Can 2 Adults live on 2000 USD net take home a month?

No death slides for me, wave pools are about  my limit on  thrills in the water.
In Las Vegas most of the casino pools are not over 4 feet deep. Lots of lazy river pools but no diving.
90% of the swimmers are totally blasted on drinks served pool side. Lots of insane fun but don't want to think about hot water and bladders there!!

fluffy2560 wrote:

You probably wouldn't like Aquaworld then in Budapest.  But surely you've been to Fured and tried the death slides at Annagora?

Most of my life I had easy access to the ocean, lakes or rivers, so never bothered to go to any aqua park anywhere on the planet.

"Death" slide.... Well, that does sort of make me chuckle.  After nearly drowning on a white water rafting trip on one of the worlds largest rivers (it does not matter how good your flotation device is, if a few tons of water wants to push and twist you to the bottom of a hole, you will stay there until the river decides to let you go), I finally paused to look back and counted when death in the water was just a tad bit to near possible but I was too young, adventuresome and foolish to notice at the time. I decided at that time to pursue safer terrestrial sports, like watching grass grow. 

Grew up in S. Cal. and beaches were always near enough to make a few treks out as a kid each summer.
Lived in Hawaii for several years( next move is back there to stay!) Would be the 3rd move there, hope this one is the charm!
Always had access to a pool or beach. Wish everyone in our house in HU would chip in for a pool in the yard but that is a dream, not going to happen here where they have to be pushed to keep light bulbs in the halls!
We have discovered a rather reasonable priced pool in Budapest.
The Paskal in the 14th district.
Peaceful enough, nice shade tress and grass. Pool is not too crowded although we never go on weekends.
Went for the first time there a few weeks back. Not the best day for a first visit.
A little girl drown that day . Not sure how it happened but it was pretty horrible.
Have gone back since then and noticed there is like one lifeguard for the huge pool area.
They seem to stare off into space so my solution would be to hand out life jackets at the gate.
Accidents can happen anywhere but this one seemed so unnecessary.
I do enjoy the pools, lakes and river in Hungary. too bad the season is so short.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

How is Agua World? We plan on going there but seems we forget about it on the hot dry days. Too much rain lately to swim as often as we like. love to swim outside in summer, indoor pools for winter time.

It's OK at Aqua-world.  You can swim all year as the outside pool is heated but it's no Olympic sized venue - more of a spa really.  Overall I think it's pricey.  We went off it for a bit after a death there (I think negligent staff and management) but we've relented because it's the only one suitably entertaining for demanding kids so long as you watch them.   I think you can get some discount vouchers from tourist places and there's (I think) a free bus from the centre.

The "death slides" at Annagora in Balatonfured are of course nothing of the sort but for slide beginners it might seem a bit too much. You have to keep your legs together and be tolerant of being semi-"waterboarded" from the spray.

There seems to be some really nice aqua parks there to discover. I see now that i really need to learn to swim. Even though i have lived on the water most of my life i have never learned to swim at all.

I know my father and are going to rent a place to start with. If we can not find a good rental remotely i guess we will rent a hotel and use that address for our residence permit. Then find a better rental when we get there(i have heard of 3 bedroom for 80,000 huf).

But like we plan on buying a home in Hungary either I see some really good affordable properties that i know dad and i can purchase in the next year or 2.  Like i know there are restrictions on non citizens buying homes and i am not sure how the residence permits work for that. I mean if you buy a home in Hungary there has to be a way to get residency to stay and live in it right? I will look into that of course but i am asking on here also.

I know or i have heard that non citizens can not finance and get a home loan from a bank. Is that actually true? If so like does Hungary allow non citizens to buy and own a house?

My experience is that anyone can buy a place , resident or non resident . However there are restrictions on buying with land in the countryside. Foreigners cannot buy too much land .

FeliciaOni wrote:

There seems to be some really nice aqua parks there to discover. I see now that i really need to learn to swim. Even though i have lived on the water most of my life i have never learned to swim at all.

It's worth doing if you live in Hungary, then you can join the hordes in Balaton during the summer.  It's a very safe lake to swim or paddle about in.  It's shallow up to at least 500m from the shore in many places.

FeliciaOni wrote:

I know my father and are going to rent a place to start with. If we can not find a good rental remotely i guess we will rent a hotel and use that address for our residence permit. Then find a better rental when we get there(i have heard of 3 bedroom for 80,000 huf).

