What might my share in a property be worth? Who can buy it, when and for how much?

What the value of a share depends on

Before we get to specific numbers, it is worth understanding what actually determines how much someone is willing to pay for a share in co-ownership. Four things matter above all.

• The value of the whole property. The starting point is always the market value of the entire property, established on the basis of location, floor area, physical condition and the situation on the local market. The easier the whole property is to value and sell, the easier it is to value the share itself.
• The number of co-owners. A share in a property belonging to two people is an entirely different situation from a share in one divided between eight or fifteen, which often happens with co-ownership arising from an inheritance spanning several generations. The more co-owners there are, the harder it is to agree on anything at all, from renovation to sale, and the less attractive the share itself becomes to a potential buyer.
• Actual possession, that is whether you have the keys. This is one of the most important and most often overlooked factors. The position of a co-owner who lives in the property or uses it freely is very different from that of someone who is a co-owner “on paper”, with no actual access — because, say, another co-owner lives there and will not let the others in. A buyer of a share without actual possession has to reckon with having to fight for access to the property, sometimes in court, which further reduces the attractiveness of such a share.
• The legal status of the property and the position of the other co-owners. Encumbrances such as a mortgage, debt, unresolved legal title or open conflict between the co-owners all affect the price too, on which more below.

What the market actually pays

In a typical situation, with a property free of serious complications and a small number of co-owners, the market values a share at around 50% of its nominal value, that is half the amount you would arrive at by multiplying the percentage share by the market value of the whole property. So if the whole property is worth PLN 500,000 and someone holds a 1/2 share in it, the nominal value of that share is PLN 250,000, but the realistic price obtainable on the market is usually somewhere around PLN 125,000.

This is not a fixed figure but an indicative benchmark, from which particular cases can depart in either direction. It can be higher where the share is large (1/2, say), the co-owners are few, relations between them are decent and the seller has actual access to the property. It can, however, be markedly lower where additional complications come into play.

When it is cheaper still

A few situations push the value of a share particularly far below that indicative 50% mark.

• A very large number of co-owners. Where shares are fragmented between a dozen or several dozen heirs — which happens with estates inherited across many generations without the matter ever being sorted out along the way — the value of a single share can be symbolic, even if the whole property is worth a good deal. The more people would have to be talked into a joint decision, the less realistic any transaction or dissolution of the co-ownership becomes, and that translates directly into the price.
• Probate never carried out. It happens that a property is formally still part of an estate, because nobody obtained a declaration of acquisition of inheritance or drew up a deed certifying succession before a notary. Before there can be any talk of selling a share in a specific property, it must first be formally confirmed who inherited the estate and in what proportions. That is an extra step, extra time and extra cost, which puts off ordinary buyers and reduces the price a buyer is willing to pay.
• Additional encumbrances and conflicts. A mortgage on the property, a court dispute under way between the co-owners, occupants who are hard to remove, or unresolved legal title to the land — all of this further deters buyers and lowers the real price of the share.

Who actually buys such shares

It is worth realising that the pool of potential buyers for a share in co-ownership is by nature very narrow. Banks do not finance the purchase of a share alone with a mortgage loan, so a large part of the market — those who buy property on credit — drops out. The typical buyer looking for a flat or house for themselves is usually not interested either, because they do not want to share ownership with strangers or face uncertainty about what will happen to the property next.

In practice, shares in co-ownership are bought above all by specialist investors and companies that understand how co-ownership works, have their own capital and do not need to finance the transaction, and have experience of the steps that follow: negotiations with the other co-owners, possible proceedings to dissolve the co-ownership, or sorting out the inheritance. That is precisely why the price they offer, though lower than the nominal value of the share, is often the only realistic offer on the market — and often the only chance of turning such a share into money at all, without waiting years for a court resolution.

Is it worth selling below nominal value

The natural instinct is to think that if the market pays less than simple arithmetic suggests, it is better to wait or to pursue your rights in court. In many cases, however, you have to count not only the price but the cost: years of uncertainty, the fees of a lawyer and an expert, the risk that the case will end in an enforcement auction at a depressed price anyway and, above all, the cost of the time and stress of a conflict that stays unresolved throughout.

Sometimes selling the share, even at a discount to nominal value, is simply worth more than years of struggling with a situation that will probably end in a similar financial outcome anyway — only later and with a bigger headache.

At Remedy we price each case individually, taking into account the value of the property, the number of co-owners, your actual access to the property and the legal position of the case, including any inheritance issues. We buy shares in co-owned property throughout Poland and will gladly give you a specific valuation of your situation, with no obligation.

The values and examples given are indicative and do not constitute an offer within the meaning of the law. We price every share individually once we have looked at the particular situation.