Which Apartments Will Be Easier to Sell in 5 Years?

When buying an apartment, it is worth considering not only whether the property works for us today, but also how many other buyers may find it attractive in the future.

When buying an apartment, we naturally start with our current objectives. Where would we like to live? How much space do we need? What kind of neighbourhood would suit us? For an investment property, we may also consider the potential tenant profile, expected rental income and the costs involved.

There is, however, another question that can easily be overlooked:

What happens when we eventually want to sell the apartment?

Five or ten years is a long time. Our circumstances, family, work or investment strategy may change. Even a home purchased with long-term plans may return to the market a few years later.

When assessing an apartment, it can therefore be useful to think not only as today's buyer, but for a moment as a future seller.

A Good Apartment and an Easy-to-Sell Apartment Are Not Necessarily the Same Thing

A property may be perfect for us.

We may love its unusual layout, have no need for a lift, not mind a darker living room, or even enjoy the fact that it overlooks a busy street.

There is nothing inherently wrong with any of these preferences.

The more relevant question is how many potential buyers may feel the same way when we eventually decide to sell.

The more characteristics a property has that appeal only to a narrow group of buyers, the smaller its potential future market may be.

That does not necessarily mean the apartment should not be purchased. It does mean that these characteristics should be considered in the buying decision and, importantly, in the price we are willing to pay.

Location Matters – But the District Is Not the Whole Story

In Budapest, two apartments only a few hundred metres apart can be perceived very differently by buyers.

It is not only the district or neighbourhood that matters. Micro-location matters too.

A quiet side street may be perceived differently from a heavily trafficked road. Public transport, the condition of the immediate surroundings, the streetscape, nearby services and even the particular building and position within that building can all influence demand.

A good location therefore cannot be reduced simply to a district number.

When we eventually sell, the next buyer will ask many of the same questions that we should be asking today.

The Layout Determines How Many People Can Use the Apartment Well

Layout is one of the most important factors affecting future marketability.

A well-designed apartment can adapt to different stages of life and different types of buyers.

For example, can two bedrooms genuinely be accessed independently, or is one only accessible through the other? Is the living room large enough to function properly? Could one room work as a home office? Can the apartment be reconfigured if necessary? Are too many square metres lost to corridors or circulation areas that provide little practical value?

An unusual layout can be interesting, but if it works well only for a very specific lifestyle, it may narrow the future buyer pool.

Usable square metres are generally more valuable than simply having more square metres.

Some Characteristics Cannot Be Changed Later

An old kitchen can be replaced. In many cases, walls can be moved. Flooring, lighting and building systems can be modernised.

But some characteristics cannot realistically be changed through renovation.

These may include natural light, the floor on which the apartment is located, street noise, the view or the absence of a lift in the building.

A beautifully renovated fifth-floor apartment without a lift may still be excluded by some buyers before they even arrange a viewing.

The same can apply to a dark ground-floor apartment or a property in a particularly noisy location.

These characteristics are not necessarily deal-breakers. But they should be reflected in the price.

You Will Eventually Have to Sell the Building Too

In Budapest, it is particularly important not to assess the apartment in isolation.

A beautifully renovated apartment can be located in a poorly maintained building with organisational, financial or technical problems.

When we eventually sell, the next buyer will not only inspect our apartment. They will enter through the building, walk through the common areas, look at the lift and, ideally, review relevant condominium documentation.

They may want to understand the building's financial position, planned renovations, common costs and any significant future expenditure.

An apartment can be renovated. The problems of an entire condominium are rarely something a single owner can solve.

The condition and management of the building therefore matter not only for our current comfort, but also for future resale.

A Balcony, Lift or Good Natural Light Does Not Matter Equally to Every Buyer

There is no checklist that can mechanically calculate how easy an apartment will be to sell.

The absence of a lift, for example, may matter much less on the first floor than on the fourth. A small balcony may be essential to one buyer and almost irrelevant to another. A courtyard-facing apartment may be quiet but receive limited natural light.

