Letting agencies in Budapest
- Thread starter Gecko
- Start date
Depends on what you want to purchase. New build or classical building?
I did a tour in the city on Saturday and there are "for sale" boards everywhere. It's very calm on the BP real estate front, so you should be able to negociate good prices directly with the owners (can be up to 10-15% less than agency prices).
I did a tour in the city on Saturday and there are "for sale" boards everywhere. It's very calm on the BP real estate front, so you should be able to negociate good prices directly with the owners (can be up to 10-15% less than agency prices).
Have you been to the city, Gecko? Do you have specific requirements - e.g. would it be purely for investment or might you also like to use the apartment at any stage in the future? What is your budget and what is your investment timeframe?
Estate agents in Budapest often don't have a great reputation. Many of the international companies charge a lot to the seller, so prices are higher as UrbanDev suggests. They also tend to sell the stock which nobody on the local market really wants. So where possible, it's best to deal only with the local market and directly with a private seller if possible. This is not the easiest thing in the world to do, as 99% of local agents/private sellers don't speak English.
is a good place to start looking in a general sense to see what's available and for what price but as mentioned here and elsewhere, there are many pitfalls in the Hungarian market. In the classic market, overpriced, low-quality apartments are the norm, while many of the major new build projects have major snagging, build quality or legal issues.
Good apartments sell within a matter of weeks, while lower quality or overpriced stock lingers on the market for a year and more, if it sells at all.
Budapest
[broken link removed]
Estate agents in Budapest often don't have a great reputation. Many of the international companies charge a lot to the seller, so prices are higher as UrbanDev suggests. They also tend to sell the stock which nobody on the local market really wants. So where possible, it's best to deal only with the local market and directly with a private seller if possible. This is not the easiest thing in the world to do, as 99% of local agents/private sellers don't speak English.
is a good place to start looking in a general sense to see what's available and for what price but as mentioned here and elsewhere, there are many pitfalls in the Hungarian market. In the classic market, overpriced, low-quality apartments are the norm, while many of the major new build projects have major snagging, build quality or legal issues.
Good apartments sell within a matter of weeks, while lower quality or overpriced stock lingers on the market for a year and more, if it sells at all.
Budapest
[broken link removed]
I have 2 apartments in District V which I have been renting out through a company called Casaro Hungary. They are also an estate agent. I have had no real major problems to mention and they have kept my tenants.
If you are looking to buy I would certainly recommend looking at older Classic apartments - the new ones tend to be very much overpriced and is much more difficult to resell. The market is currently in a slump so you would have to pick carefull - I was one of the fortunate ones that purchased before it took off and got really good value I tend to hang on to the property. The previous post suggested Ignatlan - very good website - gives you real data.
If you are looking to buy I would certainly recommend looking at older Classic apartments - the new ones tend to be very much overpriced and is much more difficult to resell. The market is currently in a slump so you would have to pick carefull - I was one of the fortunate ones that purchased before it took off and got really good value I tend to hang on to the property. The previous post suggested Ignatlan - very good website - gives you real data.
V
Verina
Guest
Hello, everybody. I just come from reading some postings in this section, and I really find them greatly useful 
Thanks to everybody for sharing all this unbiased information. Me, I'm ready to make a trip to Budapest next Monday, from Madrid (I'm Spanish). Previously I've been studying carefully all the details of this business, for though they say it's a low-risk affair, you can easily be caught in a scam if you don't inform yourself properly. But all my enquiries found intentional opinions of estate agents aiming to persuade me to buy mostly new build. And they are really interested in catching me, as to offer to pick me up at the airport, and similar.
My desire is to find a nice classic appartment in good condition for myself, and to resell eventually. Today Budapest is stunningly cheap. Do anybody know why such a beautiful city is still so cheap compared to uglier cities of Eastern Europe like Warsaw?
If you have already bought in BP, do you know any serious English-speaking lawyer to rely on and entrust the process of purchase? And how much do you usually have to pay for all the steps of the procedure if you want to buy by yourself, without mediators?
Is it true that locals prefer new build to classical ones?
Thank you
Thanks to everybody for sharing all this unbiased information. Me, I'm ready to make a trip to Budapest next Monday, from Madrid (I'm Spanish). Previously I've been studying carefully all the details of this business, for though they say it's a low-risk affair, you can easily be caught in a scam if you don't inform yourself properly. But all my enquiries found intentional opinions of estate agents aiming to persuade me to buy mostly new build. And they are really interested in catching me, as to offer to pick me up at the airport, and similar. My desire is to find a nice classic appartment in good condition for myself, and to resell eventually. Today Budapest is stunningly cheap. Do anybody know why such a beautiful city is still so cheap compared to uglier cities of Eastern Europe like Warsaw?
If you have already bought in BP, do you know any serious English-speaking lawyer to rely on and entrust the process of purchase? And how much do you usually have to pay for all the steps of the procedure if you want to buy by yourself, without mediators?
Is it true that locals prefer new build to classical ones?