It's not so difficult to rent somewhere in Budapest - there's oversupply but without Hungarian, you'll find it harder to get access to information and presumably agencies will see you as a target.  If you had 100K a month, you could get a reasonable place BUT do not forget all the add ons like electricity, water, gas, internet etc.  Then there's the dreaded "shared costs" which are things like cleaning or maintaining the common areas like stairwells and lifts.  That can really add up quite a bit.

FeliciaOni wrote:

But like we plan on buying a home in Hungary either I see some really good affordable properties that i know dad and i can purchase in the next year or 2.  Like i know there are restrictions on non citizens buying homes and i am not sure how the residence permits work for that. I mean if you buy a home in Hungary there has to be a way to get residency to stay and live in it right? I will look into that of course but i am asking on here also.

Owning a property gives absolutely no rights as far as residency goes. Basically it's irrelevant.  The restrictions on ownership usually apply on specific things like property in nature protected areas, farmland or historic building.  You will need permission as you are not an EU or Hungarian citizen. Generally, if it's in a village or town or city, they do not usually say no to ownership.

FeliciaOni wrote:

I know or i have heard that non citizens can not finance and get a home loan from a bank. Is that actually true? If so like does Hungary allow non citizens to buy and own a house?

Generally, you cannot borrow if you are foreigner (and not an EU/EFTA citizen).  It's a bit silly really because property is always the collateral on the loan so no guarantees should really be required. No borrowing in foreign currency from within Hungary any more, only mortgage loans now in Forints.  Loans are recorded in the land registry data. 

There are two ways to easily buy somewhere if you have cash - form a Hungarian company to buy the house (nationality then not important) or just pay in "cash" (really, a bank transfer) for the property.

Of course, everyone should use a competent and independent lawyer to draw up the contract. Never pay money for property without the contract and the lawyer.  There are plenty of anecdotes of Hungarians and foreigners being ripped off for their cash by not following the rules properly. 

And finally, do not buy any property that has ANY debt on it (you can see it from the land registry entries).  The title has to be totally free and clear.  If you find property in distress (e.g. defaulted loan) you'll never get past the loan company who are desparately trying to recoup losses. Most defaulted loans have years of arrears. Avoid!

"If you had 100K a month, you could get a reasonable place "

Do you mean HUF or US Dollars? 100k HUF is like what 417 US Dollars? Still reasonable.So with utilities and other expenses we should be ok.

{No borrowing in foreign currency from within Hungary any more, only mortgage loans now in Forints.  Loans are recorded in the land registry data.}

Ok well do they allow non EU people to borrow money for a home loan in Fornits? Like if we had a bank account with money that was in Euros or money that converted into Fornits ? I am just curious.

Yes that is totally true about making sure all is legal!

Well i do hope we i buy a house i will be able to live in it! At least i would have a steady address to tell the government i live at! he hee

FeliciaOni wrote:

Do you mean HUF or US Dollars? 100k HUF is like what 417 US Dollars? Still reasonable.So with utilities and other expenses we should be ok.

I mean HUF, not USD.  You get a pretty good place for HUF 100-120K if it's not in the centre of Budapest. Out in the countryside, yes, you can get somewhere for 100K HUF.

FeliciaOni wrote:

Ok well do they allow non EU people to borrow money for a home loan in Fornits? Like if we had a bank account with money that was in Euros or money that converted into Fornits ? I am just curious.

No, they won't lend you money unless you have a job (i.e. employment contract). That's the same everywhere really even in the US of A.  They want to know you can pay it back. 

FeliciaOni wrote:

Well i do hope we i buy a house i will be able to live in it! At least i would have a steady address to tell the government i live at! he hee

It hardly matters really about the address. You have to report your whereabouts to the government anyway if you move.  That's everyone, regardless of which country you come from. You will receive an address card  which is an official document showing where you live. Everyone who lives in HU officially has one of these.  This reporting in to the government is an anathema to many people from countries with no history of ID cards, following people around etc.  Bit pointless but necessary for all dealings with the bureaucracy.  Not everyone bothers registering themselves from previous addresses in a very dedicated way. i.e., kids keep themselves registered at their parents houses for years after they've left home!  They just cannot be bothered with all that if they are mobile - i.e. moving about while at university. I think (in theory) you are supposed to report in even if you go to another town to visit a friend for more than 3 days. No-one bothers doing that kind of stupidity (communism is over).  If you stay in a hotel, they register you anyway so there's nothing you need do personally.

