Frequently Asked Questions

Yes. House In Hungary is owned by Redhill Project Kft, who is a registered Limited company in Hungary and licensed to conduct real estate property related business. We are a member of the Hungarian Chamber of Commerce too. Company number: 13-09-182230 .

As our name states, we hunt for real estate properties in Hungary. Our activity is known as Property Search or home finding (house hunter, home hunter, property hunter, flat hunter, home seeker, buyer-friendly property) service, which consists in offering a personalized service to anyone that wishes to buy a property in Hungary, working exclusively in their best interest.

We speak English and Hungarian.

The aim of a real estate agent is to sell the Properties he has on his listing. House In Hungary does not have properties in stock to offer, instead is dedicated to each specific search using the whole market opportunities in partnership with all the real estate companies and mediums such as home owner’s, real estate agencies, auction’s sales, developers, etc.

House In Hungary previews all the properties according to the buyers’ criteria’s and offers an individual service in order to find the right property that perfectly fits the client’s needs while agencies are only publishing listings without any preview of the properties.

Any potential buyers who want to buy or rent a property in Hungary but do not have the time to search hundreds and inspect dozens of properties until they find the right one for their needs.

People who don’t currently live in Hungary whether they are on a professional relocation plan, foreign investors, expats, soon to retire individuals interested in settling in the country, parents seeking an accommodation for their student child or people wishing to buy a second home.

People who are facing any kind of incapacity or handicap.

Companies who wish to assist their employees or partners in any kind of relocation plan or recruitment in the area.

And of course, anyone who feels secure to hire a dedicated professional buying agent knowing they’ll be on the best position to negotiate on their behalf in an extremely competitive market and who will offer them the home they always wanted to own.

In fact, House In Hungary is ready to serve all kinds of property buyers.

First of all, time is money. House In Hungary saves you a lot of precious time. No need to spend hours passing through classifieds in the papers or on web sites, no need to speak with real estate agents. We save you from the disappointment when visiting properties that looked so good on the pictures just to find that the reality is completely different and the property doesn’t meet your expectations. House In Hungary spends 100 % of its time seeking the right property for you.

Your home finding agent is totally dedicated to your search, ready to listen to you, keeping you informed on a regular basis.

We have access to the whole of the Hungarian property market so you get the benefit of a wide and thorough research. This way the risks of missing the opportunity to get your ideal home are reduced to the minimum. On the contrary your chances to make the deal for the property you really want even if it appears for a very short time on classifieds, are maximised.

Our motto is “Transparency”. There are absolutely no hidden fees or charges. Our fees depend on the chosen service but in all cases are clearly specified in our contract. Please see our “Fees” section for details.

No. Success fee is only due when a House In Hungary’s finding agent presented you the property.

House In Hungary is operating in the whole of Hungary.

We can get you any type of property that you as a foreigner are legally allowed to buy in Hungary. Our knowledge of the Hungarian property market is so extensive that we can find for you any type of property you require: house, semi-detached home, studio, apartment, office, business premises, workshop, factory, warehouse, garage, farm, or a building plot for example.

Note: Except certain special conditions foreign nationals are not allowed to buy any agricultural and/or forestry land in Hungary.

We’ll do as many property inspections as necessary to get you the property that you wish for. Thanks to our expertise and experience we can filter most of the advertised properties quite accurately by making phone calls to the agents or owners. We know exactly what questions to ask from them to find out if a property truly meets your requirements, or the description was “beefed up” only to make the property more desirable. On average, we inspect 3 out of 10 properties that meet your criteria on paper.

After each inspection of a property by House In Hungary, we’ll email you a detailed report, with pictures (subject to owners’ approval).

As we do a thorough search based on your criteria, most of the time just one to seven visits are necessary before the final choice. Of course, there may be exceptions to this average estimation.

This document certifies that the buyer found and bought the property through and with the help of House In Hungary. He therefore commits himself to buy the property in question only through House In Hungary.

At the end of the contract concluded with House Hunter Hungary, you may renew it. If you’re not happy to do so then the contract will expire at the end of the term automatically.

