Selling a flat in Budapest

K

kp1

Guest
Hi there
I am new to this, however can really use some help.

I had a great idea last summer to buy in Budapest and went with a uk agent. I selected a location I am sure is good, but problems with the agent has put me right off.

I paid the initial agency fees and 10% of the initial property cost. The contract has been signed. So now, I need to find a buyer to transfer the property so that it is then owned by someone new, when the development is complete (this May 2008).

How do I go about finding a new buyer to transfer to? Its a good opportunity, but I am just put off and rather disgruntled with the agent and dont trust another one now. I am sure they not all bad..but my experience with this particular agent has left worried sick and upset.

I have checked legally and all is ok to go ahead with this contract transfer and the lawer (Hungarian) is poised to take action.

I just need a new buyer.

Can anyone help point me in the right direction? I dont want to pay any more fees to sell. The upside for the new buyer is there is no agency/commission fees to pay!!

thank you.
 
If it is such a good opportunity why are you selling it? If you think that you are going to make money from it you should keep it, irrespective of the agent. To me it sounds like you have a problem that you want to pass on to someone else!
 
In Budapest, it's usually possible to buy from developers directly, so the fact that a potential buyer won't have to pay agency/commission fees is not much of an incentive. Where is the property located?
 
Sounds like it wasn't such a "great idea". Cant imagine why problems with an agent should necessitate selling if it's such a "good opportunity".

Rather like saying, "I want to sell my new car because I didn't like the man in the showroom".

Agree with Steve D; it does come across as a desperate sales pitch.
 
There are many dodgy agents in Budapest - but I managed to come across a really fantastic one last year who has now managed to sell my property. Having worked in London for a number of years, she is more in tune with UK and Irish people than most hungarians. not sure whether it is okay to post her details, but I can PM anyone interested
With regard to your current situation, be prepared to make a loss on the "opportunity", if you really want to get rid. It is quite possible you were sold the opportunity at an inflated price
Open to correction, but a competent local agent will let you know the chances of selling and at what price
 
hi there,
I have bought an apartment and its just about to be finished quite soon and has to be snagged has anyone got the name of anybody that might be able to do this job for me.

I have been told that the property agent that i'm getting will be able to get that for me. The property agent i'm going using is www.qands.hu has anybody ever heard of them and are they any good
 
seanieboy, if the property agent does it, then there may be a conflict of interest. You should come over yourself at least once and check the apartment. Be prepared to snag a couple of times before everything is satisfactory.
 
thank you for the replies so far..its appreciated.

I see how it comes across that something may be wrong with it. But there are no problems with the development at all. I'll try and explain. I am brand new to buying abroad. I took the plunge, but wanted to use a uk agent, so that they could help me through the whole process. I am scared (thats the only word for it) to do it myself. I have heard so many bad stories about people being ripped off when trying to buy directly in other countries.

So I put my complete faith in the uk agent and they seemed very helpful at the beginning.

But it soon became apparent that they were new to buying in Budapest and there was no set process. I was told at the last minute what papers I had to get ready for the next stage and so it went like that. Its been a mad panic.

There were so many costs I was not told about upfront and I lost faith in them..not knowing, just half way through the process, what I was going to have to budget for next.

Anyway, the agent was a bad choice and now I am literally scared of carrying on.

I know it sounds terrible, but I really dont know who to trust if I am going to carry on with this.

I thought if someone with more experience of this wanted to take on the contract then it would be a good opportunity for them.

I sound confused and scared, because I am! Not desperate, i dont think.

I thought you guys here would be able to help out with my decision to either carry on or transfer the contract.

I am told its a good location. Here are the details so you folks can tell me (or otherwise):

Kings Gardens, district IVth being built on 40,000 sqm of land. 30 metres from the Danube. Its a mix of residential and office development. with onsite leisure facilities (this is from their sales lit). I signed up for a 35,70 m2, studio third floor, with a small terrace & courtyard view. Plus I paid towards car park space and storage.

