I know I’m always talking about how nice Hungary is, and how I enjoy owning real estate in Budapest.
But don’t rush to get the Hungarian Golden Visa, if you can afford to wait.
Why? We discuss this with Laszlo, who is based in Budapest and helps process Hungarian Golden Visas. His main message is that only one fund has been approved, and that it’s always best to wait until more funds are approved in order to make a more informed decision.
As a reminder, a €250,000 investment in a government approved real estate fund (+ fees) will get you, your spouse, and dependent children a golden visa which grants you full Schengen access.
Why the Hungarian Golden Visa as opposed to the Greek option? Much faster processing times.
You can find more information on the Hungarian Golden Visa or contact Laszloso that he keeps you posted or helps you process your application.
To a World of Opportunities,
The Wandering Investor.
Available services in Hungary:
- A Real Estate Lawyer in Budapest, Hungary
- My favourite buyer’s agent in Budapest, Hungary
- Golden Visa in Hungary through real estate investment
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Transcript of “Don’t apply for the Hungarian Golden Visa just now”
LADISLAS MAURICE: Hello, everyone. Ladislas Maurice from thewanderinginvestor.com. Today, I’m with Laszlo, who has been in the immigration game for almost three decades, who is based in Hungary, who is helping people process the Hungarian Golden Visa, but his message is, do not go for the Hungarian Golden Visa right now. Why, Laszlo?
LASZLO: Hi. Good afternoon, Ladislas. Good afternoon, everyone. One of the investment options is the €250,000 Real Estate Investment Fund option. And now, last week, the first investment fund has been approved. So theoretically, yes, if somebody wants to start the application, it is possible. But as we all know, when there is a little bit of competition, then usually prices are not as high. That’s number one why it might be worthwhile to wait till the second and the third fund not managed by the same people, so they are, in fact, competitors would come up. We expect that to happen till the end of the year. And then those three funds would be competing with each other. And then, at that time, I would be able to prepare a summary about the advantages and disadvantages about the conditions of the investment funds, and also about the service, about the fees and the conditions.
All in all, if it’s just one now, and if somebody is desperate to start it, then, obviously, it is possible. But if somebody is not desperate, maybe it’s better to wait till everything is clarified, procedures, documentation, money, whatever is needed, account opening for the brokerage account and so on, and we expect that to happen for the three funds till the end of the year. If somebody can wait till then, I think that, professionally, this is what I should suggest to them.
LADISLAS MAURICE: That’s fair. And look, let’s face it, when there are golden visas and funds, the funds that are in offer are rarely amazing investments just by themselves, without the bonus of a golden visa that comes with it. So it really makes sense to be patient, to take your time, to wait for all the funds to be there, and then to do a comparative analysis of the three different funds, and to then choose the one that is the best fit for you as an investor.
LASZLO: That’s true. There are several countries offering this type of solution. What is good for the investor is that the Hungarian Central Bank, the National Bank of Hungary, very closely supervises these funds, and also the reason why from the 1st of July, when, theoretically, the program opened for this investment took so much time to get the investment fund approvals was two-fold. One, the constitutional office had to get an approval for security reasons and, second, the National Bank wanted to check really and negotiated with the fund managers of how to make it sure that, hopefully, no money would disappear. There would be no money taken out of the fund without the knowledge of the clients, and so on, and so on. So all in all, that is an advantage, sometimes, to wait till everything is cleared up.
Initially, the National Bank wanted to have very strict conditions, which would have made the fund managers nearly impossible to manage the funds, investment first and then getting the money later on, which is usually the just the way around that investors are putting the money, and then it’s invested in a property but they managed to convince the Central Bank that, at the end, there are certain steps in our business to do properly so that the investors would feel safe and, therefore, this is why we had to wait, which was not an easy period, by the way, because then we had questions of, where is the fund driver? When would it be approved? When is the first fund? And so on and so on for four months. But anyway, we survived. So last week we had the first one, and, hopefully, till the end of the year three, so at the end, there would be something to choose from.
LADISLAS MAURICE: Cool, fantastic. Yeah, I know I was one of these guys texting you every few weeks, “Laszlo, any updates?” [laughs]
LASZLO: [laughs]
LADISLAS MAURICE: And do you have any update with regards to the €500,000 option for people who want to invest directly in real estate in their own name?
LASZLO: The starting of this option was postponed to 1st of January 2025, which is very near now. And there are so many rumors flying all around the country, but I have to say that the direct investment into the property, the half a million one, is a competitor for the investment funds. It doesn’t make too much sense, if somebody is supervising this program, to take so long to register the funds, give them two months, and then give the direct investment possibility for them. This is not really good, because then people, quite often, they take the direct route. I foresee that it would be again postponed from the 1st of January, but that is only my guess. Who knows what would happen? It is possible that then that option would open. I have my serious doubts that, no, the government doesn’t want to have a competition to the same investment idea to get money to Hungary from the investors.
LADISLAS MAURICE: Okay, fantastic. Look, Laszlo is based out of Hungary, so he’s really the best source of information when it comes to these programs. You’ve had your company there for decades. If you’re interested in moving forward with the first fund, feel free to get in touch with him. Or, if you’re more reasonable and you’re a bit more patient, then send him an email, there’s a link below, send him a message, and then he can put you on the waiting list, and then keep you posted when the new funds come up. And then he’ll be able to give you a comparative analysis. And then you can make the right decision.
LASZLO: That’s correct. I’m more than happy to help.
LADISLAS MAURICE: All right. Thank you, Laszlo. Bye-bye.
LASZLO: Thank you, Ladislas. Cheers. Bye-bye.
