Studio that became a 2-room apartment – case study from Łódź

Many beginner investors look for “bargains” – cheap apartments, in good locations, ready to rent. Sounds reasonable, but such opportunities rarely just lie around. Truly good investments require two things: patience, and the ability to spot hidden potential where others don’t see it.

This post is about one such apartment. It started as a 47 m² studio on Różyckiego street in Łódź. After our work, it became a two-room apartment with a walk-in closet – without breaking down any load-bearing walls, for 9,000 PLN of renovation. Rental yield: 7.5%. Property value increase over 6 years: 64%.

This is a specific case study – with numbers, decisions and lessons that may be useful to anyone thinking about investing in a rental apartment in Łódź.

Clients from the UK and a first investment in Poland

In 2019 a married couple reached out to us – clients from Łódź who had been living and working in the UK for several years. They had savings, a stable job in pounds, and they wanted to invest part of their capital in their hometown. The plan was clear: buy an apartment in Łódź for rent, generate cash flow in PLN, and after some time decide whether to keep, sell, or expand the portfolio.

They came to us with a question that returns in almost every initial conversation: “where to start, what to look for, what to avoid?”. They had no detailed knowledge of the Polish rental market – so we got to work together: defining the target group, the budget, the city districts that made sense.

What we were looking for – and what we found

The brief: a flat up to ~270,000 PLN, with maximum potential to increase functionality. Center of Łódź or close to it. Target group: young professionals, students of older years, couples without children. Net rental yield should sit at 7-8%.

After a few weeks of search we found the candidate. A studio on Różyckiego street, 47 m². Quiet street near the city center, view onto green courtyard. Price: 258,000 PLN, that is 5,481 PLN/m². Great location. Technical condition – practically move-in ready.

For most beginners that’s the moment they hesitate: “47 m² for one tenant – is this a good rental investment?”. The numbers say no – a studio at 5,500 PLN/m² without modifications would not deliver 7-8% yield. But we knew you can adapt this space.

What we saw in this studio

The flat had a non-standard layout. The day zone was very large – about 30 m² of open kitchen with living room. The bathroom was set apart, and there was no separate sleeping room. Just a single open zone.

For a studio renting at single tenant level – that’s wasted space. But for a 2-room flat for a couple – or two friends – that’s a perfect base. The kitchen-living-room zone was big enough to be split with a partition into two functional rooms: a living room with kitchenette, and a separate bedroom. Plus we could carve out a small walk-in closet.

Crucially: no need to touch load-bearing walls – just partition walls in one place, which can be put up in a few days.

This is exactly the moment when knowledge of the rental market becomes an advantage. A 2-room flat rents for 30-40% more than a studio of the same size. A walk-in closet adds further value – that’s something 90% of apartments on the market don’t have, and tenants love it.

We showed the clients the before-and-after layout. We explained the logic. We showed roughly how much it would cost. We showed how much more it would give them per month. The numbers added up. The clients said yes.

The flat was bought.

Renovation for 9 thousand – how we kept the budget tight

Key constraint: the clients had a tight budget after the purchase. We had to deliver maximum effect for minimum money.

What specifically fit into 9,000 PLN:

• Putting up partition walls splitting the existing open day zone into a bedroom and a living room (the kitchen was already half-open)
• Carving out a walk-in closet – small but practical built-in wardrobe
• Minor adjustments to electrics in the new wall positioning
• Painting in the new layout
• Furniture rearrangement – bed in the new bedroom, sofa and dining table in the living area

What didn’t have to be done because the flat was already in good shape: floors, kitchen, bathroom, windows. That is exactly what made this case efficient – the apartment didn’t need a “full renovation”, just a smart functional adaptation.

Rental and results – 7.5% yield

After adaptation, we listed the flat as a 2-room apartment with walk-in closet. The rent was set at 1,700 PLN/month plus utilities. That gave annual rental income of 20,400 PLN.

For comparison: an unmodified studio at the same address would have rented for ~1,200 PLN/month at most. That would be 14,400 PLN/year, or 5.4% yield – much weaker. The smart adaptation moved the yield from 5.4% to 7.5% – a 39% relative improvement.

Property value growth and the apartment “she forgot about”

Six years later we still manage this flat. The clients live abroad, and rental management is fully on our side: tenant search and replacement, payments, repairs, communication, accounting handover. Last year, on a quarterly call, the owner told us:

“You know what? You provide this service so well that I practically forget I own this apartment.”

For many rental property owners that sounds impossible. To have an investment – and forget that you have it. But that is exactly the goal we set ourselves every day. Your investment should work for you, not steal your time and nerves.

Property value growth – 64% in 6 years

What about the asset itself? An apartment bought for 262,000 PLN in 2019 is now worth roughly 9,000 PLN/m² – so about 430,000 PLN of market value. Asset value increase: +64% in 6 years.

Important note: this is the market value of the flat – what could be obtained on a possible sale. The clients haven’t sold it – and don’t plan to. This is just one of the financial dimensions, complementing the cash flow from rent.

What this story means for you

Three lessons from this case study, useful for anyone thinking about investing in rental property:

• Don’t buy the apartment in front of you – buy the apartment after the adaptation. The flat we bought in 2019 was a studio worth 1,200 PLN/month of rent. The flat that came out of it after 9,000 PLN of work was a 2-room with walk-in closet worth 1,700 PLN/month. The same physical space – the difference was in our heads, not in the walls.
• Renovation budget should be subordinated to the goal, not the other way around. Many investors burn 30-50 thousand PLN on a random renovation. Every renovation decision should be justified with monthly rent or asset value increase. If a 9k PLN investment delivers a +500 PLN/month rent boost – that is brilliant ROI. If a 30k PLN investment delivers +200 PLN/month – that is mediocre.
• An apartment under good management really can stop being a problem. The clients bought the flat, signed the management contract, and 6 years later still don’t have to think about it. They get a quarterly summary, the rent comes monthly, taxes are settled. That’s how it should work – with everyone.

Your investment starts with a good decision

If you have an apartment in Łódź, Warsaw or somewhere nearby and you don’t know how to maximize its potential – or you are looking at apartments to buy and don’t know which ones make sense for renting – book a free consultation. We will look together at the layout, location, target group and possible adaptations. Just like we did with the clients from Różyckiego back in 2019.

And if you want full peace of mind from day one – check out our management packages. Three levels of protection, from Silver to Platinum. The Różyckiego clients have Platinum – that’s why their apartment “got forgotten”.

Different apartments. Different stories. The same rule: a good investment is the one you can stop worrying about.

Author: Konrad Kopczyński