Viewing Pest apartments

angol wrote:

Hi folks,

I'm planning to move to Budapest very shortly - the overheads here in London are getting too much!....Any observations welcome.

You could also try www.ingatlanok.hu or www.ingatlanbazar.hu or www.dh.hu. There are plenty of web sites advertising real estate (inglatlan).

These web sites have lots of places to rent. My experience is that people out in this part of the world  do not reply to their e-mails, but they do respond to phone calls.

This weekend is quite bad probably to get responses as it's all public holidays like in the UK. World over here might recover Tuesday (unlike the UK until about the 3rd May).

If your budget can stand it, you can always get a short term rental and then try and contact them all when physically here.

Fluffy,
Thanks for your response. And thanks for the tip on other websites. An overload of estate agents - what bliss!

I guess I am hoping for too much immediate action given the holiday. 28 deg C here today plus a kind of fog.

I will use phone for contact once in Budapest and struggle through with language. As a last resort, I have details of a personal help and translation agency in bp.
Happy Easter.

angol wrote:

..... As a last resort, I have details of a personal help and translation agency in bp.
Happy Easter.

If your Hungarian language skills are dodgy (like mine), then I'd recommend phoning some of the larger real estate places, they almost certainly have English speakers. Most of those "professional" places are aimed at expats arriving on a relocation package and therefore they have plenty of money to spend.  If you need a deal - cheaper place to rent - then you really have to look on local web sites. Anything with English or another language is going to come at a premium. You can always use Google Translate.

You could also try here (Budapest Sun newspaper web site) - but often pricey:

http://www.xpatloop.com/classifieds/5

Regarding fees, the real estate agent gets a months rent from the landlord, so there's nothing to pay for you. Anything more from you is a rip off.  Don't give anyone any money until the contract is signed. You probably will need to sign an agreement for a minimum of 1 year as no-one wants the hassle of a short term rental (unless they are in business doing that kind of "hotel" service).

Thanks again, fluffy. I must have viewed hundreds of flats online now, including some on Magyar-only sites. I guess there's a balance between over-pricing and having a helpful and reliable agent and landlord. I think I have a reasonable view now of what is available at a price (plus variable common charge). But only seeing is believing.

angol wrote:

I think I have a reasonable view now of what is available at a price (plus variable common charge). But only seeing is believing.

Be aware the common costs can be very significant. I think it increases our basic rent by about 30%. Often, things one might take for granted in a rental place, like rubbish collection are not included.  We live in an apartment building and we have some recurrent problems with things getting repaired - fixing the garage door, cleaning the common areas and water leaks in the cellar. In the apartment, we also have problem with repairs. We end up usually paying and deducting it from the rent but sometimes we get arguments, like over who should pay for the yearly checks on the safety of the gas boiler. In the end we told the landlord, we'll let him know if something is broken, but it's up to them to fix it. We know it's a major hassle for them as they live abroad. Personally I think they are awkward sods - we've had a leaking radiator for 2 years. Best off making sure the repairs are fully covered.

if you go round the veterinary university while you are here, there are usually a few of cheep appartments offered for let on the noticeboards, often at less than 1 year and happy to take pets!!!!