budapest appartment

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bondiblues

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hust wondering if anyone can help me here, i bought an appartment last year on a spur of the moment at an exhibition, did no research whatsoever, dont know what i was thinking really.. its on vorosmarty (vi i think) the opposite side to andrassy, its fourth floor in an old building with a courtyard, i went out to see it a few months ago and it's in reasonable condition. i paid 92000 euro, for 83msq. afterwards the company i bought it through havn't been great, i was told renting would be no problem, but it still isn't let, though i've been informed now that you need to furnish in order to let these places but i'm reluctant to spend more money at this stage. there still managing to charge me a management fee though! anyway when i was out there i got the feeling i had paid well over the odds for this place, can anyone give me an idea of the value of it
 
Vorosmarty utca goes from District VI to VII and the value would depend a lot on which part of the street the apartment is on. Does it have 2 or 3 rooms? Is it street-facing/courtyard? Bright or dark? Is the building in good condition? Does the building have a lift?
 
One thing is sure, if you want to rent it, you will have to furnish it unless you can get an office let (although 1st floor better for this). Renters in Budapest now demand a good standard of decor and furnishing, you won't easily rent out a crappy apartment with shoddy furniture.

I have continually advised people to buy new properties in GOOD areas in Budapest if they want to get tenants; what on earth were you doing buying a second hand apartment without seeing it? At least you bought in a reasonably good location (depending on exactly where it is), and you will probably do ok over time, but the mind boggles as to what goes on at exhibitions!
 
yeah i realise it was stupid to buy without any research, but thats the situation i'm in. its on the part of vorosmarty thats away from andrassy, so its not the good side, the appartment is bright as its top (4th) floor and faces into the court yard, there is a lift, building seems in reasonable condition. there is two large bedrooms and a kitchen, no real sitting room as such, thanks for the advice. any idea how much to furnish it? and what are the prospects of letting it then? thanks
 
If the decor is fairly modern you could get away with furnishing it from IKEA, they have 2 stores in Budapest. There is also a French IKEA-style store in the 13th that's reasonable, can't remember the name of it, maybe Budapest can tell us.

If you walk around Ikea and make a list of the codes of all the furniture you need, and add up the prices, it will give you an idea of what it will cost. You can get the white goods and telly etc in either Tesco or Media Markt; if you are in the IKEA at Ors Vezer Tere (last stop on red line) there is a Tesco and a Media Markt just across the road, so you can do the lot in one place. I reckon you could furnish a 2-bed apartment in this way for about 6K at a pinch. Only thing is that if the apartment has a heavy traditional decor then the IKEA stuff won't look great in it.

The small stuff, cups and plates, cutlery etc you could pick up in Tesco, or just let the management company do it -- life is too short to shop for plates.

If you have made a list from IKEA and of the white goods, give it to a management company (again, maybe Budapest can help you) and ask them to buy and instal everything for you. Typically they charge 10%, and they also usually get a small discount from IKEA but not from Tesco or Media Markt, so they should be happy enough to do it for 10%. Then ask them to rent it for you and manage the rental. Remember that 10% or 15% of your rental doesn't amount to a hill of beans, so be reasonable with them and don't expect them to work full-time for you for this money.

Open a bank account when you are in Hungary (you can't do it from here)and put enough in it to keep it open while you are waiting for rentals to arrive -- if you just put in a nominal amount the monthly charges will eat it up and the account will close, requiring another trip to Hungary to open another account.

All this may seem like a lot of trouble, but its really just a days work, and you need to make the most of the situation and get some cash flow from the investment. Overall, I wouldn't be too worried, you could have bought a lot worse than the middle of Budapest, and I would reckon that it will do ok for you in time despite your bad start.
 
I will second Auto's suggestions. Do contact Budapest. He helped me with everything to do with my apartment including furnishing.
I would also recommend you open a bank a/c with Citibank in Vorosmarty Ter. They have English speakers & you can get their online service in English too.
The charge on the a/c is HUF50 per month if you keep an ok balance in it you'll actually earn more in interest !
 
If it's so far from Andrassy, then I'm guessing that it's the District VII part of Vorosmarty utca. Which street is the closest intersection?