The objective is therefore not to tick every possible box.

It is to understand how the combination of the apartment's characteristics affects the size of its potential buyer pool.

Highly Individual Properties Have a Market Too – It May Simply Be Smaller

A distinctive property can create a very strong emotional response.

A rooftop gallery, unusual interior design, unconventional layout or highly individual renovation may make someone fall in love with an apartment immediately.

But what one buyer sees as special, another may see as something that needs to be changed.

It is therefore useful to distinguish between two things:

how unusual a property is and how large its potential market is.

Scarcity alone does not guarantee higher value. A rare characteristic becomes particularly valuable when enough buyers are willing to pay more for it.

Renovation Can Improve Many Things – But Not Everything

Renovation can create substantial value.

An outdated, poorly presented apartment with strong underlying characteristics can be transformed into an attractive property. Certain layout problems may be corrected, building systems can be modernised and the entire feel of an apartment can change.

But renovation has limits.

We cannot renovate more natural light into a dark apartment. We cannot turn a busy road into a quiet side street. And renovating our own apartment will not repair an entire poorly maintained condominium.

When assessing a renovation property, we should therefore consider not only what can be changed, but also what will remain exactly the same after the renovation is complete.

Price Is Part of Future Resale

Even a very good apartment can be bought at too high a price.

If we pay a substantial premium today for a characteristic that is extremely valuable to us but less valuable to the wider market, there is no guarantee that a future buyer will pay the same premium.

This is particularly relevant with highly personal or unusual characteristics.

When making a buying decision, it is therefore useful to ask not only whether we love something about the apartment, but also:

how much are we paying for the thing we love?

For an owner-occupier, paying more for something that genuinely improves quality of life can be entirely rational. The important point is to make that decision consciously rather than automatically assuming that the next buyer will place the same financial value on it.

A Typical Decision Situation

Imagine two similarly priced apartments in the same neighbourhood.

The first is more impressive. It is beautifully renovated, full of character and creates a strong first impression. At the same time, it is darker, its layout is difficult to change and it is located on an upper floor of a building without a lift.

The second is less visually striking. It requires some renovation and may not create the same immediate emotional response. However, it has good natural light, a practical layout, is located in a well-maintained building with a lift and works well for several different types of buyers.

Which is the better choice?

There is no universal answer.

If we are looking for a long-term home and the distinctive qualities of the first apartment have genuine value to us, choosing it may be entirely reasonable.

If flexibility matters and we may move again within a few years, the broader potential buyer pool of the second apartment may become an important advantage.

The point is not that we should always choose the apartment that is easier to resell.

The point is that resale should be one of the factors included in the decision.

Who Could Be the Next Buyer?

This is one of the simplest questions we can ask while viewing an apartment.

If we wanted to sell it five years from now, who might be interested?

A young couple? A family? A single professional? An investor? An international buyer? Someone downsizing from a larger home?

A property does not need to work for everyone. Virtually no apartment does.

But the more realistic buyer groups we can identify, the broader the future market may be.

Conversely, if it is difficult to explain who, apart from us, would want to buy this apartment and why, that is a question worth taking seriously.

Do Not Wait Until Five Years From Now to Think About Resale

Considering future resale does not mean planning to sell the apartment from the moment we buy it.

It simply means recognising that property is not only a home, but also a significant asset.

Our own requirements may quite reasonably take priority. There may be a characteristic that matters so much to us that we consciously accept a smaller future buyer pool.

That is not necessarily a bad decision.

The difference is whether we understand the trade-off we are making and whether we are paying an appropriate price for it.

At Budapest Buyer’s Agent, we believe that good property decisions are not based on universal rules. Every buyer comes with different objectives, circumstances and priorities, which means that the right property will not be the same for everyone.

Future resale should not override every other consideration. But it is worth thinking about while we are still the buyer.