stevenotlob

Hello all. I have another recent thread going about opening a campsite in Hungary (just for background info) but thought it is better to start another thread as this would be veering off topic.

Basically, I would like to know of any 'bad' villages in Zala and North part of Somogy (within 20km's of Balaton) to steer clear of. You know the sort, high unemployment, drunks and problematic Roma population.

I've attached a file with the rough sketch of areas I am looking at but more specifically it is Zalaber / dotk, Zalacsany, Rezi, Bak and then Marcali, Nikla and somogybabod.

As for estate agents, I have places I am interested in viewing from Hungaryproperties.org, Hungarianhousesforsale.com, Holprop, Hungariancountrycamping and adriestate.com

Has anyone had dealings with any of these before? Good or bad?

Also, what is the 'normal' deposit rate? I have been told it is 10% but one of the above wants 33% deposit!

I have seen advice on here to get your own solicitor to check out all documents, ownership searches, etc which is what I will probably do for peace of mind.
Also, any good surveyors in these areas?

I know, a lot of questions but I have read (on this site and elsewhere) horror stories of buying in Hungary...

Thanks all.

PS. I should have mentioned that if you do not want to post your experience with any particular agency as a reply to the forum, then please send me a private message. Thanks again.

wolfi

Difficult questions - here's my take:

The nearer you are to the Balaton or the Spas like Hévíz and Kehidakustány, the more expensive things get - "problematic" people will tend to avoid these places ...

So on the other hand, for each km that you move away, there might be more of them ...

I've seen people selling their houses near Hévíz with a profit so they could buy something "far away" and spend the difference - or use it to pay their outstanding bills ...

Peter_in_Hungary

What wolfi said but generalisations have to be accepted as such, you can also get a bad end to a good village.
For the 33% deposit I would say NO! If they want to sell you a property and you don't want to give them 33% are they going to turn down the business - I don't think so.
There is a lot of info here about buying property which could be summed up by saying do your homework outside of estate agents offers so that you know that the agents aren't offering you a 'special' foreigners price.
Often in Hungary buyers and sellers use the same solicitor - often the one recommended by the estate agent - e.g. because they speak English or something. I would advise you to get your own.

Sachina

I bought my house in North Eastern Hungary nine years ago from hungarianhousesforsale.com. The company has been in business for many years selling principally to Dutch buyers.

Ferenc Koncz the owner is an extremely nice man who speaks excellent English and if my experience was anything to go by, won't sell property in an "undesirable" area. He's extremely knowledgeable and very straightforward to deal with and in my case everything went without a hitch.

(He does like his food though and the one thing you can be sure of you won't go hungry whilst you're in his company)!

stevenotlob

The agents you have just mentioned are the ones that I mentioned originally requesting a 33% deposit ! That is something that I am not willing to pay.
When I questioned the gentleman why it was so high and the response was...
"Our price includes all fees including solicitor fees.
If you want to appoint another solicitor in Hungary that is up to you,but the contracts will be done done by our appointed solicitor.
The deposit is normal as some money goes to owner and the solicitor to start work."

It would appear that 33% is NOT normal, according to other users on this forum!

Regards, Stephen

Peter_in_Hungary

A deposit is a deposit. It should go against the purchase price of the property. A deposit can not be used for other purposes.

Any money demanded by an estate agent should be explained in detail. IMO a figure of 33% without details of what it is for is wholly unreasonable. Also Agents work for the seller and are contracted to the seller and should not be charging the buyer for anything.

When I have brought property in Hungary it has been usual for the buyer to use their solicitor for both sides, at least that is what we have done every time over the last 22 years! (the last one 4 month ago) You are just as entitled to insist on your solicitor drawing up the contract and the seller (or their agent) can get it checked out at their expense if they want to.

If you decide to deal with this agent you should be asking them for a detailed explanation of what they are charging, because they should not be charging you for anything!!

fidobsa

I don't think I paid a deposit at all when I bought my house in Hungary.

stargate1234

Hi Stevenotlob. No need for a deposit.. especially 33%. He will still sell it to you without a deposit.