Thank you
Verina, you can easily make mistakes in the Budapest property market. All you need to do is read through the posts on this forum. In many cases, the wrong type or overpriced classic properties were bought during the boom years of 2002-2004. More recently, buyers of new-builds have frequently had to deal with low build quality, rental problems, overpricing and endless snag lists.
Most analysts would suggest that for the longer time frame - i.e. longer than 8 years, that good quality classic properties in premier locations make the most investment sense. Standard new builds for the most part are too expensive, poorly located and don't hold their quality over a long-term period. Take a look at some developments from 3-4 years ago. Many of them look like they need renovation already. My opinion is that the right classic property in the right location can only improve in quality, e.g. when the building is renovated, the block is renovated, street pedestrianised, etc. However, the 'right' classic property is extremely difficult to find as the market is clogged with the 'wrong' type - overpriced, dark, poor condition of building/block, secondary location, noise problem, poor aspect or position in building, etc..
To answer your question, Warsaw is much more expensive then Budapest at the minute because the Polish economy is doing well and Poles can afford to purchase at the minute, while austerity measures in Hungary mean that locals are not buying here at the minute. They're holding out, seemingly until after 2009, when these measures are relaxed and when the economy will hopefully get back on its feet. Many anomalies exist in Budapest, when compared with Warsaw. Bp has higher incomes, wealthier people, one of the best supplies of neo-classical property in the world and a much higher attraction for a foreigner coming to live here, much better foreign-rental market, higher FDI per person, etc. but at the minute, Warsaw is leading the way in terms of number of purchases and capital appreciation.
I will PM you a contact for an excellent bilingual lawyer, who I've used many times before.
In general, locals in Bp prefer new-builds, because finance is a lot easier to obtain, with up to 100% mortgages available. A cash-strapped buyer will take what he can afford. Other benefits are secure parking, 'Western'-style layout/atmosphere and clean common areas (not very common in Budapest!). My preference and that for the majority of others who can afford lower LTV rations is for a perfect classic apartment in an excellent location, in either a beautiful classic building (renovated or with a concrete plan for renovation). By purchasing these type of properties, I can have the best of both worlds, but most importantly, own an apartment that should become more and not less desirable in the long-term.
In terms of supply and demand, there is an absolute over-supply of new builds in almost every secondary location in the city, while there is a total lack of reasonably-priced, unproblematic classic properties in premier locations. The latter sell extremely quickly.
Most analysts would suggest that for the longer time frame - i.e. longer than 8 years, that good quality classic properties in premier locations make the most investment sense. Standard new builds for the most part are too expensive, poorly located and don't hold their quality over a long-term period. Take a look at some developments from 3-4 years ago. Many of them look like they need renovation already. My opinion is that the right classic property in the right location can only improve in quality, e.g. when the building is renovated, the block is renovated, street pedestrianised, etc. However, the 'right' classic property is extremely difficult to find as the market is clogged with the 'wrong' type - overpriced, dark, poor condition of building/block, secondary location, noise problem, poor aspect or position in building, etc..
To answer your question, Warsaw is much more expensive then Budapest at the minute because the Polish economy is doing well and Poles can afford to purchase at the minute, while austerity measures in Hungary mean that locals are not buying here at the minute. They're holding out, seemingly until after 2009, when these measures are relaxed and when the economy will hopefully get back on its feet. Many anomalies exist in Budapest, when compared with Warsaw. Bp has higher incomes, wealthier people, one of the best supplies of neo-classical property in the world and a much higher attraction for a foreigner coming to live here, much better foreign-rental market, higher FDI per person, etc. but at the minute, Warsaw is leading the way in terms of number of purchases and capital appreciation.
I will PM you a contact for an excellent bilingual lawyer, who I've used many times before.
In general, locals in Bp prefer new-builds, because finance is a lot easier to obtain, with up to 100% mortgages available. A cash-strapped buyer will take what he can afford. Other benefits are secure parking, 'Western'-style layout/atmosphere and clean common areas (not very common in Budapest!). My preference and that for the majority of others who can afford lower LTV rations is for a perfect classic apartment in an excellent location, in either a beautiful classic building (renovated or with a concrete plan for renovation). By purchasing these type of properties, I can have the best of both worlds, but most importantly, own an apartment that should become more and not less desirable in the long-term.
In terms of supply and demand, there is an absolute over-supply of new builds in almost every secondary location in the city, while there is a total lack of reasonably-priced, unproblematic classic properties in premier locations. The latter sell extremely quickly.
L
langerman69
Guest
Does anybody know of an agency in Budapest called Bradley Edwards? I would appreciate any info on them re. their reputation.
Dermot
investpest
Registered User
- Messages
- 40
i'm afraid not, but they look to be very similar to what seems to be the majority of Budapest agents who deal with foreigners i.e. over priced and lacking in quality of service and thats just by looking at their furniture packs/price ratio and amount of rental they claim to be able to achieve
whoever you chose do not entertain ce properties kft as they are highway robbers in the guise of management agents, they are chrging me 10000 per month for 2 properties that are not let and refuse to hand over the utility contracts till this mugging has been paid.