Choosing a property manager in Budapest: the complete guide

Rental management is one of the most demanding jobs in real estate, mostly because of the accounting it requires. A manager finds the tenant, handles the paperwork and the unexpected, and must keep your apartment profitable and in good condition over the years. When you own from abroad, choosing the right one matters even more. This guide brings together what we have learned from taking over apartments managed by others.

Agency or property manager: two different jobs

• A letting agency finds a tenant: it advertises the apartment, organises viewings, checks the candidates and prepares the lease. Its job ends when the lease is signed.
• A property manager runs the rental over time: rent collection, payment of charges and taxes, maintenance and repairs, check-in and check-out, annual statements and owner reporting.
• If you live abroad, you need the second. Some firms, like Story's, do both: the search for a tenant and the management afterwards.

What a good manager does, and what often goes wrong

• Paying suppliers on time: building charges, utilities and local taxes. An oversight builds up debts that the owner ends up paying when the tenant leaves. When we take over an apartment, we regularly find unpaid bills and tax arrears. Ask for proof of payment of the property tax.
• The yearly statement of charges: the tenant pays rent plus a monthly provision for charges. Once a year, and when the tenant leaves, the provisions must be compared with the real costs and the difference refunded or claimed. Many managers skip it.
• Setting the provision for charges correctly: tenants rent on a monthly budget. If the provision is set too high, the rent has to be lower. On a 1,000 euro budget, 900 + 100 is better for the owner than 800 + 200 when the real charges are 100. Over a year, an overestimate of 100 euros a month costs the owner 1,200 euros.
• Keeping the apartment in good condition: small regular repairs cost less than a renovation after years of neglect. Leaking taps, broken locks or worn appliances are often the result of tenants' misuse.
• Keeping the deposit when repairs are needed: deposits are often returned in full although repairs are due, and the owner pays them before re-letting. Ask your manager to be strict at check-out, or attend it.
• Managing in forints: rent can be paid to you in euros, but charges and taxes are paid in forints. Managing in two currencies adds risk. We manage in forints and transfer your income in the currency and to the account of your choice, with a yearly statement converted into euros.

How to choose

1. Check the track record: Google reviews, how long the firm has been managing in Budapest, and how many apartments it manages.
2. Ask for references: speak to an owner who has used the firm for several years.
3. Look at the reporting: ask for a sample monthly or annual owner report. You should see every payment, every charge, and the balance in forints and euros.
4. Read the contract: the fee and what it includes, the duration and notice period, who chooses the tenant, how repairs are approved, and what happens to the deposit.
5. Meet them: one call is enough to see whether they answer quickly, in your language, and with precise answers.

Our approach

Story's has managed apartments in Budapest since 2015, in English, French and Hungarian. Our management fee is a percentage of the rent, between 8.5% and 11% including VAT depending on the rent, and nothing while the apartment is empty. If you are unhappy with your current manager, we take over the apartment, the tenant and the accounts, and check everything on the way in.