Purchasing Property in Hungary -
Step by Step Instructions
1.  Become informed about your financing possibilities. Many first time home buyers
start looking at houses first and end up very disappointed that they can't afford the
perfect home because of the relatively limited financing opportunities. Do not set
yourself up for this disappointment. Know exactly what your solution will be and how
much home you can afford. The perfect house is always $20,000 more than you can
afford.

Bank loans and mortgages, based on Switzerland Francs, Euros or HU Forints are now
available in Hungary up to 50 % of the value of the property you purchase here,
currently for EU USA and Israel citizens. As a first step,
contact our independent
mortgage advisor to receive personal advice and assistance. Although financing
opportunities are still limited in Hungary for foreign citizens, and in most cases it is a
better idea to solve your financing elsewhere, it is a good idea to ask for an individual
offer. Practical step:  if you already know in which location do you want to purchase, the
property type (used or new, house or apartment), and the approximate purchase
amount, contact the mortgage advisor now to receive current information which will
help you make a good decision.


2.  Begin to think about what you want and what you need. Do not confuse the two
terms. If you will decide on the bare minimum that you need, then when you find a
house with some extras in your price range, you will feel good about the purchase.
Actually sit down and make a list of everything you could possible want in a house or
apartment here in Hungary. Then begin to rank them in order of importance. You may
really want some acreage, but if you work a lot of hours at your job, You may really
regret that decision when you realize how long it takes to mow the grass on a lot of
square meters.

These are not easy decisions and the time you spend now with arranging the best
financing and deciding on the minimum standards for your home will greatly increase
you enjoyment and make the buying experience much better.


3. Choose a general location. You might even want to narrow it down to a couple of
subdivisions or a certain town. Let me interject a word of caution. If you narrow your
choices down to far, you will never find a house. You could say, I want to live in the
lower hillside neighborhood of the town of
Diósd, between József Attila utca and Zöldfa
utca
, and I want a less than 4 year old house with 4 bedrooms and a spacious flat yard
where my kids can play basketball, under 45 million Ft. There are homes in that area of
Diósd with spacious flat yards, but it is unlikely they will fit your price range and your
other important criteria. You may want to extend location.

Obviously, if I am going to the trouble to tell you what to do, I am going to want you to
use the
home finding services of Budapest Property Finder in the purchase of your
home. If you are working with a real estate agent, it is vital that you know who they
represent in the transaction. This can make thousands of dollars difference in the final
price of the home. That brings us to the subject of
Agency Relationships.


4. Are you ready to start looking for a home? There are a number of places to find
homes for sale, this web site, other web sites, papers, and You can also drive around
in your favorite neighborhoods searching for “
ELADÓ” or "KIADÓ" signs (eladó
means for sale, and kiadó means for rent in Hungarian). We do not yet have MLS in
Hungary; the
Hungarian Real Estate Database is the closest to the Hungarian MLS. As
a realtor and a member of real estate agency associations,
I have online access to
the listings of the registered Hungarian real estate agencies.

Now the Fun Begins!
You have found a property that gets your attention and you want to go look at the home
and make a
buying decision. A buying decision can be Yes, I want this home or No, I
don't want this home
. Every time you purchase a home you make compromises. You
may want 2 bathrooms and this home has 1 1/2 baths, but the price is good or it is in
the perfect location. You may think the price is more than you wanted to spend, but if
the home is in excellent condition, then it may justify the extra price. The property may
have very distasteful looks, but you can be one of those creative people, who can see
the potential and the
price is good enough to compensate for the yet ugly features.

It also makes a lot of sense to
think of resale before you commit yourself to purchase.
Who will typically buy property in this area? What is their demand? If international
buyers with similar taste to yours are not the typical owners of the local community, you
must get some feel of the demand and purchase capacity of the locals. If almost
everyone is looking for a 3 bedroom home with 2 bathrooms and a one car garage, it
might be a good idea to lower your appetite to this level to be able to sell your home
when you wish. On the other hand, if you are confident that there would be a demand by
the locals or internationals for the home of your dreams, don't hesitate to go ahead and
purchase it, remodel it.

A word on remodeling - refurbishing - modernizing: yes, I can help you to find
trustworthy English speaking experts, who can organize and oversee your project for
you.


