Louis5

Hi Ex-pact Forum,


I am a British 20 year old university Bsc(Hons) Computer Science student and entrepreneur, considering building in Hungary. Before I go ahead, I have some questions and welcome all tips/advice.


<anti Spain rant removed - it has nothing to do with your questions, and could be seen as trolling>

Now, onto the Hungary questions:
1) Is post delivered to your door, or must you visit a post office or community post box? Does post get lost, delayed, whole areas not getting post for weeks because post man takes leave?


2) What is healthcare really like compared to NHS? Do they not wear gloves like Spain?
2.1) What about private healthcare?


3) What is Hungary like when compared to Spain? Like over 1:4 kids drop out secondary school, you have to pay for books etc...


4) I want to buy a cheap house with land, but then knock house down to build new ultra modern house, any potential issues?


5) Is it a smart idea to build a mostly glass ultra modern house, or can insert problem here effect it?


6) Is it really as cheap, safe, nice, fast internet, and laid back as people make out?

7) How much would it cost for buying land, construction, legal fees etc... for a house like this?

8) Any issues you can predict on my behalf if I move and build the house below? I cannot go through the trauma of another Spain-like country!

<<<<snip>>>>

Sorry for the rant towards Spain, but this will be my first property, I am very young still and want somewhere to have no problems which I'm sure people can understand. Sorry to type so much!


Thank you,
Louis5

Louis5

The moderator removed my anti Spain rant, fine. However, if Hungary is anything like Spain in terms of crime, police corruption, government corruption etc... please inform me.

duztee

Hi,
I suppose it is wise for a 20 yr old to ask advice, but at the same time the old adage of 'life is what you make it' comes to my 65 yr old mind.

I lived and worked in Spain for 8 yrs and loved it. yes you have to be aware of the crime level and take care, yes 'black money' is the only way to get things done quickly, but the food weather and people more than compensate.

Hungary is a very different country, much more laid back and relaxed, certainly less crime but it still exists as in any country and it depends what precautions you take as to how much it touches your life.

I have no house building experience here, but can tell you from renovation projects that you should treble the time scale and then probable double it again. in UK you would employ one builder for a project, here you will need to source each trade individually and then try to co-ordinate them. and don't expect them to be registered tradesmen. also you will probably have to source the materials ready for them to use.

I am not sure about a glass house. Hungary is very cold in the winter and mid/high 30's in the summer. even triple glazed I feel you will suffer, either physically. or financially from the heating air conditioning bills.

And your neighbours will definitely think you weird!
Hungarians love their net curtains, it is almost law to have them, even in frosted glass windows.
And if you are worried about crime why advertise everything you own.

I live in a town so Post etc is pretty much as in the UK, tho' be aware that most on-line purchases will be delivered CoD.

Peter_in_Hungary

Hi
I am going to presume you want to build to live rather than rent it out for an income.

The property market in Hungary is not like the UK. Outside of Budapest there is generally an over supply of houses and property can take years to sell. (My son just bought a house that had been empty for 8 years) You should not (can not) buy a house (or build) here expecting to sell in a few years with a big profit.

To your questions
1 Post is delivered to your door daily (unless you really are miles from the village). Post is usually next day for first class and post to/from the UK is typically 3 days.

2 I have found the health care to be good. But like any NHS the funding has difficulty keeping up with medical advances (=expensive treatment) The Hungarian hospitals have yet to be affected by the infections that afflict the UK hospitals - perhaps this is a reflection of the hygiene standards.

3 I don't know about Spain but Hungary does not have a high drop-out rate (some ethnic areas excepted) and IMO the education system is better than the UK. (My 2 kids went through it to University and came out with masters degrees)

4 You can buy a cheap house to rebuild - but take (a lot of) time choosing your area. Location, location, location!! The 3 most important things about property purchase.

5 I would not build as glass house here. The extremes of temperature will make it uncomfortable or expensive or both. For a new build I would go for a highly insulated structure that would need virtually no heating or cooling. Self build and one off houses are a lot more common here than in the UK.

6 It really is as cheap, safe, nice, fast internet, and laid back as people make out - providing you choose the right place, but like any country there are areas that are less appealing. Estate agents are looking to sell you a property they want to sell, not necessarily the one you should be buying. In this respect consumer protection doesn't work here.

7 the cost will depend upon what you have and what you want. The purchase price will reflect the area. There are cheap areas, cheap for social reasons, others cheap because they are miles from anywhere useful, (subjective) and there are areas that are fashionable and therefore carry a premium. You can get building firms that will do a 'turnkey' job but this will cost more. The usual method is to employ a builder, roofer, electrician etc. as separate entities but start with the builder who will know the other trades with whom he as worked and will recommend. The key is to get a good builder and this will be found by recommendation in your area, which of course you will know after spending (considerable) time researching prior to making your purchase.

8 Language is likely to be a problem, although English is the second language of choice for most of todays young but officialdom and the building industry doesn't know English that much. In some areas German can be useful. Hungarian is a real pig to learn and the language has no 'cousins' in western Europe.

scrubbedexpat0105

Hi Louis5,

I'm trying to get my head around what you're actually trying to do.

Are you planning to move to Hungary full-time and indefinitely? If so, you need to be aware of two things in particular:

One, there is no real "expat community" like there is in Spain. There are pockets of expats, particularly in Budapest and perhaps one or two other places, but they are far fewer and much smaller.

Two, as Peter has said, Hungarian is a pig of a language to learn. I would prefer the term "challenge", but it comes down to the same thing. A given amount of time and effort spent learning Spanish (or any other Romance or Germanic language) will give you a far better command of the language than it will with Hungarian. Also, fewer Hungarians speak English than pretty much any other Europeans – partly because the language barrier cuts both ways.

These two issues can leave you very isolated if you plan to live in Hungary full-time, and also very frustrated when it comes to getting things done, unless you have another strategy up your sleeve (a Hungarian girlfriend would be a good strategy...). Rather than an "expat lifestyle", you could end up with a "hermit lifestyle".

In principle you can buy building land in Hungary for peanuts, and if you know what you're doing and/or are lucky in finding the right people to work with, you could also build your dream house for far less than in other places. But you could also be unlucky and have no end of aggravation, as many before you have. And you would have to be extremely lucky for your house to be worth more in the foreseeable future than you paid to have it built.

Out of interest, have you considered Germany? To my mind it would make far more sense for someone in your situation. Depending on the area, you can buy land and property very cheaply there, too (for exactly the same reasion – depopulation). Building costs are much higher than in Hungary, obviously, but to some extent you get what you pay for. The language is much easier to learn, most people speak very good English, and pretty much everything works the way it should. Obviously, Germany is not top of the list of laid-back places (that's probably understatement of the year), but laid back often equates to things not getting done properly, if at all.

I hope the rest of the crew here don't think I'm knocking Hungary. :-) But it's horses for courses, as they say.

scot47

Your first step should be to go and spend some time in Hungary. That may require expenditure of time and money. Not all answers can be found though the internet.

scot47

OP seems to have disappeared. maybe busy, building a Castle in the Air ?