Trustworthy Letting agent in Budapest?

Hi all,
I was wondering whether there are estage agents in Budapest that are specialists in letting properties, particularly for foreign owners?

I have had a property in budapest for the last 3 years and I am currently selling it, mainly because I have better uses for the money, but also in part because I do not fully trust the letting agent, and I always need to contact her every few months to make sure the rent is lodged to my account. (I suppose the fact that I have been getting rent at all is a good thing!)

My brother is in a similar boat, and has had much worse experiences with two different letting agents there over the same period. He is not planning to sell however, and as his place is now vacant again is looking for a professional agent to let his property.

So I am posting this question mainly for him, but also partly out of my own curiosity, as the trust and professionalism issue is quite significant when you are thousands of miles away from your investment property and should thus be considered when taking the original purchase decision........

In Hungary in general, in my humble experience, the services sector has a long way to go to understand the concept of customer service. Not just letting agents, but banks, the state sector and tax offices, lawyers and accountants all need a good kick up the This post will be deleted if not edited to remove bad language to wake them up and get them to understand the needs of customers. There are exceptions, but the above is generally the case.

My approach to this kind of situation is to try to work with what you have instead of wishing it was different. I get to know my management company -- particularly the person dealing with my business, and I make an effort to keep in good communcation with her. I take her out to dinner when I am in town, and I give her a small gift at christmas and on her birthday. I give clear instructions as to what I want, so that there is no room for confusion, and I respond immediately to any emails etc.

Hungary for me is a holding situation, waiting for the economic improvements that I believe are there in the medium to long term, and I just want a hassle free working arrangement in the interim. I don't expect instant results, but I can already see an improvement in the service level in some banks for instance, instead of the "take it or leave it" approach that was evident up to now. I expect that management companies will also get their acts together as the service ethos gradually takes root in Hungary.

Thanks for the reply Auto,
It seems your experience correlates with mine. I'm not prepared to wait for improvement (I'm prepared to take my loss on the property on the chin and walk away for higher growth opportunities).
However my brother does want to hang on to his property and let it out again, so again if any advice on reputable letting agents is forthcoming, would love to hear it

What do people think of the idea of this type of issue being a 'hidden' drawback of overseas investment, not being factored in to most novice investors' calculations when making the original investment decision?

I agree with you guys that generally speaking, Hungary has major problems with public relations, customer service, client relations and often basic politeness. An arrogant, rude or couldn't-care-less attitude is all too common.

The solution is to deal with people rather than companies. As auto320 suggests, make an extra effort to find good people and deal directly with them rather than with a company. I've made a concentrated effort to do this and have a group of contacts who I'd be more than happy to recommend - right across the board from lawyers to plumbers to everything else. I spent years investing in property in Ireland before coming here and my experiences with the people I use here have been infinitely better than in Ireland.

HI all;
I too want to sell my apt. Can anyboby recommend to me a good estate agent who will be able to get the best price for me as i have decided to get out and take my loss.

amgd28 said:

What do people think of the idea of this type of issue being a 'hidden' drawback of overseas investment, not being factored in to most novice investors' calculations when making the original investment decision?

Click to expand...

You have put your finger (almost) on an important issue. Many beginners in the investment field seem unable to take account of any kind of downside when buying property abroad. Many of them are reared on a diet of a steady upward rise in prices in Ireland, and do not factor in the possibilities of setbacks of any kind. They also naively expect that rentals in the residential sector will be trouble free, all the time, which of course is nonsense.

In any investment in property or indeed in any other commodity, you have to be able to weather storms as they arise. I have seen far too many "investors" going into situations with eyes firmly closed, and then watched them run like scared rabbits at the first small setback.

Property investing is not like putting money in the post office; you have to work at it and put some effort into it. Expecting that mangement companies will solve all your problems for 10% of a small rent is naive; you need to lower your expectations a little and do some work yourself. When I talk to management companies I hear another side to the story as well; owners who ignore emails and letters, then expect the management company to sort out a problem that was caused by such neglect. The management company is just part of the picture; you are a signifcant part yourself and you shouldn't expect gains to fall out of the sky with no effort.

Having said all that, Hungarian service industries have a way to go to become anything like world class, but many are working hard at it, and getting there.

pbrosnan, based on this as well as your previous posts on this issues, it sounds like you should talk to a financial advisor before you make any rash decisions.

Hi
I've just returned from meeting my agent - Bradley Edwards Associates. I have been very happy with their letting and management services but it did take a long time to get an introduction to an accountant. As far as I know they only deal with newish property. BTW Where are you selling? (PM me if it's not protocol to discuss this online.)
JohnF

My property is on Hajos (the opposite end to the opera house end). Bought for 20M HUF in April '04, will be happy if I achieve the same price today, even though I have spent a few K cleaning up the inerior and furnishing, not to mention EA costs and Stamp duty. Having said that the property has been let out for the past three years, so I haven't lost too much.
However as it was my first foray into 'investment' I regard it as an important lesson, so overall I think the experience has been ultimately beneficial to me long term.

My experience has been similar to many of the rest of you. I have been dealing with a "one man band" letting agent who was introduced to me by some friends of mine who have been involved in the Budapest scene for some time. She is good and has dealt with most issues but I have this underlying distrust of what she is doing. Maybe I am being paranoid and to be honest, I have not exactly been the most pro-active either as the apartment is let and hassle levels are low. I did have an experience though where my bank account was shut down due to a small (€18) debt. I now have to travel to Budapest to get it re-opened. On top of this, I have been fined a large amount of money for late tax returns which again has been a real pain and hard to keep on top of. Anyone else out there experience these fines and have you got to the bottom of what they were for?

hi, I don't know with which company you are working, it took me a great deal of time to find someone which I am satisfied with, after trying to work with more then 5 companies. I don't like to work with the "one man band" type of agents, they can not really handle more then 15-20 apartments and still be able to give a decent service, also note that most of the companies have good contacts to multinational companies, universities, embassies and other potential tenants, if you would I can PM you recommendations.
Hajos is a good location, I have a new built apartment over there for almost two years and it has been rented for most of the time.

I am Hungarian, and just moved back to Hungary after 9 years of London life. (I bought a property in distr.13, that I renovated) I am currently working for Bradley Edwards & Associates, we only deal with foreign clients, selling, and property management. We not only have newly-built apartments, but classical ones as well. The way I see it from the inside, this company compared to others offer a very reliable and professional service. Should anyone need any more information or help I am willing to help. And also, I don't think that a rushed selling-on is a good idea, til you haven't seen your options.