener about the real estate market.
The sale wasn’t the end of the story. On the contrary – it was the start of a new idea.
After those three years I realised how many challenges, decisions and how much time the entire process required. Purchase. Renovation. Marketing. Viewings. Lease. Daily tenant problems. Settlements. Taxes. Sale.
And I understood one more thing: most people don’t want to deal with all this. They have jobs, families, their own things. A rental flat is, in theory, a great investment for them, but in practice – a second job. Especially for someone doing it for the first time.
I thought: I’d like to provide this kind of service for people. Help them go through it without stress, without mistakes, without midnight calls from tenants.
And so – back then a crazy – idea took shape in my head. Start a rental property management company in Łódź. Despite the profit from the sale I didn’t have the funds. After the sale I bought my first apartment for myself and the cash was gone.
What did I do? Since I had neither capital nor a team – I borrowed money and gathered people. I convinced my sister, her husband and a friend to start a company with me.
That is how The Golden Square was born.
When I talk today with people considering a rental property investment, I hear the same questions:
I asked myself the same questions a decade ago, standing in front of the flat on Targowa. Back then I had no one to ask – I learned everything the hard way, making all the typical mistakes of a first-time investor.
Today Golden Square exists exactly to spare others that “life manual”. We manage rentals of more than 400 apartments in Łódź and Warsaw. Each one is handled with the same care we used to run that first flat on Targowa – because we still remember what it is like to be on the owner’s side.
If you are thinking about your first investment, or you have a flat and don’t know how to rent it well – book a free consultation. We will assess the rental price, identify the target group, suggest how to prepare the apartment. Exactly the things we had to learn over years.
And if you want to see how we work day to day – check out our management packages. Three levels of protection, from Silver to Platinum, tailored to different owner needs.
Targowa 47 – that is where it started. Every property under our care since then is a continuation of the same story.
Author: Konrad Kopczyński
