Investment visit-Budapest

Just found this very informative site and wondered if anyone could help.We are coming to Budapest on Monday with a view to buying a apartment off plan up to 60K euros. The company we are coming with have 3 developments.1 at Sun Palace district 3 ,1 at Mill hill district 16 and 1 called Erkel house in district 8.Are any of these worth investing in as I have heard and read not so good reports about some of these areas.Which are the best areas we should be looking at and can we buy something for this amount of money in those areas ?

Re: Investment visit

waxwing said:

We are coming to Budapest on Monday ...

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"Coming to"? Askaboutmoney.com is not a Hungarian site in case you somehow got that impression!

Re: Investment visit

Welcome to AAM Waxwing,

I invested in some property in Budapest in 2004. I spent a fair bit of time trying to find out whats the best location etc. I must have broke a few agents hearts because I chopped and changed so many times.

I came to the conclusion that if you invest in a city which you are not very familiar with then you should stick with the more central (established) areas rather than the outlining areas. Proximity to public transport (Metro) is always going to be important.

I bought property just 50 metres from the Octogon junction on Andrassy in district 6.

Bpartner posted the link below to the BBJ on-line newspaper. One of the articles mentions the 8000+ properties which are unsold by developers at the moment. These properties are mainly in the outer lining districts.

I think your safest bet would be to stick to districts 5, 6 and 7

When you go over there I'd try to explore some areas yourself without the agent.

If you put down a booking deposit, make sure it is refundable. So that you can have a bit of a cooling down period when you get home.
Get your passport notarised while you are over there.(It's cheaper than the Hungarian Embassy in Ireland). There should be no reason to sign any contracts while on the viewing trip, everything can be done back in Ireland.


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Re: Investment visit

Bpartner,

Thanks for the info.

I was aware of the Marina project. I've seen it a couple of things at property exhibitions over the last few years.

I agree with your comments regarding Buda. I friend of mine bought a nice apartment there a couple of years ago when I bought in District 6. As I said previously I just felt, with limited local knowledge, it was better for a foreigner to buy in a good central area rather than areas further out from the centre of Budapest.

Hopefully when I'm over again later in the year, I'll get a chance to consider other areas/opportunities.

Just got very glossy catalogue in the post from a company called Eurozone Investment Options Limited regarding "6 remaining luxury apartments in this very unique development" its called Paulay Eden, 65 Budapest, Hungary. Anyone ever heard of it or invested in and if so is it as good as it looks?

Hi DeniseBK,
I was in Budapest earlier this yr on an investment trip & saw this particular site.
Seemed very expensive to me. Plan is very exclusive & John Rocha designed. Apts available must be about €160k at this stage....some much more when you include parking space etc.
Yes the catalogue is very glossy & so is the one for Avenue Gardens which to me was preferable but also very expensive. If I had that kind of money I think I'd buy in Ireland !

Hi Denise,

This development has been for sale for a couple of years now. There are 44 apartments altogether in this building on Paulay Ede street, all designed by John Rocha, which in my opinion is a gimmick to get Irish investors interested. The location is excellent, being just off Liszt Ferenc Square, which is pedestrianised and full of cafes and restaurants. Prices are some of the highest in Budapest. e.g. a 31sqm studio was 140,000 when launched. If it were my money, I would buy a large renovated second hand apartment close to Andrassy or in District V. Do you have an idea of budget yet?

Budapest
www.thepropertyviewer.com

Should have said that I'm buying one of those big second hand apartments actually on Andrassy ut & much cheaper than the Pauly Ede development. Location is wonderful & apartment is a classic which I personally feel has a much better chance of capital appreciation than some of the new builds.
Reason I mentioned Avenue Gardens is because it's an old building being totally renovated in a classic style. The selling price is steep though - starting at about €270K

Most of the old buildings are being renovated anyway & with Government aid so will in time look every bit as good.

Budapest was a tremendous help to me. It's great to have an Irish contact out there who's on my side.