Felicia, It's interesting since I was just thinking you have not posted for some time and here you are.
Yes, there are many wonderful spas and water parks in Hungary. Several are open all year long.
Lake Balaton is fantastic in summer. There are areas of the lake that are very shallow for a long way out, clear blue water and not very choppy. You can going without too much fear of not knowing how to swim. Although it is always best to have someone with you who can swim or have a safety tube with you.
I know at least when we purchased our flat that foreign buyers had to pay an extra tax or something like that to buy property in Hungary. My husband is Hungarian and he purchased the flat in his name.
Inheritance laws are if the property owner dies then the property is divided equally between all living family members. In our case my son who never put a penny into the flat would get half the property if my husband should pass on.
This is one reason so many older people live with their kids over here, neither party can afford to buy the other out so they live together. In some cases the children want to sell and they force the living parent out of their own home.
This can be avoided if you have a legal contract written up that states who gets what and is signed sealed and stamped( Delivered). All legal with the help of an attorney.
My MIL did this with her property because my SIL was not living up to a contract that they had between them, my MIL changed her mind about giving her entire estate to just her daughter.
The laws are not like in the US and some are hard to understand why they are in place at all.
You can look on graigslist Budapest for a short term rental. I think they may not have the lowest prices listed but for a month or so it might help you out until you find a more stable living arrangement in HU.

fluffy2560 wrote:

Generally, you cannot borrow if you are foreigner (and not an EU/EFTA citizen).  It's a bit silly really because property is always the collateral on the loan so no guarantees should really be required.

Yes, very silly indeed.

It is like taking part of the real estate market and pounding a wooden stake into its heart, shooting it in the head, setting it on fire, then dumping the remains overboard in deep water.

So if have all our paperwork showing our income, proof that we brought some healthcare, and a place to rent we would be able to enter Hungary for 90 days?

And then go into the Immigration Government and get a residence permit to live in Hungary for 1 year?

I think that is what we will do so we will be able to leave USA soon after my fathers malpractice suit is settled.

"Paperwork's", being the operative word, in the 21st century, they do have PC's on there desks , but the question being do they know how to use them,.?? Plus it is a nice money spinner for the government, Mr Orban was if I remember correctly, going to simplify matters regarding entry into Hungary, it does appear now somewhat more difficult,. Should you choose to live here on $2000,.? YES, if you find a place outside Budapest, it does appear, you can live relatively comfortably on that amount. only 15-20 minutes away from Budapest you can purchase a property for as little as 3mill; Forint, dependant of course upon your standards or living,.  People here live on a lot less, as they have too,.

Felicia,
Please do not try to do your resident permit here in Hungary.
It is much too hard to come here as a tourist on the 90 day visit then go into immigration and start the paperwork.
That was my very terrible mistake when I was trying to get my resident permit.
We just assumed it would be easy since we owned property in Hungary, my husband and son both are HU citizens, we are retired and I had been coming and going to Hungary for so many years with no issues that we just thought of course we can get my permit once we are in Hungary.
No way,you are setting yourself up for trouble with immigration if do it that way.
Get your resident permits before entering Hungary or you will be at their mercy as I was.
I was just about deported while my paperwork was filed at immigration. The translation service was slow, papers were in one office and not sent to another office in time, had to get another visa at cost, just a hassle. Iwas spending hours every week in immigration services. Not a happy experience at all.
As Americans we are not under the same rules as EU citizens getting permits etc. They refer to us as 3rd country people and can reject at will if they don't like your paperwork. I can see big trouble ahead of you if you don't have your papers in order before entering Hungary. Been there, did that.

Back again on your idea of entering HU and then starting your paperwork.
You could of course try your luck by coming in and then doing the immigration work.
Problem is with out your knowledge of Hungarian you will have to hire one of the lawyers available for immigration services.
They will have access to all your information, bank account amounts and more. Of course they are going to charge you whatever they see fit and there will be nothing you can do to control their greed.
Once you set foot in Hungary you will be at their mercy, they can and will charge whatever they think you can bare.
There is no posted prices for these services and the costs mount up as you get further and further along with your status at immigration. You will think you are almost there and pow, another paper will be asked for along with another charge.
They will wipe your bank account out before you have your permit in hand.
Just a thought, my husband did all my paperwork for me and he just about had a panic attack several times during the process.Thought he would murder someone along the way as well!