It might appeal to veterinary students who attend the college close by on Istvan utca, but you really will have to be realistic when it comes to rent (€300-€400 per month by the sounds of it) and you will have to furnish well. Expats who rent in Budapest have come to expect a certain standard of furnishing and throwing a few mismatch pieces from IKEA won't usually be enough. You'll have to do it properly and this more than likely means employing the services of a management company. Best of luck with it.
 
thanks for the replys, i think the nearest cross street is szondi. seems like it'll cost 2 years worth of rental income to furnish it, i might just leave it dormant for the moment
 
It's in District VI so and not that far from Andrassy. If you don't furnish, then you almost definitely won't be able to rent it out. Even if you got €350 per month, I think it would be worth considering, as in the meantime, you'll have to pay common costs, utilities, etc, which the tenants would otherwise have to pay.
 
Hi All,

Interesting to see there is so much activity on Budapest. I too was foolish and bought without visiting Budapest. ( I can hear David McWilliams goint tut tut now!)

Thankfully the place is really really nice. In District 11 (eleven), brand new 1 Bedroomed on the second floor with Lifts etc. The build quality is excellent. Solid concrete interior walls and high cellings. Just on the furnishings I went to the IKEA in Budros which is in the west of the city. They have a free delivery service also which was excellent. I dont know if you really need to spend 6k though, unless you are buying Firdges and cookers etc. I got all that with my apartment. I spent literally €500 in Ikea and go everything: Bed, 5 rugs, Table and 4 Chairs, all cookery stuff, pots, pans, Kettle, Pot Plants, Towels, Mirrors, 5 Lamps, 6 Light Shades for fixed lighting. Cups , plantes etc.

The only bad thing about the whole affair is that the sale is still not closed. I am waiting over 6 months now for this and still no response. I paid €69,000 for mine. 1 Bed 40 Sq/m Its right beside the Tram on Fehervari ut. Just for your info also a new Metro stop is under construction on upper Fehervari ut.

I am considering selling in the new year, but to be honest I dont think that any Hungarian will pay over 1,000 per square meter. Anyone have any thoughts on this ?
 
Good time to buy in Budapest, bad time to sell.

Not crazy about district 11, better value in other places like the 13th. I would say you paid a little over the odds, so you will either have to take a hit or wait a couple of years for your gains.

Best idea is to furnish and rent, and sit out the flat market. The government has recently taken steps to deal with the public finances, and the long term future looks rosy. The city is in the centre of Europe, and is already becoming something of a logistics hub for the entire EU. A lot of good stuff happening around the orbital motorway with business parks etc either starting to happen or planned, and the city itself is beautiful and vibrant with an infrastructure that we won't see here for another twenty years.

I have a few residential properties in downtown Budapest, all rented except for a small one-bed that I keep for my own use, and apart from the occasional blank, all are giving me returns of between 5% (more recently bought one) and 10% for one bought a few years ago. Its a great city, and if you can hold on it will pay you eventually. Only sell if you have to at this point.
 
heres a good link:



tends to be uodated daily. Ingatlan seems to be the hungarian version of daft.ie
 
Thank you Auto,

I thought as much. Paddy, thanks for the link, I have not seen such a comprehensive insight into properrty in Budapest.

I have been over twice now and have enjoyed my time there. The one other thing I noticied was last time I was there there seemed to be some kind of mass house cleaning going on. I mean hundreds of tonnes of old house stuff strewn along the street. It was extraordinary. The Roma people then rumadged though everything and in some cases were protecting piles or rubish while others went through all the stuff.

Auto, I think that you are correct with renting for the moment. Hungary is unlikley to adopt the Euro until 2011
 
That dumping of household junk is a feature of many european cities, a day is set aside for households to leave out stuff and other people can either take it away or the council will then move it. I was in Budapest about a month ago and this was going on, and as you said a lot of gypsies and indeed homeless people had taken charge of particular piles of rubbish and were selling the best of it. I had a few bits of furniture that I wanted to get rid of and I dragged them down and put them on the pile in my street; the guy who was "minding" that pile was delighted at my contribution!
 

Yes, its a very good link to show what Hungarian people are paying for their property.

For example, it currently shows that District 6 apartments average €1,230 sq.m. This includes both classic and new.
I was working in Budapest a few weeks back and gave a quick look through the local press, and it seems to be very accurate. New build apartments in dis 6 are currently selling locally for about 1450-1550 sq.m.

The Paddy price is over 2,100 sq.m in some cases.

In fact, my brother was offered a 2-bed (72 sq.m) apartment by a reputable agent about 6 months ago in dis 7 for €2,300 sq.m!
 
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