TheCrosbies

We will both have military pensions so pretty reasonable to live on, we will definitely look at the link above so thanks. We have been doing our research about the costs - big difference from ours in uk - council tax £180 per month, gas & elec £130 per month to mention but a few.
We are looking around the Lake Balaton area - not lake side but within reasonable travelling distance as my husband is a big cyclist (I am a bit of a fair weather cyclist) but are open to suggestions. 2 bed property with good boundaries for the dogs, if not that would be the first priority. We also have a large motorhome so enough space to keep it at the property. We have organised a viewing trip for August to see a number of properties however the property condition will determine our timeline for moving over full time and when we start putting dreams into reality. It's all about lifestyle for us, nicer pace, proper seasons, time to enjoy things. All the advice on the forum is great with some reality checks and great guidance.

wolfi

One problem at Lake Balaton is the relatively short season - in September everything closes until May ...

That's why I decided to look for a house in a village near Hévíz, the famous Spa, where you have visitors all year round, Keszthely is the next larger town which also has the "necessities" like Interspar, Tesco, Aldi, Obi and many other shops.
In the villages nearby there are many houses for sale - old and new, large and small ...
Why don't you have a look around there?

PS:
The prices are about inversely proportional to the distance from the Balaton/Hévíz ...

PS: There's the cycle route around the Balaton which passes by Keszthely and several smaller routes too - and there's the airport at Sármellék, though right now there are no connections to Britain ...
Ryanair used to have three flights a week to London Stansted - in the good old days ...

clive bradbury

One of the first things we found whilst house-hunting is that the Hungarians generally simply do not do fitted kitchens - often there is just a stove sitting in the middle of a room!

Partly by luck - bumping into fellow Brits in OBI in Eger - we found an excellent company who did ours for us. The big advantage is that one of the directors speaks great English.

They designed and fitted a fantastic quality kitchen for us – not particularly cheap – but worth every penny.

But they also did a lot more for us. We were basically ordering all the white goods: fridge, washing machine, separately. We also needed to order the induction hob for the kitchen from the Budapest area as there was nothing local.

Zalan, the director, picked the hob up himself on a shopping trip with his wife to the capital, also arranged delivery of the white goods and installation. He even had the fridge delivered to his company and then transferred it to our house afterwards. Obviously charged us for this, but it was certainly not excessive, and made life very simple as we were in the UK at the time.

You can find the company here (Eger):

Kezdőlap

Sikora Zalan is the director who helped us throughout the process. I would recommend them to anyone.

Pollypaprika

I don't think you will have any problem finding what you are looking for at all. We are 15k from the Lake which is fine for us. I am guessing you have already researched the forum and read the posts about viewing trips and certain outfits to avoid.

Good luck. I am sure you will find the perfect home for you in Hungary.

TheCrosbies

Oh wow, just been going through some previous threads and found some "concerning" info/comments on the company we have booked our viewing trip with. Keeping an open mind and trying not to be negative - just wary! Checked out a couple websites recommended on here and seen a massive difference in value for money, don't want to cast aspersions however, definitely worth the detailed thought!
Currently watching the referendum results 😱😱

mawood47

Just two point:
1/ This morning voting in UK for out of EU as been given in favour Out of EU
2/ Ok yourselves find Your Perfect Place in the Sun, then after sum years yourselves decide to Seal, Wrong its becoming all most impossible to sell, Myself along with others Struggling to find sum interested Client for your property, Myself this is forth year dropping each year the Price, in fact now bellow the Purchas price in 2009 digger47

TheCrosbies

Thanks Digger47, the referendum is really disappointing news, and needs to be taken into account. We got the general feeling about the seeking part from the previous threads so something we are aware of and hence have to be sure of our actions before making the move - all really great points. Thanks

Pollypaprika

Knowledge is power. The viewing trip will be great...take the time to enjoy it for what it is...just like you say...be aware. Some people are expert at pulling the wool over other people's eyes.
Take it from someone who has been through this experience and been ripped off in the process. You want your first experience of moving to Hungary to be as stress free as possible, unfortunately there are vultures out there.

FenTiger

If a property is really cheap there's probably a catch! Do look at properties on this website ingatlan.com - A legtöbb ingatlan egy helyen. to get an idea and use as a comparison with any properties you view.

Be aware if you decide to opt for something to live in for a couple of years with the aim of finding somewhere bigger later you may find it will take alot longer to sell your first Hungarian house. (I don't live in Hungary at the moment but my long term is to move over in a couple of years time to live somewhere near my wife's Hungarian family. I have also been following alot of the threads/posts on here with regard to buying property and also frequently checking ingatlan.com - A legtöbb ingatlan egy helyen. for any significant price increases. I also check a number of other property websites but navigating through them is not always straight forward as they don't translate into English!).

If you've served in the military and lived in different places I think you'd be more prepared than most of us on here! As Pollypaprika says ... beware of people pulling the wool over your eyes .... just like anywhere else really.

TheCrosbies

Hi everyone, the time is getting close to our fact finding/viewing trip and we have seen a couple of properties listed on various sites, one which we ruled out due to a "bad location" informed by our Hungarian friend and another one in (on the edge of) Rezi, in Zala district. Does anybody have any info on this area? Would be happy to hear them good or bad. Thanks in advance

wolfi

Not a bad choice imho.

Rezi is near Keszthely and Hévíz and a very popular location - probably a bit more expensive?
Supermarkets (Interspar, Tesco) and other shops (OBI etc) not too far away - even Zalaégerszeg is reachable in around half an hour.

There are many summer houses afaik, so maybe less people in winter but the road (Hévíz- Zalszanto) is kept clean during winter.

You'll see it's surrounded by green fields - nice location!

TheCrosbies

Thanks Wolfi, it's what we thought, can't wait until we visit to see the properties for ourselves but your info is really helpful, thanks � ����

cathyg

Hiya. Not sure if you have time to see other areas around the lake. I would recommend the triangle Veszprem, Tihany, balatonalmadi. We have have lived in this area for three years and it is very practical. All the services you need at Veszprem. Easy reach of Budapest. The area is mainly full time residential with an increase in pop for the summer. It is not as quiet during the winter as other areas by the lake. It is a bit more expensive but there are some beautiful properties around. I can recommend Ingatlankínálat - Properties for viewing.
Enjoy your trip.
Cathy

TheCrosbies

Thanks Cathy, I am sure we will enjoy every minute and probably run out of time to see what we want to see and do..... Just means we will have to book another stay.

Amanda