I just met a wonder expat from the UK who is moving to HU to retire. No big problems for her to move here because she comes from an EU country. Again, as an American they are going to get you. They tried it with me because legally they could.

What happened? I joined this website for the sole purpose of posting this response because I have to know: Felicia, What's happening with you and your dad?

Yes we are all waiting for an update.

LadiDadi

My goodness i feel honored! he hee.

I have not posted mainly due to we are waiting to hear back on a few of the things we have going on here in FL. I have been told that Hungary needs to see 6mos of savings on my part to justify me getting my residence permit. Also my father's medical malpractice lawsuit is still in the court we should know about that in April. Now if that is the case then we will move in June. If it is later then we are thinking of moving in August at the latest.

Also depending on how things turn out with my savings i plan on buying a house asap. Our plan is to rent a temporary flat in Debrecen and buy a car. And start looking around Hungary for a house to buy. Which looking at least at online real estate sites that have houses for sale, within like 2- 3 months top we should find one.

So like until like March or April nothing new on my end.

Well we are looking into the international driver's license and getting those and shipping quotes that seems like drama!

I wasn't sure if you would reply here since it had been so long so I sent you a private message via here.

Thanks for the update!

FeliciaOni wrote:

Well we are looking into the international driver's license

You can get an International driving permit for attachment to your US license from AAA.

http://www.aaa.com/vacation/idpapplc.html

However, your US and international permit will last only a year in Hungary if you are claiming Hungarian residency. After that you have to get a Hungarian driving license.

http://hungary.usembassy.gov/driving.html

Do note, so called international driving "licenses" do not exist. They are a scam. Only the one year permit as an addendum to your current US license is a valid document.

just a general thing, hope this could help: http://bit.ly/1C2onOE

Hey everyone i hope everyone is doing well! I need to learn a greeting in Hungarian!(I know in Lithuanian it is Labas and German Wie Gehts if only Hungarian was simlar....he hee)

I found out the money i will be getting will be determined in end of May. If that amount is enough with my savings to buy a house then we are going to leave soon after that. So i am crossing my fingers right now!

My dads malpractice suit result would come later but if we have the means we would not wait around for that. If that is in his favor then his monthly income will increase but there would be nothing he would have to be in the USA for so we could be in Hungary for that.

Mainly we have decided  we do not want to rent an apartment for long term unless we have too. I want to have enough to buy a small house at least. So if that comes threw large enough amount everything else would be done already and we could leave in a few days or a week at most. Where we live here in FL there is no notice needed nor do we have anything that would keep us from leaving if we have the cash to do so.

We think that if we can not be paying rent, then we should be able to live off the 2 thousand to cover, healthcare, utilities and food etc. Then if more monthly income comes in then even better.

I know reading posts here that in order to get the residence visa at the immigration office we will have to pay lawyers for our documents to be translated into Hungarian. Like what amount do you think we would have to set aside for that? I had someone tell me around 50 dollars then i had a guy tell me 3 thousand dollars!

So we are planning on June, could be August, But i doubt no later than October for use to move! We are both anxious!

Interesting to hear from you again.
It has been awhile.
I do not know how much an attorney will charge you but for sure it will not be just $50.
Good luck and let us know if we can help with any info once your move over date is more solid.

If I were you, I would contact an immigration lawyer in Hungary before coming over and find out the exact details.
Good luck with the visa's.
I honestly can not remember the exact amount it cost me nearly 4 years ago all said and done with my Hungarian husband handling my resident permit papers.I know it was in the $500. ball park. You pay here and there and it all adds up in the end. They also mis placed my papers slowed them down between depts. just so I had to pay for another 90 days stay. After I paid, wow all of a sudden my papers landed on their desk, ya right...
Expect to pay for all services at a premium rate.

fluffy2560 wrote:

Don't make the mistake of thinking it's cheaper here - it's generally not cheaper than other countries in Europe.  Easier countries might be the UK, Ireland, Netherlands, Malta, Cyprus - all of these speak English. Malta and Cyprus also have nice weather.  All of them are EU countries too   Healthcare here is not excellent and you'll always pay a premium for being a foreigner but then again, it's much cheaper to be insured here than the USA but you get an average service.  USD 2000 probably wouldn't be enough in these other countries but it would be survivable in HU.

