Renting with Airbnb has a reputation for being a money-printing machine for owners. The situation in Budapest in particular is exceptionally attractive: very low taxation, a capital city with 365-day tourism, and so far no regulation as we find in other major European cities (e.g. via a time limit of 30 to 90 days per year).
Unlike in vacation resorts, you can earn money here all year round – with accommodation prices from 50 euros a night even in the bad weather months.
A predictable consequence: new apartments come onto the market every month .
Even if tourism has reached record levels again, and even if the hotels cannot even remotely satisfy this demand, it is foreseeable that revenues will fall as the market becomes saturated.
Unless the apartments have something special. You will have competition in every district, and it helps enormously if you can show with the pictures that the apartment meets high visual and quality standards.
That’s why we attach great importance to making all our apartments unique. It’s like cooking. Everyone has more or less the same materials at their disposal, but it’s the preparation that counts.
Our recipe essentially consists of three components:
1) Make sure the location has excellent public transport connections
2) Optimize the available space
3) Outstanding design
1) Why the location is only as good as the public transport connections
In this case, we are dealing with an apartment that is very central, but still not in the ‘touristy’ heart of the city. The building is also not particularly well preserved compared to the 5th district (parliament), for example, where much has since been restored.
However, since the conventional city traveler comes to the city without a car, the connection is essential for a great city experience. This is indeed the case in Budapest, just think of the suburban trains 4 + 6, which run 24 hours a day, usually every 4 minutes, on the city’s circular boulevard.
By making sure that the traveler can get to every corner of the city quickly, we don’t necessarily have to buy an apartment directly in the tourist hotspot, which is correspondingly expensive.
So the slogan “the more centralized the better” is not quite right for returns. If the achievable accommodation prices are similar, it does make a difference whether you spend 2,500 euros per square meter or 4,000 euros.
Here you can find the first apartment on Blaha Luijza Square on Airbnb ‘
2) Making the most of the space: We turn one apartment into two Airbnb apartments
The apartment presented here is not particularly large at 54 square meters, but that is not a disadvantage with Airbnb, on the contrary: small Airbnb apartments hardly bring in less money than apartments twice as large, and the fact that they are not suitable for larger groups is even positive – both for the condition of the apartment and for the nerves of the neighbors (which could even cost you your license).
Another advantage: small apartments can also be sold much more quickly later on – in good locations, they are usually only on the market for a few days.
The two separate entrances to the apartment were a stroke of luck. This allowed us to divide the apartment into 2 independent units.
However, such a division also places special demands on planning
- We need 2 kitchens and 2 bathrooms, and they have to be full toilets, an electric loo with a shredder is not acceptable
- Electric circuits and water pipes must be independent of each other or be able to be recorded separately
- We need a new heating and cooling system because one boiler was previously responsible for the entire apartment
- The furnishings and equipment must be tailored to the AirBnb market and the city’s approval criteria. If this is not included in the planning, there is a risk of subsequent corrections, which can be expensive.
3) The impact of outstanding design
Those who book via a platform are guided by three criteria: Location, price and interior design. The fact is that travelers want to feel comfortable in the apartment, even if they are only staying there overnight.
A lovelessly designed, cheap-looking apartment in a prime location is in a bad position if it is seen in the listing view next to another apartment, perhaps 500 meters away, which has a top design.
Yield boost: B-location meets above-average design
Incidentally, investing more in design and materials does not mean that we use luxury brands, but that we create an exciting mix of the style of the home and modern design. We use furniture, tiles, wallpaper and lighting from established manufacturers and retailers, both locally and via special online stores.
Of course, we like to use stucco and let the height of the rooms have an effect. Where appropriate, we use classic chandeliers, but we don’t shy away from very modern lights either.
Our aim is to furnish the apartment in such a way that the photos of it have the greatest possible impact on the booking platform. At the same time, the quality of workmanship must meet expectations – cheating here (“home staging”) would be really short-sighted.
Speaking of which, the more apartments that come onto the market according to a “standard formula”, the more important it is to stand out. This allows you to get better prices even if the supply becomes so large that saturation effects occur.
Magnetism: design helps to appeal to an appreciative target group
The design also has another task: it should attract people who value the interior and treat it with care. It doesn’t always work, but surprisingly often.
As a result, we receive a lot of praise and an above-average number of 5-star ratings. All of this has a financial impact.
Here you can find the second apartment at Blaha Luijza Square on Airbnb ‘
The AirBnb TÜV in Budapest – no longer possible without it since 2020
Since 2020, the situation for short-term rentals in Budapest, but also in Hungary in general, has changed drastically. The city checks the suitability of the apartment for the hospitality industry on the basis of a long list of criteria, i.e. the requirements are similar to those of the hotel industry.
The thickness of the mattress is also measured – if it is too thin, the apartment will fail. Want some examples?
- Are there cracks in the floor (old parquet)?
- Is there a dressing room mirror?
- How many hangers are available?
- Carbon monoxide detector, smoke detector?
- Does every guest have enough pillows, blankets,
- Each guest has their own bedside cabinet, etc.