Aquavit

Hello all, after some months of forum reading and general research I'm a little closer towards my goal of buying a property in Hungary. Of course with more knowledge comes more questions so before I start a serious property search I'd like to be better equipped with information, filling in as many holes as possible in my data bank!

The plan is to buy in 2016 and use the house as a holiday home before settling permanantly in around 5 - 6 years time. I've done with living in the overcrowded, expensive badly weathered UK and currently spend most of my time touring western europe in a motorhome. Hungary appears to be an attractive proposition in terms of value for money, a slower paced lifestyle, more space and more reliable weather. All of which suit me!

I want to continue travelling so somewhere on the western side of Hungary would seem to make sense for accessibilty but I have no clue as to which are the best areas/towns/villages to look at. I've read that it's better to buy in an area with ex-pats rather than something in the middle of nowhere which the Hungarians themselves are abandoning, any recommendations as to where I should start my search?

I've heard about the potential environmental problems of ragwort and plagues of mosquitos, will these issues affect my search area or are they widespread throughout Hungary. Should I be concerned about them, can they be avoided?

I'd ideally be looking for a two bedroom house with some land (not hugely unmanageable) sufficient for a kitchen garden and a feeling of space, prefer something that only needs cosmetic work and have a budget of £35k - £40k. I'd like to be in or close to a village with amenities and access to a larger town, a nearby river for canoeing on would also be good.

Any suggestions as to where and what I should be looking for along with pitfalls to avoid would be most helpful.

Many thanks
Stephen

duztee

Hi Stephen and welcome,
You are correct that Hungary offers good value for money, space and a quiet life and sensible weather most of the time.

The rest is subjective as to what you personally want, I live in the boring flat bit in the middle of the country, without a huge lake and no rivers to speak of, so no canoeing but no mosquitos either.
This part of Hungary is a horse lovers paradise, every other farm seems to be a horse ranch.
As far as I know there are no other English in this area, just a few German/Dutch summer homes in the forest, the upside of this is that house/land prices are lower than in more popular areas.
But very limited rental possibilities, if that is part of your plan.

Certainly I would not limit a search to the west only, the motorway network is good and not congested, and living further east will still only add an hour or two to your touring itinerary.

If you want a quiet life a small village might not be a wise choice, Hungarians are friendly, over friendly, in fact down right nosey at times, depends if you are a sociable person or not as to whether you will find this irritating or not.

As you already have a motorhome I would suggest this is well suited to touring Hungary and spending some time in the various areas to gauge for yourself what appeals.

Others will surely be along soon to offer more good advice, so good luck and enjoy searching.

TerryandBrigi

Can only agree Duztee, although we have gone for total village life.
The spectrum of house type, location and value means there are unlimited oportunities for the likes of Aquavit.
I/we wish you luck in your search.

wolfi

I'm not a Brit (German with strong affinities to Britain, especially London, where one of my sisters lives with her English husband), but still:

The Balaton is nice - but many places are almost deserted in winter as a I found out on my first visit in october, around 20 years ago ...

The spas on the other hand have tourists all year over - that's why I went to a village near Hévíz and near the Balaton.
Of course houses are a bit more expensive her, but the infrastructure is very good, doctors, supermarkets and all kind of services.

I would recommend you drive around (but not in the summer - that might give you totally wrong impressions!) and look at places that seem interesting - there are more spas eg Harkany, Sárvár, Bük etc ...

Peter_in_Hungary

Hi
First clear up a couple of misconceptions
Its not ragwort - its ragweed (google it) Its only a problem for those who are allergic to it, the same as any other hay fever type allergy. And there are regulations regarding cutting it before flowering.
Plagues of mosquitos do not happen. There are mosquitos associated with some of the lakes but the larger lakes spray against the problem. (Environmentally acceptable sprays) We have a lake near us but we do not have a mosquito problem as the amount and type of fish in the lake take care of the larvae.

I would agree with what was said above.

Finding a house that "only needs cosmetic work" could challenge your budget in quite a few areas however it should be possible. Having said that a lot of the houses you will find in villages will not have central heating and will have windows and doors that will be a thermal nightmare and the loft insulation may well consist of 6 inches of earth.

Areas with ex-pats don't really happen, depending of course upon how you define an area. For example you are unlikely to find a good number of ex-pats within cycling distance of each other unless you go for a city.

Being in or close to a village - In a village you will have electricity, mains water, gas, mains drains, telephone lines, cable internet and cable tv (maybe). Close to a village you will have electricity............mains water depends on the location, internet will probably be microwave link and tv will be satellite. OK a generalisation but probably about right IMO.