This is not true, as you point it out yourselv in the post. Former Eastern Block countries are significantly cheaper than, say, Austria, comparable parts of Germany, let alone more high-priced countries like UK or Scandinavia.
About USD 2k being "survivable in HU" - I dunno, id say this amount buys you the living standard which you get in Berlin for about 3k USD or EUR per month which is (speaking for 2 persons) somewhere around the average there, and certainly a far cry from what I call "survivable". For London my educated guess is that around 5k USD would be comparable.  All this assumed that health care costs do not ruin the general picture too much, see below! 

And yes, healthcare is an issue and I m not sure about the best answer, but the poster has researched it better.  What might make living in the east a bit more expensive is that trying to generally avoid the state-healthcare-system (and education system) seems to me the best reaction in many cases.
AFAIK, private healthcare is not bad compared to US, and certainly cheaper, but I'm half-guessing as I am too young and poor to know. So given an adequate insurance, it seems a solutions.
What I do not know even after 2 years moving back here, if and how you can avoid the state hospital system for *major* treatments (larger operations, cancer treatments) as private hospitals seem not to exist.

fluffy2560 wrote:

You might want to consider another country which is a lot easier than here.

I agree but the countries you listed are not comfortable to live on 2k USD/month for two (but I do think you can still well survive on it in most places in cheaper locations, if state healthcare is good enough which I assume to be).
Perhaps a cheap and far-away region in (east) Germany? In Leipzig or even in Berlin, you will find many living on less money, and I even think this is still in the lower part of "middle class"  (insurance costs might be high though !!).

Within the region, Czech or Poland comes to mind with a similar price tag, perhaps somewhat more westernized culture and certainly easier languages (well, probably for anybody with 'western' mother tongue, save Finnish or Estonian. For Chinese or Japanese, it might not matter too much.). 
Of course, Prague and Warsaw are simply different from Budapest, and the people may lack the semi-mediterranian charm of us Hungarians ,-)
Perhaps economic perspectives are perceived brighter in those countries, compared to Hu, but this is not necessary a good thing if your money comes from abroad. On the other hand, public safety tends to suffer when masses slide into poverty, but it is still not bad in Hu, compared to, say, south America. 

So, coming back to Hungary, Id look at a charming suburb, I mean subvillage of Budapest (google pictures to get an idea) such as Budaőrs, Budafok,  Budakalász, or to the north: Szentendre or a nearby place on the Island Szentendrei Sziget - I guess with an upper-middle-class income of 2k USD these are within your price range. Nearby a "large" town in western Hungary, perhaps Sopron (perhaps nicer than Győr), or, say, the "famous" university town Szeged may be reasonable choices as well. However, as a big-city-boy, I do not dare to advice western foreigners to move far away from bigger places for obvious reasons: infrastructure quality too far from what you know from the "west", very low knowledge of English, networking probably even more important, etc.

I do not know about the visa issue, the poster has researched it hopefully well. I am surprised that a reasonably-funded US person cannot go and live anywhere within the Schengen zone !?

Yes as i said, we are moving to Hungary. Like i said in my post from 04 March 2015:

[I found out the money i will be getting will be determined in end of May. If that amount is enough with my savings to buy a house then we are going to leave soon after that. So i am crossing my fingers right now!

My dads malpractice suit result would come later but if we have the means we would not wait around for that. If that is in his favor then his monthly income will increase but there would be nothing he would have to be in the USA for so we could be in Hungary for that.]

Hungary seems affordable so we plan on buying a house as soon as we get there. I know it will take a bit to find a place so we are planning on renting in Debrecen for a few months short term and start to look for a house right off. I am thinking we should be able to find one in about 6-8 weeks tops.

Then with no rent to pay the 2k should cover health care, utilities, car insurance, food etc.

Course if we end up having more monthly income then all the better.

But as it stands we should be able to move in August. And yes it will be Hungary.

I honestly did not really look into Czech Rep, or Slovakia so i can not commit on those places.

My dad wanted to move to Poland but they do not have retirement visas there. I thought of Lithuania as that is a country i know much more of but they do not have elective visas(ones for non working people) and also i have heard from Lithuanian natives both there and here in USA along with expats that it has gotten expensive there!

