Budapest District VII

Hi All,

Another Budapest thread.... sorry.

Is anyone familiar with the Continential Residence complex in district VII. The complex is still just a car park at the moment, construction is about to start soon, but for those familiar with the area, what do they think of this location?

The company which are advertising the complex is Youngs
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It has some good ameanities like swimming pool and fitness centre. I am looking at a 1 bed apartment for about €90K, size about 50m2.

Any comments welcome.

Mack

What part of district v11 are you buying as in what street im also buying in district v11 on akacfa utca and thats also a car park and due to start soon maybe we could share some information if you dont mind love to hear from you

This development is on Dohany utca and is the redevelopment of the beautiful Hungaria baths, which have almost fallen down at this stage. Location is fine, but nothing amazing. Close to everywhere but not in a particulary prestigous area. Rental prospects will probably be quite good. Price seems okay to highish. Renovated 80sqm second hand apartments are probably around the same price as this on the same street. Both properties would more than likely rent for 450 euro per month.

Budapest
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hi budapest would the same prospects be in store for me in that development of akacfa utca not that far away from macks apartment in the sense that it might rent out okay also

Hi Seanieboy, I'm sure that your place has a good chance of being rented out. The Dohany utca development is just around the corner from Akacfa utca and superior in that it has a leisure and wellness centre in the same building and as far as I can see, is priced similar to Akacfa 26, which doesn't have any 'luxury' element. In my opinion, tenants are more likely to go for Continental Residence apartments, if the rent is similar.

Best of luck,
Budapest

Thanks for the reply Budapest.

Mack,
Have you been over to see this area of Dohany, I hope to travel in the nxt month.
Is it far from the centre, is there a lot of building development in the area? What are the main employers near it? I believe theres a hospital +university nearby? So tenants are more than likely students? Is the dev very upmarket for students?
Are you dealing with Youngs Auctioneers in Dublin on this or directly with a Buda contact? Any idea what price the parking is and will you go for it?
I,ve read some bad press about the great poverty in the area of the Blaha Lujza Square, Is the location going to be regenerated? 'Budapest', may have some answers to this?
I,m still unsure as to whether 110K spent on a 2 bed 60sm here would be better spent on a classical apt in District V. In the long term, would the rent not be higher in D V, and the capital appreciation better as its downtown. And there are aptms available for this price.
The debate goes on!! I,m enjoying it!! Your comments please

Another thing to add to the debate is the way the Forint has gone down in the last 2wks. From what I'm told this is to do with the forthcoming election.
If you buy a classic apt you are buying in Hungarian currency, which is certainly an advantage at the moment.
The way all these new developments are priced in Stg & Euro you'd think the currency was set but best to remember it's not. Also your rent will be paid in Forints & not Euro until at least 2010, so that can affect your returns also. It's the kind of thing agents forget to tell you.

You have to go & actually see the place, then you'll get a much better feel for the areas. I'll be interested to hear your reports when you get back......

BTW Budapest has lots of answers.....he certainly opened my eyes. It's also great to have a contact actually living there.

Dohany utca is by no means in a prestigious area but it is within five to ten mins walk from downtown and in a luxury development such as this, investors will be looking for professional tenants. Students won't be able to afford the rents if they are to be around the 6% mark. (After all, the average salary in Hungary is around 500-600 euro per month) The surrounding area is okay. It's not that close really to Blaha Lujza Ter, which, as you say, is not a nice place to be. However, the city is trying to re-develop this square and also, a new luxury hotel (New York Palota) is just about to open right beside it. This will all help, but I can't see it making that much difference. In my opinion too, you're probably right about District V (and parts of VI) being the most likely areas for higher capital appreciation. You can still get great renovated one bed apartments on the best streets in District V for just over 100,000 euro. I really can't see how a smaller modern apartment in VII will do better over the long term.

Budapest

Hi all
New poster who would have appreciated this forum 2 yrs ago.

I'm interested in comparing notes with others in Dohany.
Bought a 31 sq m studio in Summerhouse Apartments (corner of Nyar) on a whim. This was a classic total restoration and everything went very smoothly. The aprtment was delivered on time (to the day) and rented within one month to a student who has just renewed for a further year.

Reading some of the posts makes 76k euro sound very expensive and rental income is currently at 350 euro per month.

