Owletts12

We are new members and we are looking at buying a property in Hungary this summer. It does seem to be a bit of a minefield - different people saying don't trust them trust me etc. Who do we believe - Can anyone who has bought give us some recommendations please. We want to buy somewhere as a holiday home and maybe to let to friends and family not as a business.

Rural Hungary

Hi there and welcome to the forum. Not sure it's so much don't trust them, trust me but more that it is generally accepted that one company takes the local price of a property and doubles it before advertising it to British buyers. There is another company who are confidence tricksters and spin a web of lies wherever they go. Both of these have been discussed several times and the backlash from doing so had contributed to some, including myself, now taking the attitude that people have to learn from their own mistakes as otherwise you get shot as the messenger. My advice to you would be to decide on an area first and research what your budget will buy in that area. If being near the lake is not a priority then taking a look at the area around Sopron and north of Budapest might be worth it. There are many lovely areas of Hungary and many trustworthy agents but deciding on where to focus your search is a starting point.

Owletts12

Thanks so could you private message me ??

Rural Hungary

Hi Owletts, I believe you emailed earlier today? If so, I'm replying at the moment though I hope some of the members pop in on this thread to give you an insight into different parts of the country.

FenTiger

Welcome to the fourm. I'm yet to move to Hungary and have been visiting it since 2002 .... jeez ... that long ... and also I'm always on the internet looking at properties, comparing values, etc. There are plenty of people on this forum who can give you some good advice but at the end of the day it's yourselves who make the decision whether to buy a property or not.

I hope you have thought of who will look after the property when you are not in Hungary and prepare the house for your family and friends.

Good luck.

Owletts12

Thanks - I am hoping we get a few people responding too - good to get advice off people who have already gone through the process - i would would rather learn by other peoples mistakes

cathyg

Hi Owletts

We have been living in Hungary for two years now in a tourist area on the north shore of Lake Balaton. You do not say if you have been to Hungary already? If not then I strongly suggest you do some research on the different areas within Hungary and visit them first. It is very easy to get tempted by low prices, big houses, lots of land and put an offer in on the first property you like without thinking about the location, access to services and access to infrastructure.
As Rural has said foreign companies targeting British buyers sometimes have elevated prices and sell in areas which are not good locations. Beware.
These are my advices to you;
1. Look at ingatlan.com - A legtöbb ingatlan egy helyen. and research prices of property. This is the Hungarian equivalent of rightmove.
2. Research Hungarian estate agents and email them for information. Most will have some English or find someone who can translate.
3. Use an independent lawyer who speaks English.
4. When viewing houses look at the electrics, plumbing and watch out for damp.
5. Be prepared to walk away if prices start going up. Sometimes but not all if the buyer knows you are a foreigner the price will go up.
6. There is a classification system for houses here one of which is weekend house. There are more limits on things like extensions, reselling etc. if you say you are looking for a holiday home you may get shown a weekend house.
7. Buying in Hungary is not an investment and it can take years to sell a property.

As said we live in a tourist area with lots of holiday homes and apartments. The season is very short from mid June to beginning of September. There is a big effort now to lengthen the season with more restaurants, festivals etc open in May. Have a look at the website Welovebalaton to get an idea of what there is available.
Any questions please ask.
Good luck, it's a fab place to be and we love it here.....

Owletts12

Thanks so much I will do that. We have been to hungary before we lived in Eastern Europe but it was 20 years ago and things have mived on massivly since then. Thanks for replying no doubt I will be asking you lots more questions

scrubbedexpat0105

Hi Owletts,

Do you have a particular region in Hungary in mind?

Do you speak any Hungarian?

Do you have friends and family who have already been there and would like to visit again?

And as FenTiger says, how are you envisaging it being looked after when you're not there?

Although there are undoubtedly fraudsters out there, from my experience it's just as much a case of misconceptions.

For example, I paid quite a lot of money in estate agents' fees, as is quite normal for property buyers here in Germany, but my understanding is that in Hungary, it's normally the seller who pays the estate agent.

Or having renovation work done: work done by Hungarian builders is good, cheap, and easily organized – these three things are not necessarily untrue, but it can be a case of "pick any two".

Or the issue of having it looked after: I envisaged the estate agent doing that for a reasonable fee, but after purchase he was really only interested in doing a full-blown renovation – at western prices.

No one I know seems remotely interested in staying at my place, even for free.

angolmagyar

Hi. Buying in Hungary is very very easy and in most cases one can be signing contracts and handing over the keys in the same week...assuming that you are cash buyers.

Process.
# Agree price on the property and take all the details from the vendor inc personal details incl mothers name.
# you go to a solicitor and instruct him or her to start the searches. My solicitor did this while I waited.
# Return to solicitor with the vendor at arranged date...mine was 2 days later...and pay either the deposit to complete later OR pay in full, sign and get keys on the spot or however you have arranged. Its that easy.

NOTE: if you are not in the country long enough to start and finish the process you can draw up a (Meghatalmazás) this lets a person of oyur choosing to complete all for you in your abscence.
You will need your passport, Birth Cert, marriage cert, bank account details, drivers licence. If you have all these then you will be g/teed no probs as here in Hungary paperwork talks.
My solicitor charges 1% of the house cost plus around £25 for little bits of other local and county admin charges. Then of course the Hungarian tax on the purchase...check this cost on line cos I forget the % now.
it really is that easy.
Good luck
AM
Ps/ none Hungarian Nationals cannot buy arable, only residential or holiday homes.

Rural Hungary

Foreigners can now buy land up to one hectare, over this there are regulations that basically restrict ownership to farmers.

A bank account is not necessary to purchase though would be useful for paying utilities and the only document required will be your passport. Further documentation might be useful but not necessary.

Purchase tax is 4%

Pollypaprika

Hi there,

This article might be of use!

6 Things You Should Know Before Buying in Rural Hungary. | The Daily Hungary

Good luck with everything.

angolmagyar

Yes this is correct. But I would personally have these documents just in case as in the early days particularly and even occasionally today if the person you are dealing with has a differing view of what is req even though they may be wrong then one will not be able to proceed. As you will know here in Hungary not everyone is on the same page, do to speak lol!.
As most folk in the uk have instant access to these documents mentioned I urge you to have them with you so as to be sure to proceed with your purchase etc with impunity.
Rgerds
AM
Ps/ sadly still here in Hungary one cannot fart LOL! without the correct piece of paper / document...just best to cover all options. rural hungary
Regards
AM

wolfi

I live near Hévíz - and I decided on this almost twenty years ago because of the very good infrastructure, because the season is 12 months (though of course there are less people in winter ...) and because many people here speak German of course.

In other places near the Balaton it can get very lonely in winter because no one's there ...

Of course prices here are a bit higher, but if you are willing to buy say 10 km away from the Lake/Hévíz you can get cheaper objects.

Just one example:
The house of a friend of ours in Zalavár who died about a year ago just changed hands for 6 Mio HUF - of course it needs a lot of renovation, but it already has a central gas heating.

Rural Hungary

How true!