So those places will have to be on our visit list!

We both want to make Hungary our home, that is why we are going to buy a house there.

First, nice that you move here and strengthen the "international feel" of the countri! .-)

" Debrecen for a few months short term and start to look for a house right off."

I do allow myself to make some personal comments...
I worked at Debrecen University for 8 months after coming back from Berlin, and I didnt like the transigion. (I left many comments in this forum.) 
It is, while the 2nd largest city, certainly the "East". I found that general outlook on life is kinde too rural for me (I dunno, like democracy, racial diversity, how little students want to spend time abroad etc) The attitude of people is not reputed to be the most friendly (it is an old Calvinist place), e.g. compared to Szeged. Very tight social networks, hard to enter.
Yes D is mostly cheaper than the west, but this needs not worry you, it seems to me. On the other hand it has an expat community of around 3000 foreign students (many from africa and middle east, but also western countries). Even though they don't mingle much with other students (e.g. for lack of english of mostly the latter), some expat infrastructure does exist, you have English speaking services (at a premium price, but still cheap). And the medical university which they mostly come for is one of the best in the country, which is probably an issue.

However, most of the positive aspects do apply to Szeged (med. uni, foreign students), while attitude of people is reputed much better. I recommend to visit them both before committing yourself.

"I am thinking we should be able to find one in about 6-8 weeks tops."
Well, with sufficient funding you can buy a house in an hour, but decisions like this may be too hurried. I believe one month is the barest minimum one from the west needs in order to learn a new place well enough to make such a decision. Price ranges depending on the street, the kinds of utilities you need factor in, common and less common tricks of agencies, and landlords to get more money out of you, etc.
My mother, who has lived in Bp. all her life bought a flat on the countryside, it turned out that it lacked a "permit of usage" (Lakhatási engedély or "használatbavételi engedély") and after years of quarrel and extensive (expensive) discussion with lawyers she won't sue as it is practically useless.
(Oh, and do NOT think that taking of the  legal path if something illegal has happened is a realistic choice. You may or may not get a decision in your favour, but it will take years and it may not be worth more than the paper on whch it is printed.)

Yes once we get in Hungary then we will drive around and find a simple home that fits our needs. Yes it seems that Debrecen is a good place for rentals but NOT for buying a home. Based on what i have seen online it seems that due too all the collage people rental flats are plentiful but no one sales their home, or if so they seem to be more expensive than other areas.

Just based on what i have seen from a few online sites home prices seem better in the south west of Hungary. One thing i have seen is many smaller homes have wine vineyards. I am unsure of the land rules or what not of having a house with a vineyard so those seem less tempting. But honestly we are pretty open minded as far as what area to buy a home at.

Yes we are going to take into account fees for a lawyer in both getting the residence permit,(Cause i know our birth certificates, bank documents, income documents whatever have to be translated into Hungarian to be submitted to Immigration.) and also when it comes to buying a house. Honestly i think you should have a lawyer to make sure everything is legal and the house is free of back bills or whatever in any country you are buying at!

Yes, you can in a suburb of Budapest.  We live in a charming town about 30 km NE of Budapest- Veresegyhaz. Our take home net of $2200 since we purchased our home and car for cash, is more than adequate for us.

Thanks divambb for the info! I sent you a contact request as i read some of your posts and i see you were in similar situation as me and my father are.