We are near Tapolca. (canoeing on Lake Balaton??) and there are a number of villages around here that would fit your requirements.

Perhaps also look around Sárvár, this is a town with a thermal spa and the river Rába is to the north. Some of the villages still have reasonably priced houses despite being within 20 mins of a spa town (e.g. the village of Nick)

Read this forum about estate agents and associated issues.

fidobsa

My own house will be up for sale next spring but probably has too much land for you (6500 square metres). Also there are no other expats but it is a nice, well cared for village, handy for Croatia, Slovenia and Austria and the houses are reasonably priced. There is a lake about 12km away and there is also the Drava river which might be suitable for canoes. I think my village and the surrounding areas would be worth considering. The village has mains drainage and water, mains gas and fast internet via the phone lines.

Aquavit

Thanks all for the replies, a lot of information to digest and of course it's further reinforced the need to get out there and look around at as many potential areas as possible. Taking on board the marked difference in activity between the seasons I think we will try to organise a trip in late autumn or early next spring.

The advice seems to be that a spa town would be the best option for what we need, all year round habitation, a full range of services and with good infrastructure - a solid wifi connection is a must for us.

I often read of the need to tread with caution when looking at estate agents with the suggestion that prices are inflated in some instances to take advantage of the unwary Brits. But as a newbie it's difficult to sort out the wheat from the chaff - who are the good guys and who are the bad guys? For example, firstly I'm aware of an agent who is connected to this site and secondly I was first made aware of Hungarian property by a promotional stand at an exhibition at the NEC in Birmingham (does that give any clue as to who it was), so two agents with possibly different reputations but where to look with confidence beyond that?

fidobsa, please cold you PM me with details of your village/area and house - it sounds like a good location for us and at this point in time I'm open minded to all possibilities.

mawood47

Yes there are Agents whom are not to be Trusted when you think that a Brit trying to sell a property in UK the charges out why any resale at a low cost as everyone is making money out of you..selling my place 3 years no one is intended now again lowered price it now is negative price one day some one will want to live the good life as I do with nature on do step Deer Fox Bagger Pheasant Rabbit and the Bird songs all day long yes it good but 2km along tracks on to the hill side never mined you get your dreams digger47

PaulinEger

As was mentioned above, there are plenty of other places to consider around Hungary. We live in Bukkszek which is about an hour and 45 minutes east of Budapest along the M3. There are about 700 people here, good infrastructure, thermal spa, 10 British expats, surrounded by hills and forests and 25 kms from the baroque town/city of Eger. Crime is almost unheard of, the doctor speaks English, as do a couple of the shopkeepers. There are 2 parts to the village, the main, old part and then a new, elevated area with quite a number of new builds which would fall into your budget yet requiring no work.
My

duztee

I almost opted for Eger, very pretty part of the country. (and great for wine) :-)

One bonus of living on the flat boring bit that I had not actually considered when buying, but have since discovered is the lack of fuel I now put into the car.
After a working life in the UK where I used a full tank every week, I now only go to the garage 3 or 4 times in a year.
I don't drive much here but fuel consumption on totally flat mostly straight uncongested roads is a figure previously undreamed of.
Add to this the ease of bike riding in this terrain, which is something I haven't done since my teens, the convenience of living in a town, and a direct hourly train service to Budapest, all goes to show that each area can offer different advantages.

Aquavit

A quick update on my plans, we've booked a flight out in November for a four day fact finding/property viewing trip around the lake Balaton area as well as a day in Budapest.

All things considered my preference at the moment is for the southern side of the lake but of course not having been there yet that could well change!

Whilst the Eger area sounds attractive I do like hills/mountains for my cycling.

I'm torn between the two extremes of a renovation project and something that needs little or no work, pro's and con's with both of course. Hopefully when I get to see some actual properties, and the areas that they are sited in, all will become clearer .......

PaulinEger

The highest point in Hungary is Kékes Tető...not far from Eger. Eger is also situated between the Bükk and Mátra mountains so if you're looking for elevation then you don't need to look much further than here

Aquavit

Thanks for that Paul, I'm learning all the time lol!

Looks like I can now rule that area back in!

scot47

The OP is going to buy in a country he has never visited ? I seem to remember that was the main theme of a novel by Dickens.Go and visit. Live in the country for a while. The internet and hearsay is not enough.

fidobsa

Yes, we are all looking for different things when we relocate so there is no substitute for going and spending a reasonable amount of time in a place to judge for yourself.