Budapest

[rex]

Speaking to a friend yesterday and found out that he had just bought a place in Budapest for capital growth. Is not considering renting it out but hopes to just sit on it. Didn't have time to discuss in great detail on the ins and outs so thought why not post on here. I will be in a position to invest some money in next few months and wondered what the collective thoughts are. Has any one gone down this route? Where is the best place to start investigations of my own? Inevatment amount is 60-80K

[billb]

rex said:

Speaking to a friend yesterday and found out that he had just bought a place in Budapest for capital growth. Is not considering renting it out but hopes to just sit on it. Didn't have time to discuss in great detail on the ins and outs so thought why not post on here. I will be in a position to invest some money in next few months and wondered what the collective thoughts are. Has any one gone down this route? Where is the best place to start investigations of my own? Inevatment amount is 60-80K

i was considering this myself - what sort of place has he bought? am out there on a stag in 3 weeks and might try and have a quick look. is budapest the best place in europe at the mo for capital growth?

[darrent]

Not sure about Budapest but my brother co-owns a construction company and they are building like hell in Turkey - loads of investors (many from Israel for some reason) investing heavily in Turkey's main tourist areas. I think it must be to do with Turkey entering the EU in the next few years. Also huge interest from large investors in North Cyprus.

[stackmonkey]

I don't know about Hungary, but a mate of mine plus his colleagues, have moved their property development to Prague from Spain, to catch the price increases; making plenty of ££££ AFAIK.

[rex]

Bought flat in best part of town which was renovated. Spent 100K euros. In hindsight he said he would have brought a rundown place in up and coming part of town and left it till started increasing in value. At that point do it up and sell.

He did also say about Prague

[Size Nine Elm]

I was in Budapest 2 weeks ago, and was considering the same - there's obviously a pile of European money going into the place, and property is essentially very good, but a lot of it seemed run down (even on the main drag - top floors without windows and roofs looking pretty dodgy).

Only issue is managing any restorations/tenants...

What rate of return is he expecting BTW?

[Rich25]

I have had quite a bit of experience investing overseas (I advise others on it for a living now!) and I think that all the areas talked about are fairly sensible.

Whenever I am asked to recommend a "hot-spot" I like to have a reason behind my advice. I think a lot of investment is made blindly in areas as they are simply part of the global property boom. And as we all know what goes up will eventually come down (ask anyone in property in the early 90s or stockmarket in the late 90s).

For that reason I have shunned areas like Bulgaria and Croatia - issues with earthquakes, limited infrastructure and land ownership.

I like Hungary, in Budapest we have seen growth of 50% for the past couple of years, together with possible yields nearing 20%.

My favourite area at the moment is Estonia. Lots of conducive tax laws, such as 0% corporation tax have created a high demand for corporate lets and new housing stock, so both off-plan "flip" deals and longer term rental incomes are achievable.

Lots to go into on this topic. If you want any more info then email me offline.

Was having a chat with one of my mates at another overseas property companies about setting up a service for Pistonhead members as there seems to be a lot of talk about property investment, would there be much interest if I could sort out a discount on fees or something?

[billb]

Rich25 said:

I have had quite a bit of experience investing overseas (I advise others on it for a living now!) and I think that all the areas talked about are fairly sensible. Whenever I am asked to recommend a "hot-spot" I like to have a reason behind my advice. I think a lot of investment is made blindly in areas as they are simply part of the global property boom. And as we all know what goes up will eventually come down (ask anyone in property in the early 90s or stockmarket in the late 90s). For that reason I have shunned areas like Bulgaria and Croatia - issues with earthquakes, limited infrastructure and land ownership. I like Hungary, in Budapest we have seen growth of 50% for the past couple of years, together with possible yields nearing 20%. My favourite area at the moment is Estonia. Lots of conducive tax laws, such as 0% corporation tax have created a high demand for corporate lets and new housing stock, so both off-plan "flip" deals and longer term rental incomes are achievable. Lots to go into on this topic. If you want any more info then email me offline. Was having a chat with one of my mates at another overseas property companies about setting up a service for Pistonhead members as there seems to be a lot of talk about property investment, would there be much interest if I could sort out a discount on fees or something?

tell us more! would be nice to share the risk

[Rich25]

Just spoke to my mate and have negotiated a deal specifically for PHers.

The company is called Churchills and are a large organisation who do a lot of overseas investment for people in Europe and further afield. The guy to speak to is Naren Cox and his number is 01983550400.

If you quote Pistonheads to him, he has arranged for discounts of between 10%-20% on fees (most properties are discounted anyway), dependent on the deal and his margin, obviously. Hope that helps a few people out.

Bill, are there any areas you are specifically interested in, and what is your budget and acceptable levels of risk? Do you know what off-plan deals are? For refurbs, do you have a team in place already? Lots of questions I know. I could write a dissertation on several areas but dont want to get all, before I know what peeps are interested in.

I personally would stay away from completed new-builds overseas as they are generally owned by investors who are selling on to you and therefore a lot of the margin has already been taken by them.

[Nagy Akos]

Dear All,


My name is Ákos Nagy, i work as a marketing manager in a real estate developer company. We build more than 800 apartments in the amazing capital of Hungary, in Budapest.We also sell some of our apartments to foreign real estate investors. We undertake further management( furishing, finding the proper tenant, manage your income in Hungary etc.)
If i can help you please let me know.

Bye



Ákos