Felica, honestly I advice you to please rent for a good 6 months and make sure Hungary is a good fit for you and your father.I think you have not even visited here before, it is going to be slightly shocking at first.
My husband is HU and we took a long time looking before we bought, we still made a mistake, we didn't wait long enough to buy.
It isn't so easy to sell out right now so if you tie yourself down with a house you will be stuck here if you paperwork doesn't come through or you just decide HU is not for you.
On 2,000 a month you can rent a nice place and not touch your savings, wait until the right property and the right city or town comes your way.$2,000 is enough for everything, rent, food medical transportation clothing even to eat out daily.
If you do not get your resident permits and you buy property, your funds will be tied up in Hu and you will have to leave the country. Have to rent out your home and have no control over what happens to it while you are out of HU.
The health care in HU isn't bad, isn't great either but even if you pay cash out of pocket for surgery it is cheaper then some procedures in the US that are partly covered by health insurance.
You will have to have private health coverage in HU for at least the first year even if they give you a resident permit.
You are from the US and that is the rules for us from a 3rd country. Not sure for other EU citizens applying for HU health coverage but for us from the US it is wait it out time.
If you father needs special med's you had better bring refills with you are expect to pay cash over here to see a specialist for the first year. Not sure how healthy your father is or not.
I am still curious how you expect to live in HU yourself if God forbid your father leaves us. You can not collect his SS as his daughter after he passes on. With modern computers etc. you can't get by not telling SS for more then a month or two, all illegal anyways.
You have stated in the past that you will not be working but just be your father's caretaker. Putting yourself out on a limb if you find yourself alone here stuck with pricey property that no one wants to buy. Real estate is hard to sell right now, it is a buyer market in HU.Prices are at a all time low and you have time to look around for the best fit.
have no idea what Debrecen is like, have never visited there. Szeged, is a sort of country style city, know many people in the US who came from that area. Not big enough for us, not our sort of city but cute in it's own way.
In any case, $2,000 bucks over here can go a long way if you don't set yourself up to get scammed and ripped off.
We live comfortably on less then that and save every month for travel. Of course everyone's lifestyle is different. I knew a women from Calif. who lived in Budapest around 7 years ago. She her husband and 2 small kids paid over $1,000 a month for a flat in Buda sent her son to an American school which at the time cost about $15,000 a year for elementary level. They had her wealthy HU FIL pay their bills, things fell apart in their family becuas eof jealous siblings so they left HU. I think if she had lowered her standard of living some she could of gotten by on her husband average income here. If you want the same lifestyle as in the US then $2,000 might not make it anywhere. For sure HU is one of the cheapest countries to live in Europe right now. Poland and even Romania cost more for property.
You could live on $1,000 if you wanted to and not fell any pain, if we had $2,000 a month coming in from SS I would be dinning at the Gundel's daily!

Yes, you must hire a attorney in HU to do the paperwork when buying property. The real estate agents don't handle that part like they do in the US, no escrow co. etc. like in the US.

Just a few thoughts about health care in HU.
I am guessing at the moment in the US your dad had Medicare, I believe it costs around $110. per month out of his  SS check for coverage for parts A&B, more for parts C or D.
If he is excepted into the health plan in HU at a later date, it is at the moment 6,930 forints a person out of pocket for coverage. From our medical experiences in the US it is on average about the same level of care or lack of care depending on how the dice are rolled.Medicare and medicad is about equal in service as your basic health care in HU with the health card. Allot of running around to different doctors to finally get some real aid and care.
My husband and I both had surgery in HU with using our health card. He had a good normal level of care and my experience was something out of one flew over the ku,ku's nest!
Sent to different hospitals for different issues.
In any case, going into a private clinic is reasonable in cost, mush less then some co pay's in the US.
All med's must be paid out of pocket, senior citizens get a slight discount, 5 or 10% off some drugs.
Husband was going to enter a private clinic for his hernia operation but they had very strict guidelines on who they would take as a patient,He had high BP so they didn't want to change it with him.
Sometimes the private clinics will not take high risk people just to cover themselves legally.
You both will have to have private monthly health coverage paid at the going rate for at least one year, part of the immigration rules. You must have coverage to meet immigration rules.

We did not have to have our documents that we submitted to the immigration office translated into hungarian.

I think I can totally agree with everything Marilyn Tassy says.

Some info on local salaries which turned into thoughts on how it effects our society:
Someone wrote, USD 2k net were around a "young professional salary" - I m sorry but this seems a parallel world, even though "young" is relative...
According to statistics, medium net salary *in hungary* is around 150k HUF i.e. some 550 USD a month, of course this is neither with uni degree, nor in Budapest, and in reality many have black incomes not showing up in the statistics- but this wont change the big picture. (I indeed had one landlord in Debrecen who payed taxes for the rental but nobody wanted to believe me:)

