Visiting Budapest

Hello Terence.

I may not be in Bp in October but I can let you know closer to the time.

I purchased my apartment earlier this year, picked up the keys in March.
It was a fairly painless experience really, I had a great English/HU speaking solicitor, all the contracts were split page with English and Hungarian. His name is Andras Toth. http://www.tothandras.net

I did my research online with http://realestatehungary.hu which seems to list properties from most of the agents.
I ended up buying mine from Duna House.
They use all the same tactics etc. as they do in England, so bear in mind you should be able to negotiate the price down.
I was in email contact with my estate agent at DH and she sent me properties each week which matched my criteria - I arranged the viewings via email in English so that was all good.

It's good to set up a bank account asap, and contact a solicitor before you start looking proper, as once you find somewhere things will start moving quickly. I got my bank account with OTP, the one on Nador utca (corner of Nador and Mérleg) - though they were refitting it and the entrance may be on Mérleg). They have English speaking staff and you can open an account before you have a Hungarian address. In fact it took me under a couple of hours, and I walked out with my account numbers and less than a week later I popped in and picked up my bank card.
OTP have a great iphone/ipad app called SmartBank which means you can transfer money from anywhere.

The seller/solicitors wanted the deposit in cash! So you also need to order the money with the bank and take that along with you to your solicitors when you sign the contracts to buy and hand over the cash.

The rest I transferred using SmartBank using the appropriate account numbers. I had to pay off the sellers mortgage and then the remainder straight to the sellers account.

Having a bank account means you can start to get the money into Forints when the exchange rate is good. Using something like Xendpay or Transferwise you could get a really good rate.

I also got a local Hungarian phone number as soon as I could. I got it via FlyNumber, and it's just a redirect to my mobile. You need to be a Hungarian resident before you're allowed a number so you'll need to wait until your purchase contract before you can get this (I scanned and uploaded it to FlyNumber).

The telephone number is invaluable as everyone will want a local Bp number instead of a UK mobile number etc. So when you change over your utilities, order anything they will want your number - many delivery companies will call you before turning up.  As it's redirected to my UK mobile when I'm in the UK it means I can still get important calls.

If you can't speak Hungarian some of these are tricky - such as people wanting to check your meter readings, check your chimney, check your meter is safe. I think a month doesn't go by without me having one of these calls!
Within the first few months you may get people wanting access to your property for these reasons.

You'll need to pay 4% "stamp duty", my bill for this didn't come until about 2 months after I had the keys.

Also bear in mind that it's common practice for people to take everything when they move property. When I moved in there were no light fittings, no kitchen cabinets or sink, no shower fittings. I was pleased because I'd planned to strip out the kitchen and get a new one anyway.

After moving the biggest challenge I think is to move over the utilities into your name. I was lucky and had a Hungarian friend and we spent a whole day going between gas (Fogaz), water (DBH) and electricity (ELMU) companies.
If you sign up for Dijnet and link it to your OTP Smart App it means your water, gas and internet you should be able to pay really easily, just clicking on the app. Electricity is not on Dijnet and so I do a bank transfer separately.
Fogaz was the easiest to deal with took us about 30 mins, ELMU took about 5 hours of waiting/queuing/form filling.

I'm with UPC for my internet, it's a bit like Virgin Media here - so as it's cable internet it seems to be really fast

As I have an apartment I also have a building fee. This covers shared costs, including shared electricity for the lights, lift etc. Typically you're given a book and need to go to a post office and pay it each month.
I spoke to our building owner and I instead do a bank transfer and pay 6 months at a time, just because it's more convenient.

Are you looking at Buda or Pest, any district in particular?
I bought in District 7 and I'm extremely happy. It's not far from Liszt Ferenc ter and walking distance to many things, plus convenient near the 4/6 tram, and M1 etc.  Mine is on the top floor, which I prefer, and it has a lift. This is especially useful for when you order things like a washing machine.
The street I am in is fairly quiet, but this was a major consideration. I stayed in some rented apartments before buying and some had bedrooms facing a main road (sirens and traffic noise all the time), others facing in to the courtyard (less exciting view, and depends on your neighbours as to the noise (barking dogs etc).

Sorry for the long brain dump!
If I think of anything else I'll message.

Gary.

gazamataz wrote:

The seller/solicitors wanted the deposit in cash! So you also need to order the money with the bank and take that along with you to your solicitors when you sign the contracts to buy and hand over the cash.

Don't do anything in cash like that. Lawyers have client accounts which are protected. You can put the deposit there.  Anything with cash is not a good move as it can lead to accusations of tax evasion if the purchase price is shown differently.  If you establish your bank account, you can transfer the money on signing immediately using online banking. In any case, the contract should allow you 10 days to move the money.

gazamataz wrote:

You need to be a Hungarian resident before you're allowed a number so you'll need to wait until your purchase contract before you can get this...

You can get a pre-pay number without being a resident. All you need is a passport and an address to register the phone to. With the purchase contract that is usually enough so long as you are an EU/EFTA citizen.  If you want a contract phone, they will want an employment contract (usually).

gazamataz wrote:

You'll need to pay 4% "stamp duty", my bill for this didn't come until about 2 months after I had the keys.

They only send the bills out for property transfer tax (stamp duty) twice a year.  So in theory, it could be up to 6 months before receiving a bill.

Hi Gary,
Thanks for your reply good to have a friendly face to talk to. Can we contact each other Via email maybe easier
if so mine is ***
Do you mind if I put a few questions to you occasionally.

Regards

Terry

Hi Terence
Gary has done a great job already addressing the most contentious issues.
I've got 4 years experience in the Bp property market and could assist you actively on location in your endeavour.
Should you need someplace to stay I can offer affordable accommodation from October 1st as well.
I only just signed up because of your message and haven't got a clue yet as to how we could talk in private as we're not supposed to post contact details. If you're interested and know how to please email me...
Cheers
Jurgen