I asked for a deposit when I sold a house only because so many people were messing me about....The buyer asked me to take it off the market while he raised funds. I agreed for a period of 3 monthes and asked for 1m ft deposit. (10%)..He bought the house after three weeks.

In your position I wouldn't even think of giving a deposit. Why would you need to ?...

stevenotlob

I would want the purchase to be subject to surveyors report and also an agreement that his and my solicitor would work together, to ensure ALL legal procedures are fully followed and documented - I obviously don't want any comebacks later in time and especially from a country (and language) that I don't understand! Basically I would want my own solicitor to 'ghost' theirs in the checks, etc. I was a bit put off by their attitude (see earlier post) about using only their solicitor...

wolfi

I totally agree with stargate and Fidobsa!

Any way Hungary is a buyer's market right now, so if you don't show "too much interest" then the seller should be willing to compromise even on the conditions ...

Re good and bad neighbourhoods:

Yesterday we went again for a longer walk with our dog (it was cloudy in the evening, so the heat was just bearable) and talked with several neighbours ...

We heard some ugly stories about neighbours being careless re the neighbours stuff or even trying to "expand" their plots!

And we also have an idiot as neighbour - but we can afford to just ignore him and his wife or rather we often laugh at their silliness ...

One example from many years ago:

There were old, rotten fences in the village around most plots so when I came in with my first wife and a dog we deided to haave a new fence built, nothing fancy.
Now here in Zala county it's the tradition/rule (don't know if it's law) that you build/pay for the fence on one side, in our case the north side (and of course in the back and the direction of the street) - our south side would have been the neighbour's responsibilty. But he said no and since I didn't want to have our dog running to his plot I had that fence built too and paid for it ...

ow when he comes and asks for any kind of favour you can imagine what my answer is - so he stopped doing that a long time ago.

He's also a typical example of another bad aspect of some Hungarians:

He turned the old house into many apartments, without thinking about a garage etc and has been trying to rent them out. In the beginning that worked because his wife was connected to a hospital for handicapped children. They regularly had families as guests with mentally handicapped children who sometimes would behave starngely so were not liked in hotels or other apartment houses ...
They were absolutely no problem for us - our dog especially liked them as she likes children generally and they would often stand with mouths open watching her frolic and play.

Probably when the wife retired that connection was broken and now they have guests only for a few weeks during the high season - 11 months a year those apartments are standing empty.

It's just logical that people try to get rooms in the center of Hévíz or as near to the Balaton as possible - especially with the rules about "don't drink and drive"!

stevenotlob

hello again.
Any thoughts on the villages and towns just South of Lake Balaton?
Karad, Taska, Nikla, Marcali, etc. Ideally within 15KM's (as the crow flies) South of Balaton.
Thanks again.
Great forum :-)

wolfi

Just one word:

Boring!

Afaik there's nothing there, ok Marcali is a town with a Tesco, Spar etc but imho it's much less important than Keszthely ...

stevenotlob

Thanks Wolfi, but the quiet life is what we want! I was asking if they are good / bad. Crime, derelict village or nice, clean, etc. Bus services, quality of roads, etc. Known for friendly neighbours or aggressive to foreigners.. etc. Thanks

GMC girl

Does anyone know anything about Polonay? We have been looking at villages & been on Google earth, it seems very deserted?

stevenotlob

Do you mean Polany? I've had several PM's and an email from what appears to be a respected estate agent (according to this forum). The answer is basically be wary of 'dead' villages as Romany groups tend to suddenly emerge and take over several empty housees in a village. Once that happens, most other people tend to shy away from there and the house prices tumble.
It seems South of Lake Balaton is a problem and this has been confirmed by a map of Romany occupation in Hungary - South Balaton has a very high percentage of them.
Some villages seem to have been missed and are nice, but a lot have fallen into desolation.
It appears the best advice is to buy a property within a few km of south balaton or preferably, look for somewhere north or north west of balaton.