According to my knowledge, a student who has finished his MSc in IT or a related fields *may* start in lucky cases not too far from 1000k USD take home salary in Budapest, but most professions, most people start below that.
I just met a 25-30 year old molecular biologist (with MSc) in Szeged (A noted center for biology!) who works for a medium-sized biotech company, a highly specialised laboratory work which pays him the grand total of 550 USD net - I am still shocked this is possible, but I was told that a) its not Budapest and b) the work in this company is exciting enough that they can usually find people. (To be fair: the company has difficulties as much of their money is not paid by others due to this crappy economy:-(   
Also, assertivity in these matters is not a common skill, nor is it, I feel, a totally accepted behaviour here which brings us back to cultural differences... 
A friend of mine said, that according to statistics his net income of some 1.2k USD (in accounting services in IBM after 5+ years in similar positions) places him just around the top 10% percentile in Hungary.
I am also applying for junior positions with around 1k USD net salary, but I may also end up with 800 (I don't mind too much, if the job is fits me great)  - I have a few years of experience on top of a physics degree and medium level of IT skills(compared to someone with MSc in IT).
My brother with 10+ years of experience in IT consulting and project management takes home around 2k+ USD p month - of course, a similar job would pay quite a few thousands in bucks p.m. in western EU or in the US.)

Of course lower salaries compared to, say, Germany, does not mean that the prices are that much lower over here, it rather means that people have lower living standards, and/or work more than I saw in Germany. E.g. many university teachers (net salary around 500-700USD, around 1k for full Professors, doctors are similarly paid) do something "on the side", in good cases consulting or technical translation or whatever - which I have almost never seen in Germany. That leaves less energy for their teaching/research, causing the quality of the university suffer at the end. Needless to say, hospital doctors typically have their private hours, too (Not unheard of in the west of Europe either). There are exceptions, but still, these are typical examples highlighting some mechanisms why this society works less efficiently than Germany (to which I can refer). 
One effect is that people from wealthy families (family has a flat, no rental costs) can easier afford to enter such high-profile but initially low-paid careers, which however may allow to transform the high social status into some extra income later.
(What, was this all off-topic...?)

So, life cannot be expressed in salaries, e.g. coming from Austria/Germany, for me personally the  most worrying difference in terms of living costs seems to be how the state systems for healthcare and education make you feel insecure so if you can, you choose to pay out of your pocket if you want better quality in those important aspects of life. If I had a business myself, Id probably go mad cause of the state killing your business (long conversation topic).

But 1k USD per month per person give you good means to master many practical difficulties. Perhaps even Hungarian pronounciation can be tought as you can pay a lang. course or even a private teacher specialised in foreigners:)
Of course, as Marilyn indicated, things would change drastically, once you d have to earn your living costs here !

divambb wrote:

We did not have to have our documents that we submitted to the immigration office translated into hungarian.

This I find..... odd.

Normally everything you submit to an official government office has to be in Hungarian. And if it is not, the government is more than happy to have you get it officially translated, by the government office only of course, which they are more than happy to have you pay quite a bit to have done by them. Indeed odd to not have them take advantage of that translation service on your behalf.

I also find it odd you were not given an address card, especially if you own property (I assume the property is in your name, not in the name of a company).

May I ask what type of residency card were you given? Is it one you have to renew annually? Or do you have a five or ten year permit?

Yes, In Hungary I have never come across so many talented well educated people that are paid peanuts.
Most households have 2 incomes to survive here.
people are just used to working hard and not seeing anything come from it I suppose.
I have to say overall, my husband and I have been up and down in our 41 years together.
Money has never been a big deal for us, whatever comes our way is ok. Of course we have never been so poor we couldn't see the light of day, that is something else all together.
I (silly spoiled me) was never so unhappy when I had it all. Big house in S. Calif. with swimming pool, no need for me to work, a pocket full of credit cards , 2 gym memberships, my son in  private school and my family all living and being close by.
Money really can't make anyone happy if they are miserable from the inside out.
Sometimes working hard and making a difference makes a person feel richer then a huge bank account, of course I am an old Hippie...Used to feel guilty for having it so good.
I feel badly most times for Hungarians, they have always gotten the short end of the stick.

Interesting that they didn't force you to have the "official" translations done. Perhaps you hired an attorny to do the leg work or perhaps you come from a country where it was not required. Hard to say why they didn't give you the squeeze.

{I am still curious how you expect to live in HU yourself if God forbid your father leaves us. You can not collect his SS as his daughter after he passes on. With modern computers etc. you can't get by not telling SS for more then a month or two, all illegal anyways.}

First off i would never do anything illegal like that!~ I am not a criminal nor dumb. Yes we have thought of this factor. He is getting life insurance when we get to Hungary with a large enough amount that if he were to pass on i would be comfortable.

I assume life insurance polices should not be extremely expensive in Hungary so that should be doable.