I was really excited about it. The plan was to let it, as there is, I am told, a potential demand to rent there by office workers both from abroad and the locals.

The pictures of the plan looked good to me, with fountains & gardens on the grounds and so on.

It will be ready in May/June 08.

The agent made it sound so attainable, by paying just 10% deposit now and nothing until near completion, and they would help with a mortgage and I didnt have to worry they said. I would only need to pay another 10% near completion and that was it.

Also, as I didnt have time or spare money visiting Budapest, I thought having an agent here would eliminate this, but especially as dont understand the process, I thought having an agent here would save me making any mistakes.

However, as I live in Scotland, I've had to make trips to London to sign papers in the Hungarian embassy. I wasnt aware of this. The agent said there was no other way. Then when trying to organise the mortgage, I would have to make another visit to London or Budapest..all this is costing me much more than I realised, as there are fees to pay, travel costs, etc.

Plus, I didnt know I would have to pay mortgage for almost a year before I even get the keys!

The plan was to pay the mortgage from the rent.

Also, my husband didnt want to be involved in the buying of this. But at the last minute, the agent said he had to be on the mortgage or I had to pay to get some legal thing done so that he is not on the paperwork.

But, he would also need to make a trip to London or budapest to sort out the legal side (show them his passport, etc) even if he didnt want to be on the mortgage. This is confusing.

That was the last straw for me.

So, I asked the agent to sell it for me (which was part of their original sales ploy, that 'dont worry, if you change your mind, we can sell it for you anytime.'

They got their big commission.

But when I decided to ask them to sell it on, they stopped returning my phone calls and ignoring my emails. They have been doing this since last Oct.

Basically, this has frightened me so much, as I feel I'm on my own with this now. Totally the opposite of what i needed.

So, now I dont know if I should continue (with another agent of course but I dont know who to trust), or ask someone who knows what they are doing, if they would want to take on the rest of the sale.

Maybe, amgd28, you say you sold through a lady in London. Can you PM me her details? That could be an option.

I know this sounds really pathetic, but I wish I had been on this site before and did my own homework as folk here have been suggesting. That way I would have had more confidence in this and realised if the agent knew what they were doing or not.

If I dont continue, I would just want my 10% back. There are thousands of pounds spent already which I know I wont get back (agency fees, legal charges, travel costs, Hungarian paperwork fees, etc).

And I know its going to cost me more to transfer the contract (legal fees and perhaps another agent), but if I get something back, maybe I wont regret this so much.

If I continue, I dont know how much more I am going to have to pay (the hungarian lawyers want an annual fee for 'maintaining' the mortgage.) There are probably many other costs, so I dont know if I am actually going to have to pay out of my own pocket to keep the flat going if I let it, such as letting agency fees, local taxes, property mgt fees, etc). The agent told me I would make about 7-9% income from rental. But I have lost faith.

thank you.
 
im going over to budapest on wednesday week to check my apartment and it will be ready for snagging. The property management agent is independant from the snag man. I was talking to him by phone and i have an appointment to meet him while im there. Does anyone know whether or not i should accompany this man while he does his snag list. he's quote for a 2 bedroom apartment is in between €80 and €100.

for this He says he will go in and do the snag list, then the builders will do the snags on the repairs that he has listed, and then he will go back in again to check on them and report back to me.

The property management agent has only told me that he has used him before to do some jobs. Does that mean hes not independant even though he said he is or am i being naive. I have been across to Budapest 4 times to look at my apartment at differant stages of construction and to be honest im really impressed with there work and the time frame seems to be on the ball. so far they have been great with me but maybe the hard parts are to come.

I havent found much to moan about with the apartment apart from the kitchen that they are putting in. I've only seen it on a photograph that they sent to me and it looked pretty basic but without jumping the gun i knew that it isn't finished in any way so i'm waiting for the finish of it to see what to do.