5. Get good information on the home of your choice. As long as you make your buying
decision based on good information, you will be okay.

How do you get good information? You must already know the answer by now: ask
your  
Buyer's Agent  about the property's realistic market value. Your other way of doing
it is to do a thorough search on the internet on property prices in the area. The most
reliable source for this research would be
ingatlan.com with their leading numbers of
FSBO and agency listings.  

Make sure that your offer is subject to a satisfactory
home inspection (I can help you
arrange that, too) and that the Seller is responsible for repairs. The Seller may balk at
agreeing to repairs prior to knowing how much it will cost.

One important concern is the elevation of the home. If the home is in a low-lying area or
close to a stream or river, you have to pay careful attention to potential flooding.

In Hungary, when you buy a residential property "
as is",  the seller is required to
disclose to the Buyer any known defects in the property. If the Seller makes false
statements, You have evidence in a lawsuit, but lawsuits are slow and expensive and
are never simple. The best way to handle a lawsuit is to take steps to prevent it at all
costs.


6. Understand the value of the property. The value of residential property is usually
determined by the
Market Value Approach. Replacement Cost Approach is sometimes
used, but on anything except new construction it doesn't make much sense. This is
how the Market Value Approach is supposed to work and does work when enough
market data is available. If you want to know how much a house is worth, you find the
minimum of three similar houses that have sold recently in the same area. In an ideal
situation, if three houses of similar size, age and condition on the same street sold for
the same price in the last six months and your house is just like those houses, your
house is worth the same as those houses.

It gets interesting when your house is not exactly the same as the other houses. If your
house is bigger or better, than it is worth a little more... IF there is a demand on the
local market for a bigger, better and consequently more expensive house! If not, and
you still keep your prices high, you may end up advertising and advertising for years.

If your chosen house is smaller or not as good then it is worth a little less than the
other houses. If you are using the  
home finding services of Budapest Property Finder,  
it is our job is to check the market to establish the realistic market value of your house.

Determining
a home's value is not Rocket Science, but many people think their home
is worth more than their neighbor's home, regardless of a lack of evidence to prove
their point. Unfortunately, because of the pressure put on Real Estate Agents to obtain
listings, some houses are listed too high. Every once in a while, an agent will list a
home too low (not often).

Are FSBO homes cheaper? One of the reasons that people wish to sell their homes
without the use of a real estate agent is the fact that they want too much for their home
and they won't agree to list their home for what the agent recommends. Other reasons
are they do not wish to pay a commission or do not trust real estate agents.

Consequently, a home advertised by the owner might be cheaper, but more often than
not, it is irrationally highly priced.


7. Make an Offer to purchase the property that you like. Here in Hungary the offer is
given verbally and it is the opening act of negotiations. We simply call the owner and
tell him how much we are willing to pay him for his property. If he accepts, parties
agree on the details and go to a lawyer together to draw up and sign the purchase
contract. If you are using our
assistance, we will negotiate the best possible price and
conditions for you. As you Buyer’s Agent,  I will owe fiduciary duties to you, so you
should let me know what compromises you are ready to accept and how much you are
willing to pay.

You have found a house, you have made an offer and after a little negotiation the offer
is accepted. Your offer must be subject to inspections (we can set it up) and subject to
satisfactory appraisal (if you are doing this without a buyer's agent)!


8. The Purchase Contract. Now you are faced with a little paperwork and some stress,
but things start to happen. You will work with me, your Buyer's Agent, or, directly with the
Seller or
Seller's Agent if no agent is involved on your side, to establish the terms of the
Purchase Contract.

In Hungary, a contract concerning the sale or lease of real estate must be in writing to
be enforceable in court. A Purchase Contract must be signed by the parties in the
presence of a lawyer and must also be countersigned and dry-stamped by the lawyer.
The
lawyer’s fee (a minimum of 1 % of the purchase price + 20 % VAT which makes it a
total of 1,2 % of the purchase price) is paid by the buyer, but the lawyer should look
after the interest of both contracting parties equally.

If you have a Buyer’s Agent who represents you, your Agent will monitor the content of
the
Purchase Contract and the purchase process on your behalf. Your Buyer’s Agent
will also check prior to signing a contract, if the Title is clear, and your Buyer's Agent will
work together with the lawyer at the preparation of the Purchase Agreement.