Anyone interested in comparing notes?

hi all

i also bought an one bed apartment in the Orient Building in District X11
It is on Rakoczi Ut beside the Mercure Hotel , does anyone know this area
it is not due to complete till Feb08 ,any comments would be great

cheers

JWF, Im just wondering why you chose budapest? Is it because irish property is overpriced? You paid 230euro a square foot for an apartment in budapest. The rent you are getting is 350 euro per month. I paid 180 euro a square foot for a property in ireland recently (not bargain just ordinary house (new) 5 mins from the town centre and schools. I think some people are misled by the fact that they build tiny apartments in these places that people will be very unlikely to live in when the housing stock improves. there will be certainly more choice in the coming years with all the paddies rushing over to buy these bargain apartments! The management costs are going to be crazy and the cost to monitor the property at least one annual visit i cant see how this is a wise investment decision?? Maybe im not up to speed on the situation though.

It does look as if jwf has paid over the odds for his apartment, although if you look at his rental income he's not doing too bad. In fact I would say his return his higher than what you would expect in Ireland. His gross yield is over 5%.

Could you buy a property in Ireland for €240,000 with a rental income of €1050? I would say no.

Once you have a good agent I would say it should not be necesary for you to travel to Budapest on an annual basis. The management fees etc are similiar to Ireland so i wouldn't accept that it is a problem.

gino said:

hi all

i also bought an one bed apartment in the Orient Building in District X11
It is on Rakoczi Ut beside the Mercure Hotel , does anyone know this area
it is not due to complete till Feb08 ,any comments would be great

cheers

Click to expand...

curious as to what you paid per sq meter?

Thanks MoneyMan and DonKing for your replies.
Why Budapest - because I love the city and look forward to spending time there between renters!
I chose this particular development over CityHome (O utca) as it was an excellent restoration of a historic building for the same price. Can't help feeling that some of the new developments will look rather sad in a few years time and also that their management charges are likely to increase much more than my own given their pools and concierges etc.
Also £50k sterling would hardly buy a single garage in Ireland at present!

Incidently, the number of Hungarian property exhibitions is increasing in Belfast. Now one a month at least and not a property less than 100,000 euro.

Thanks again.

Good luck with your investment. I also hope that you enjoy your breaks there. It is a bit of a minefield investing abroad and i think it is a brave decision. I am happy to hear success stories from overseas property but i dont hear very many. I would not judge the success of a particular property or city by the frequency of property exhibitions held though. it seems a bit hit and miss. your yield does appear to be fairly high jwf. so i wish you all the best. the property i spoke about above has a yield of 4.8% by the way. I hear alot of people say lately sure you wouldnt get this for xxamount in ireland and sure xxk wouldnt buy you a good car. Any advice or recommendation i got on a property followed by that i would completely disregard because it is a load of old cobblers!!

I have a yield of 6.5% at the minute in district 6, or half that after tax. Its the most possible for the place; as I've rented the parking space separately.

I bought a flat in 2004 from Springs international in the orient apartment in Budapest. I was very green at the time and was totally ripped off. I have gone on now to acquire several other properties but wow I am in shock when I look back at the deal I made at the time.

Hi,
Don't want to hijack this thread, but I have been trying to sell an apartment on Hajos Ucta in District 6 for the past couple of months. Trouble is, I can't get anybody to act for me!
The company I bought the apartment through in April 2004 have ceased trading, and I have found direct dealing with hungarians extremely difficult as have found that they always promise more than they deliver. Maybe I've just been unlucky.
As a result, I contacted a major estate agent in Dublin who are supposed to have a big presence out there, and I am getting the runaround. Almost two months since I contacted them, I still have no idea of the current value of the property, let alone prospects for selling. This is despite the fact that they would be due a commission of 4% for making the sale.
I bought the apartment for 20M HUF in 2004. total costs including stamp, commission and refurb came to approx 92k.
70sq m, and has been rented since for 350pm. Own door access from courtyard. Building has been gradually getting renovated. Looks decent from insitde the building but facia to the street is in need of facelift.

Need the money to finance a new business, but no end of this saga in sight. Can anybody help??

Send a PM to 'Budapest'. He seems very well informed on this particular market and he may well be able to help.