If i'm not happy with the finish of the kitchen should i say so to the developers and will they take me seriously, and act the eejet with me while doing the snag list. what does one do
 
Seanieboy, if you signed an agreement to fit that particular kitchen, then you probably don't have much comeback. The finish should obviously be good though.

One problematic area for me is the standard of kitchens and bathrooms, which are fitted to most new developments. They tend to be very basic and it's usually a good idea to ask if it's possible to fit one to your own specification.
 
Kings Gardens

I had a look at the Karolyi Gardens' construction site, and you see building mistakes wherever you look. As they have continued the construction operations during the very severe temperatures (minus 10°-15°C), the walls look like they have already suffered a war (plenty of cracks in the bricks and cement).

Kings Dump would be a more appropriate name.

Here some pics from the official website (Nov. 2007). Already less glamorous than the glossy brochures:

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You won't be able to tell hows its done until completion really, its hard to make comments on construction site pics.
OP, seeing as you based in Scotland and you haven't been able to make contact with your UK based agent since last October (did I read that right), then what I would do is make the long drive down to them and see exactly what type of operation they are running and if they are still running it. But before that go and get yourself a good solicitor to handle this for you. When dealing with overseas property its better to have a solicitor close by that can read over contracts etc and they should have a knowledge of the costs that will be occured abroad. There are plenty of variables overseas, such as property tax, commissions etc. You seem to have entered into it with your eyes closed, but you can still turn it around. Once you get all of your details to a reputable solicitor they can let you know exactly where you stand. Once its all there in black and white you might even decide to hold onto it, your biggest problem now is you don't know who to trust, so take it upon yourself to get expert legal advice.
 
You won't be able to tell hows its done until completion really, its hard to make comments on construction site pics.

I've seen the project in the 'flesh'; if it was a girl I would compare her to a false blonde with fake boobs who will look as her age in some years to come ;)

578251430_d6d67603dc.jpg
 
Sure Kings Garden (Karolyi Gardens) doesn't look great at the moment (no building site ever does) - however I think it will be very attractive once finished ..... especially from inside the square. I shall wait until its completed to judge.

It has sold very well from what I hear. A few cracked bricks is nothing to go by - I have worked on several big building projects so I have a better eye than most and have also been to the Karolyi Gardens site.

I am very confident that this project will do really well - It is very unfortunate that Kp1 has had such a bad experience with the agent. I have made several purchases in Budapest - using the same agent and have had good service and would recommend my agent - very professional Hungarian lady who speaks good English.
 
I have made several purchases in Budapest - using the same agent and have had good service and would recommend my agent - very professional Hungarian lady who speaks good English.

Must be the same lady MaxIII was so fond of ;)
 
thanks for the replies again. Some of them more worrying but some helpful (some amusing).

The solicitor the agent has been using for my contract is based in Hungary. I guess I can ask them what my contractual obligation is at this stage. But as they work for that agent, dont know how much I can trust them, but will give it a try.

Does anyone else know what the contractual situation will be for someone who has:
- paid initial 10% deposit, passed onto the developer
- signed a contract
- not yet registered in Hungary as UK resident wishing to purchase in Budapest (apparently there has been a problem with the solicitor receiving the legal fee, so I have not yet been registered).

I think if I was a big guy I wouldnt be afraid of facing the agent...and giving them a peace of my mind, by visiting their office. But, given I am just a wee woman, and they have already sent me a threatening email (I told them I had escalated the problem to their managing director), I would be afraid to take this action.

Having a local solicitor would be a good option, but thats going to cost me even more.

Walking away at this stage, if I can safely do this without repercussions, is my top choice.

If I am obligated to pay on completion, then transferring the contract is the next option.

If I cant sell it on, then I suppose I will have no choice, but to continue. I still think the site will be a good investment, but still afraid to go through the next stages.

Has anyone else heard about the site and have any further positives about it?

thank you.
 
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