If we find a property for you that you like and consider its purchase there are three things you can do;

1. Get your passport and toothbrush and get over here as soon as possible hoping that the property is still available at the time of your arrival. Inspect the property personally and if you make up your mind secure it with a 10% deposit.
2. If you trust our report and make up your mind from the comfort of your home, you can instruct us to act on your behalf. You just transfer the necessary funds and we’ll secure the property for you with a 10% deposit.
3. If you trust our report and make up your mind from the comfort of your home, you can instruct us to act on your behalf and deal with the full completion of the property purchase. In this case you will have to instruct your solicitor to draw up an authorization document, then take this to the Hungarian Embassy in your country and get it approved. The authorization document has to be written in Hungarian language in addition to your language. Upon receipt of the authorization document we can fully act on your behalf, complete the purchase contract and get the property registered on your name. In case of this choice it is advisable to first of all act as per point “2” above, as the authorisation document will take a bit of time to arrive and you may miss out on the desired property without securing it with a deposit.

Hungarian regulations regarding “Deposit payments” states: the deposit amount for real estate properties is 10% of the purchase price. Legally you can’t secure a property with less than 10% or the purchase price.

With regards to paying more than 10% it would work as follows: 10% of the purchase price would be noted as deposit and any amount above would be noted as pre-payment. In this case if the seller withdraws from the contract he would be liable to pay back double of the deposit amount plus the whole of the pre-payment amount to the buyer.

Unfortunately you will most likely lose your deposit, as per Hungarian regulations regarding “Deposit payments”.

If the seller withdraws from a property sale after deposit has been paid by the buyer, the seller will have to pay back double amount of the paid deposit to the buyer, as per Hungarian regulations regarding “Deposit payments”.

The parties may freely establish the content of their agreement. According to the Hungarian Civil Code, a sale and purchase agreement must contain at least the names of the parties, the subject matter of the exchange contract (the transfer of real estate) and the purchase price. All real estate sale and purchase contracts have to be concluded in writing. Beyond the above validity requirements, further formalities (notarisation or countersigning by a solicitor) and the indication of certain personal data (e.g., tax number) are required for the document to be admitted as a basis for the land registry procedure.

Yes. A solicitors’ involvement is a legal requirement when it comes to a real estate property exchange in Hungary.

Consequently, the solicitor is entitled for a fee for the drafting of the exchange contract. These fees are always payable by the buyer. Charges vary depending on the law company but are generally between 0.6% and 1.5% of the sale price with a minimum charge of around 40 000 HUF at best.

Yes. House In Hungary stands by you from step one of the property search all the way to the signing of the exchange contract.  We normally use our own property expert solicitor unless you insist to use your own solicitor.

By law the property exchange contract is drawn up in Hungarian language. We always check and make sure that the contract is drawn up according the current applicable laws and legislation and that the conditions within match to those agreed verbally between you and the seller. If you wish however, the contract can be translated for informational purposes into your chosen language as a separate service by professional translators.

• Land registry costs. These costs are for the registration of your ownership in the land register. The fee is payable at the exchange contract to the solicitor and comes to 6 600 HUF (at the time of this print).

• Transfer Tax (stamp duty). If the property is residential, the rate of the transfer tax is 2% up to 4 million HUF and 4% for the excess part of the market value. If the property is not residential, the standard stamp duty rate is 4% below the value of 1 billion HUF, while the amount in excess is subject to 2% stamp duty. However, in this case the maximum amount of the stamp duty may not exceed 200 million HUF for each real estate. A lower stamp duty rate (2%) can be applied if the acquisition qualifies as a transfer of the real property for commercial purposes pursuant to the Act XCIII of 1990 on Duties. The transfer tax is payable after the land registry entry who will inform the tax authority who will issue a written notification stating the amount of the tax and the payment deadline. This procedure can take anything from 1 month to 6 months after the completion of sale.

Companies are allowed to choose between applying the standard VAT rate of 27% with respect to property sales, or the VAT exempt method. The VAT exempt method allows companies not to charge VAT on property sales; however, in this case however, VAT cannot be reclaimed on input services.

Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any more questions. We’ll be happy to answer them to the best of our expertise.