budapest property

alienhead

just wondering if anyone has bought property abroad for investment purpouses.

(not sure if this is the right place to post, is there a more relevant section)

i'm thinking of buying an apartment in budapest, just a short time investment, anyone done this? advice.

Emmo

Try saving for a while and buy upper to middle range property in Dublin.

If you could get 3 others and all raise about 25,000 each you could get a mortage on a property for about 600 - 700 K quite easily with very little fuss.

Hold onto it for a few months, perhaps a year renting it out to get money to help service the mortage and then sell.

You would make about 15 - 20 K on the whole thing. Best return on investment I know thats legal.

Emmo

Sleipnir

Originally posted by alienhead
just wondering if anyone has bought property abroad for investment purpouses.

(not sure if this is the right place to post, is there a more relevant section)

i'm thinking of buying an apartment in budapest, just a short time investment, anyone done this? advice.

I don't know a lot about this but Hungary was having some sort of currency crisis a few months ago which apparently made this an "if it's too good to be true....." scenario.
You may want to research that before you commit.

mycroft

Budapest, bad idea, property there will be more expensive than you think.

alienhead

housemate brought home alot of literature on this, property increased 35% last year, also the agencies you go through guarentee you the first four years rent, they give you a cheque up front.

of course i'm wary of somthing that sounds this good, so just posting here to get some opinions.

emmo, i tried to buy some property in dublin, this time last year, ****ing nightmare, i'm on an above adverage wage, and was getting help from my mother, (not a loan, esb scheme) still kept being out bid, also, its insulting what you get here for your money.

mike65

This should be in Business/Finance etc. The other point I'd make is the immoral nature of this. In Budapest the Western money men have caused huge property inflation the result being more and more native Hungarians cannot afford a place to buy in thier own capital city. Thats worth thinking about as you count your money.

Mike.

thegills

Go for it.
I know of 2 people who are going to buy apartments of the plans. All you need to do is put a 10% downpayment and when the apartment is ready sell it. The proprty is going up in value so you'll make about 50% on your original 10%.
thegills

Johnny Versace

It's sounds like a good investment if you are hungary for success.

<sorry>

Victor

Be very wary of Prague and Budapest. New apartments are being flogged to foreign buters for €100,000-200,000 here, when the are available on the local market for €25,000.

Originally posted by Emmo
Try saving for a while and buy upper to middle range property in Dublin. If you could get 3 others and all raise about 25,000 each you could get a mortage on a property for about 600 - 700 K quite easily with very little fuss. Hold onto it for a few months, perhaps a year renting it out to get money to help service the mortage and then sell. You would make about 15 - 20 K on the whole thing. Best return on investment I know thats legal. Emmo

Thats daft, aside from the risk of a drop in prices, especially at the middle-to-top end of the market (usually the most volatile), stamp duty at 9% would kill any profit, for the huge risk you are taking.

Bluehair

Originally posted by Emmo
Try saving for a while and buy upper to middle range property in Dublin.

If you could get 3 others and all raise about 25,000 each you could get a mortage on a property for about 600 - 700 K quite easily with very little fuss.

Hold onto it for a few months, perhaps a year renting it out to get money to help service the mortage and then sell.

You would make about 15 - 20 K on the whole thing. Best return on investment I know thats legal.

Emmo

I'd love for you to elaborate on this (especially 3 people combined getting a 600-700k mortgage 'with very little fuss'). You're assuming a lot about the potential purchasers.

There are huge holes in your theory. How do you account for stamp duty? Even on a 600k property this would amount to 45k! To account for even a 15k return after a year the property would have to appreciate at least 10% which is unlikely in the current market.

Bear in mind this is only 5k 'profit' per investor in your example. Even on an interest-only mortgage the monthly repayments would be circa €1500. If the property is not occupied for a few months (and note the rental market is taking a beating right now) and your plans look less and less viable.

Thats before even thinking about solicitors fees, furnishing the house for renting etc.. etc.. etc..

This was a common investment in the late 90s (indeed I did it myself once with an apartment) but is a very poor suggestion today indeed.

Bluehair

Originally posted by Victor
Be very wary of Prague and Budapest. New apartments are being flogged to foreign buters for €100,000-200,000 here, when the are available on the local market for €25,000.

What he said

Beware of brochures from estate agents with talk of great gains. Beware of advice from anyone who has a vested interest in you making the purchase.

If you're serious about investing though there are bargains to be had. Personnally I would consider Poland or Croatia. For the former stick with the cities where there is still value to be had. For the latter look for coastal property away from Dubrovnik.

In both though in order to secure maximum value you really need to go there and deal locally, preferably a few trips to get a better understanding of the markets and specific areas you might be interested in.

As Victor points out there are many who are screwing greedy western investors after a quick buck.

(btw personnally I think Mike65 may have a point too. Property values in Budapest in particular are artifically high due to exagerated western investment. If this isn't backed up by economic success in the next 18-24 months you could find yourself sitting on a lemon that the locals will be happy to buy back from you at half the price)

alienhead

i, like most young dubliners, also cant afford to buy a place, in my home town, because of rich investors, i'm sorry but thats life, i'd idealy like to buy somwhere here, as i said i'm on a prety good wage, but property is still way out of reach.

Originally posted by mike65
This should be in Business/Finance etc. The other point I'd make is the immoral nature of this. In Budapest the Western money men have caused huge property inflation the result being more and more native Hungarians cannot afford a place to buy in thier own capital city. Thats worth thinking about as you count your money.

Mike.

Johnny Versace

A friend of mine, Russian, bought an apartment in Omsk (a nice part of Russia) for 10k. It is in a secure complex and has 2 bedrooms.

It is on the border with tazakstan (or whatever) and has beautiful weather.

She is renting it out...

Not bad, eh?

Victor

Originally posted by Johnny Versace
It is on the border with tazakstan (or whatever) and has beautiful weather.

Summer 40 degrees, winter -40 degrees

Kaner

Hungary has solid, long-standing property laws, based on the Austrian system. As a foreigner you have to set up a company there to buy - at least until they join the EU.

Up until now it has been hard to get mortgages in Hungary.

Higher property values are not necessarily immoral. Rising property values will help the economy there. When people have property that is worth something, they can use that as collateral to take risks like starting a business, or other investments. This in turn will create wealth in the economy, which will benefit everyone. Where would you rather be poor, Ireland or Russia?

I have not bought property there, but I did some research. A friend of mine has bought a lot of property there over the past 10 years.

Look at casaro-hungary.com - I dont know how honest they are but they have some info on Budapest.

pickarooney

Warsaw, tbh.

alienhead

bump