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Don't waste your time if you do not speak Hungarian. The courses and tests are only in Hungarian. Here is a web site for courses in real estate - Ingatlanközvetítő tanfolyam (only in Hungarian of course ):

Thank you Klsallee.. So it is not possible to get a license without speaking Hungarian? Do you need a license to register in Kata as a freelancer real estate agent?

JoeBoulis wrote:

Thank you Klsallee.. So it is not possible to get a license without speaking Hungarian? Do you need a license to register in Kata as a freelancer real estate agent?

Hungary is a closed shop for nearly everything unless you speak Hungarian or you work for an international business or institution.   

Most educated people are competent in more than just Hungarian - they are capable of speaking (usually) English and German.  The absolute minimum is 1 other language (even in University, regardless of subject).  You can find professionals who are also OK in Italian and can more than get by in Russian. 

Even the lowest level of job needs that base Hungarian language skill.  Just speaking English is not good enough.

JoeBoulis wrote:

Do you need a license to register in Kata as a freelancer real estate agent?

I do not know specifically, but most every country requires it. So I assume Hungary does as well. And in Hungary every land sale requires the participation of a lawyer. That is, one must have a lawyer to complete a land sale in Hungary, but one does not need a real estate agent in Hungary. Which is why most in country land sales in Hungary do not use a real estate agent. Only foreigner go to a real estate agent. Which is why most real estate agents I do know in Hungary are also a lawyer, for obvious reasons (they get paid both commissions). Hungarians are not stupid, and are very good at fleecing foreigners. And with land sales, it is an industry. But a closed shop industry, as Fluffy said.

Thanx for the information. Guess you have to learn Hungarian no way around it.

Even if you only cater for foreign buyers, how do you think you will communicate with the sellers, who are 99.99% locals?

Agents here are paid by the seller, and very seldom by the buyer.

Rawlee wrote:

Even if you only cater for foreign buyers, how do you think you will communicate with the sellers, who are 99.99% locals?

Agents here are paid by the seller, and very seldom by the buyer.

When I first came here in the early 1990s, the real estate agent was an Australian who didn't speak Hungarian.  It was the time when anywhere East of Vienna was undiscovered and pioneer country. Not really but it seemed like it.  Obviously those days are over or never  actually existed.

The "job code" for real estate stuff is 6831. And based on this site, you don't need any permit to do that kind of work:

Now, of course, you'd have to pay taxes and you'd have to register some kind of business, KATA is one option.

klsallee wrote:

JoeBoulis wrote:

Do you need a license to register in Kata as a freelancer real estate agent?

I do not know specifically, but most every country requires it. So I assume Hungary does as well. And in Hungary every land sale requires the participation of a lawyer. That is, one must have a lawyer to complete a land sale in Hungary, but one does not need a real estate agent in Hungary. Which is why most in country land sales in Hungary do not use a real estate agent. Only foreigner go to a real estate agent. Which is why most real estate agents I do know in Hungary are also a lawyer, for obvious reasons (they get paid both commissions). Hungarians are not stupid, and are very good at fleecing foreigners. And with land sales, it is an industry. But a closed shop industry, as Fluffy said.

Just another 2cts - in my own country, the UK -  real estate agents (aka estate agents) are not licensed but they do have to abide by an Act but there's no special regulator.  There's no requirement to actually obtain a license.  But it would be a selling point to say one is signed up to the code of practice.

atomheart wrote:

The "job code" for real estate stuff is 6831. And based on this site, you don't need any permit to do that kind of work:

This is good information. But it also depends on how one defines a real estate agent. In the USA (my country for example) the real estate agent is licensed and can thus handle all aspects of the transaction. But from the above site, for example (translated to English):

Within the scope of its activity, the real estate agent shall:

(a) mediation in the sale and exchange of immovable property (built-up land or residential or non-residential),

Thus a Hungarian real estate agent is simply a "mediator". As I said, all land sale transactions in Hungary require a lawyer to complete. So being a "mediator" or "facilitator" is of course unregulated as anyone can "get a deal going", but it still takes a registered and permitted professional to actually "do" the transaction.

In fact, based on your link, I might assume the OP can do his "mediation" and "deal making" of land sales in his home country and does not need to even bother with a Hungarian company unless he lives in Hungary.

fluffy2560 wrote:

Just another 2cts - in my own country, the UK -  .

Many things, to me, in the UK seem to be lacking regulation (and other things are over regulated IMHO), and I assume are because they  seem to be based more on tradition than not. But I may be wrong.

klsallee wrote:

....

Within the scope of its activity, the real estate agent shall:

(a) mediation in the sale and exchange of immovable property (built-up land or residential or non-residential),

Thus a Hungarian real estate agent is simply a "mediator". As I said, all land transactions in Hungary require a lawyer to complete. So being a "mediator" or "facilitator" is of course unregulated as anyone can "get a deal going", but it still takes a registered and permitted professional to actually "do" the transaction.

This is the same as the UK - you still need a lawyer (aka solicitor) but for property you can use a conveyancer which is kind of paralegal.  We don't have there quite the concept of a Land Book as there are deeds which go back many centuries.   Establishing the chain of ownership is a massive issue unlike here in HU or AT and presumably DE too.

klsallee wrote:

fluffy2560 wrote:

Just another 2cts - in my own country, the UK -  .

Many things, to me, in the UK seem to be lacking regulation (and other things are over regulated IMHO), and I assume are because they  seem to be based more on tradition than not. But I may be wrong.

You're right.  I think we'd all say it's very regulated in all sorts of ways but one can cherry pick and choose examples of regulated/unregulated activities/professions.

We don't have that ridiculous nonsense of "craft guilds" so prevalent in say Germany - taxi drivers being a craft, gimme a break.  Then again there are qualifications in the subject for places like London but it's not a closed protectionist shop. I'm not sure but maybe it's like the NYC medallion system.

Hi OP,

Hungarian here, recently bought a house. Most estate agents don't have a licence, or a course, or anything. It's a typical go-to job if you're not sure what you want to do with your life or you're between jobs etc (I was an estate agent for a brief period during my university studies, which was neither law, nor business). Therefore most estate agents are useless, and sellers and buyers try to avoid them because they are extra hassle + commission.
However, foreigners exist in Hungary, and they buy and sell property. If you have a market in mind where both the seller and the buyer are foreigners then I'd say you could mediate alright but you'd need to know the ways around the Hungarian system: land registry office, law, taxation etc or what's your actual point, right? Not trying to be cheeky, just trying to imagine an angle where a non-Hungarian speaker agent would be useful. You probably have something in mind.

As for KATA, you need to state the work you will be doing as a KATA entrepreneur and it may or may not need a specific qualification. It seems estate agents don't need one so you can just register with the code someone linked in. I would strongly recommend that you have someone to hold your hand though, KATA is only considered simple for those who lived in Hungary for the past 30+ years and have seen only worse options that KATA I registered my non-Hungarian husband for KATA for a while and being Hungarian, having lived here more than half of my 30+ years, I was still grateful for advice given to me by a friendly government clerk.
And just a tip: for KATA you don't need a bookkeeper but it might be useful to get an appointment with an English speaking Hungarian bookkeeper once or twice and write down everything they say so you need to know what to do going forward.

Best of luck!