Just Another Day in the Real Estate Jungle…
That day, we were planning to show two beautifully renovated apartments belonging to the same owner. They had identical specifications, and we were showing them simultaneously.
First call of the morning:
“Good morning, could I have the address for today’s viewing?”
“Of course. Let’s meet at noon on Teréz Boulevard, by Oktogon, in front of McDonald’s.”
A brief silence, followed by:
“And what does the sign say?”
I’d say… McDonald’s.
From noon onwards, the viewers arrived back-to-back — 26 of them, precisely on schedule, like a group yoga class. Each person then moved on to the second apartment, where my colleague was waiting for them. Synchronized real estate.
One viewer walked in, introduced himself and immediately asked:
“How big is the apartment again? What’s the price? Could you tell me about it?”
“Sorry, didn’t you see the listing?”
“I didn’t have time to read it…”
He’d only come to view a property. Why bother reading about it first?
Then a young couple arrived. The man was carrying an A4 notebook filled with questions.
“Is it undivided common ownership? Are there any easement rights? Does the cadastral map show exactly the same thing?”
“This is an apartment,” I explained. “Not a detached house.”
“Oh, sorry. I found the questions online. I’ve never bought an apartment before — how am I supposed to know?”
Definitely didn’t ask ChatGPT…
Then an elegant Chinese lady appeared and walked in just ahead of another gentleman.
“Are you together?”
“I have no idea who she is.”
The lady spoke neither Hungarian nor English. We tried communicating through a translation app. Unsuccessfully.
She slowly walked around the apartment, filming everything.
We silently watched her for about 20 minutes.
We had no idea who she was. She wasn’t on the list of people booked for a viewing.
Perhaps someone was making an international documentary about me without telling me…
By now, we were almost 30 minutes behind schedule, with clients inside the apartment and two more waiting outside the door. Then came another round of questions:
“What’s the price? How many square metres? What are the monthly common charges? Does it have its own separate land registry number?”
This was probably the ninth time that day.
“I’ll copy the listing and send it to you…”
“I’m not interested in the listing! I want to hear it from you! That’s what you’re paid for!”
And that was the moment I understood: This wasn’t a property viewing at all. It was an audition. And apparently, I had the leading role…
In the end, several buyers competed for the apartments, a bidding war developed, and we sold both for several million forints above their asking prices.
Thinking of selling your property?
Let’s talk. +36-30-940-0839