Since there is no written offer prior to the legally binding Purchase Contract in Hungary,
it is very important that the issues that you need to worry about will be addressed in the
contract. There is a lot more in the contract than price and it is very important to get
details covered. What will stay in the house and what will go? When will you have
possession of the property? How long should the Seller wait for you to get your
purchase permission? Will the seller handle repairs before possession? How much is
the deposit and what happens to it before closing? What should be done if there are
problems on the Seller's end, for example the
title isn't clear?

The day of signing the Purchase Contract is also big pay day. You will pay a significant
amount (usually 10 % of the purchase price) of earnest money deposit to the seller,
since the seller will have to wait until you get permission to purchase and he or she
can not receive the purchase amount until your permit is granted. You will also be
expected to pay the Lawyer’s and Buyer Agent’s fees on that day. The seller will pay the
seller’s agent (if a seller’s or listing agent participated in the process) at the same time.

If the Buyer is a non-Hungarian citizen, the
Purchase Contract  will say that the seller
maintains ownership until closing. Why is that?


9. The Purchase Permission Process.      Since May 1, 2004, EU citizens who have
been continuously living in Hungary for at least 4 years, may purchase residential
property in Hungary WITHOUT a special permission (Tv.88/A. Section 2).

In case of other international buyers, apart from the signing and submitting the
Purchase Agreement to the Land Registry Office, the prior approval of the relevant
Administrative Office
(Közigazgatási Hivatal) is the further condition of receiving the
ownership right of a real estate.

Once a property is selected, the lawyer of the buyer applies for the approval first from
the mayor of the Local Government
(Önkormányzat), then from the Administration
Office
(Közigazgatási Hivatal) in the area. If these two bureaucratic organizations
assert that the purchase "
does not interfere with any municipal or other public
interests
," a permit is granted. Only then is the new owner registered in the Land
Registry, and only then does the actual Purchase Contract come into effect.

Each of these two offices may take as long as 30 calendar days to issue the
permission.

Because of the time factor, the seller must be informed of the process before the
Purchase Agreement is signed, and the seller will sell the property with maintained
ownership until closing.

If you are a non-Hungarian citizen, the validity of the contract is conditioned upon the
Administrative Office’s permission for the purchase of the Property. Under normal
circumstances (if you are not an internationally wanted criminal), the permission is
always granted to Western citizens.


10. The Closing. Because of the permission process, closing usually takes place (and
the balance of the originally established purchase price is paid) 60-90 days after
initially signing the Purchase Contract. Before closing, the seller can still use the
property, but has no right to sell it to others.

You are obligated to notify the seller immediately after receiving the purchase-
permission from the Administration Office, and following notification, you must also
transfer the balance of the purchase price.

If you have done everything right and it is a pleasant situation, the closing can be quite
friendly and it really should be friendly. If you have left a bunch of loose ends and
unanswered questions, the closing can be a nightmare. Imagine if you never agreed to
a specific time to take possession of the house. You arrive at the closing, sign the
papers and ask the Seller for the keys. The Seller says "I need to stay in the property for
90 days", if you have given notice at your current residence thinking you will be out in 30
days, then you have a problem. The seller has your earnest money and you have no
documentation to force the Seller to give you possession. Can you make house
payments and pay rent both for 90 days? I know this scenario is a little far-fetched, but it
could happen. I just want to emphasize the importance of covering all the bases in the
contract and not having any surprises at the closing.

Closing usually takes place within a week after you received your purchase permit. At
the closing you will take possession of the property.

As your Buyer’s Agent, I will accompany you to see if everything is presented to you the
way it was written in the contract. You and the seller will sign the Closing Statement,
which here in Hungary is not a list of where the money goes, but a declaration that the
purchase price is paid in full and possession is transferred. Utility meters will be read
and recorded, and you are now ready to have all utilities signed under your name.

CONGRATULATIONS!
You now own a house!

If haven't scared you to death, then let's get busy and get you a  home!
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Buying or Renting
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Disclaimer: the article serves merely information purposes. Due to its extent, it is neither an all round
information nor shall it be qualified as legal advice.
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