Absolutely Anything Else

Not sure, skype was free, we have time and the parts costs only $40 online. I think any mechanic seeing a desperate person on a Sat. morning with a bad set of brakes would only see dollar signs.
I paid about $450. in the past for just a change of brake pads because I was desperate and they scammed me.( In the 1980's too when $450 was real money)
I know exactly ho they operate, , no pads alone wouldn't work, you need a overhaul, new rotters calipers, crack in the line etc. They are vultures one and all pretty much.

Mechanics these days are really abusing people, in Vegas most of my friends have nothing but horror stories about auto repairs.
In the past we found a guy who was between jobs to help with changing a timing belt, found him online. Husband could do it himself but lacked the power tools.
They did it together for about $100. and we fed the guy a nice Hungarian dinner as a tip.
We have had a couple of people help our son when we were not around who did home auto repairs with their trucks, some are ok and some are not so great.
When we have a place to work on cars my husband now goes to the junk yard to look for new parts on a wreck, usually he finds almost everything he needs in the yard that an Auto Zone shops and it is all DIY.
Of course it takes a logical mind and allot of time to learn to work on cars, many of these newers cars just can't be worked on without modern equipment and computers.

Went to the horse races on Sunday at the race track.
Been there several times over the years and it has never been very crowded anytime I have been there.
These days people can make bets without having to physically go to the race park.
What was sort of funny to me was seeing a group of around 8 British young men wearing board shorts and being at the track.
It isn't exactly on the tour book guide.
I went to use the Ladies WC, noticed one door ajar so knocked like I always do before opening.
All of a sudden one of those young men came out of the closet holding a full glass of beer in his hand?!
At least I hope it was beer!!!
He said sorry in English as he must of realized he had walked into the ladies room by mistake. No biggie but I think he was lucky it was me who knocked on the door and not someone else who didn't speak English and may of taken offense to him half drunk holding a beer and being in the ladies room.
I thought it was funny actually.
Nice day out there, only down 500 forints on bad bets.

Didn't want to get too much off topic so linked up here.
American football and European football which is more exciting?
I would say European football has allot more action and looks like it takes a bit more skill, fast on your feet and not all brawn.
I think both are very dangerous sports however.
One has to be in top physical shape to do either.
In school they MADE us trying just about every sport in history which I think is stupid as some people's physical shape is just not made for certain sports.
Seeing the short chubby girl trying to run hurtles,the skinny one throwing a shot put.
The pressure  on children to be good in all sports in the US is just crazy wrong.
I had a PE teacher who made all of us do gymnastics, there were one or two tiny little teen girls who actually were taking private classes in gymnastics who were of course the teachers pet's.
People like myself, super tall and slim with extra long legs just weren't too great at the balance beam, the horse or the bars.
My sport was tennis and volleyball, handball was also interesting.
Then being a tall girl everyone wanted me on the basketball team, I hated that sport, too much pushing and shoving, I used to just let the ball go past me because I disliked the whole game.
We never had to do American football as girls but we had to do European style football, again, I disliked getting kicked in the legs so never really even tried to be near the ball or the action.
I think forcing children to play a sport is just wrong, of course exercise is needed but they should let children chose what sport interests them and never force, it just causes people to feel inadequate and give up.
I suppose I got lucky in my usually "left handed" way, dislocated my knee 3 times, twice while still in school. I was put into the PE class with the handicapped children, everyone was jealous of me!
Interestingly enough, I dislocated me knee the first time while practicing my tennis backhand in my backyard against the back of our house. Was 12 years old, just slipped on the pavement and couldn't get up. Step- dad was strong back then, just picked me up and took me to the family doctor to set my knee back into place.
Second dislocation was one of the most embarrassing moments of my life.
15 years old, having a sleep over party with 2 friends at one of their homes.
I sort of had a crush from a far distance on a boy in the 12th grade a tall red head kid, my best friend had a crush on his brother who was in the 11th grade.
We all were just 10th year students at the time.
My crazy friend came up with the insane idea of going over to their house to see if we could catch a look at them from afar.
They lived very near the friend's house who was hosting our little party.
We all sneaked over to the boys home, my friend got over zealous and walked to the window and peeked into their house,She waved us over to look for ourselves. Silly teens we crept over to the window to look inside their house.
The boys were sitting at the table having dinner with their mom and elder brother.
Of course with our luck, they all looked up at once and saw us 3 girls staring at them and their pot roast!
My friend just screamed RUN, like that would work, they knew who we were  after all.
Silly us we followed her lead and ran across their yard to escape.
I again slipped and pop, my knee totally dislocated and I was stuck, The whole family came out to see what was going on in their yard. I didn't cry or scream in pain, I think I was so embarrassed my brain shut off.
Ambulance ride to the hospital, their dinner ruined.
The next day at school when I was hopping around on my crutches I couldn't even look either of those brothers in the face. I just forgot all about my crush and moved on.

Some referendum fun:

Spoilt Referendum Papers Art

Serious point of course!

I am staying far away from any political comments here in Hungary.
Have my reasons...

Shows differences in sense of humour/ or humor .

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

I am staying far away from any political comments here in Hungary.
Have my reasons...

You're not wrong Marilyn. 

My blood pressure increases when, as a non-citizen here, I'm subject to the political nonsense of Hungary but have no route to actively participate.

Gosh, wish it was ONLY my blood pressure, all I can say is "Edward Snowden time"...
Someday I may make the big "reveal" until then however I must curb my big mouth.
Funny really, here i am an "old lady" being "watched". So exciting, not!
The internet is not exactly private as I have learned.
Dang, I may of said too much already.

In the uk you can joke or moan about anything but in some other countries off with her head

When I think if over, it is almost like a "family feud" ok to express ones opinion about politics etc. at home but being a "guest" we get on the radar if we don't keep our views to ourselves.
I am totally a non political person most times, just like to express my own view of truth as I see it.
I do however get a big "bugged" at non Americans who put in the two worthless cents about events in the US. I suppose we can think of ourselves the same way here in Hungary.
No one gives a hoot what we think and if we don't like it we are free to get out of Dodge.
I am in Hungary basically for the low prices and good food as well as the beautiful architecture.
If things get too ugly or hard here we can just leave, the people who actually are here for the long run have very different views then we causal "guests".

Article from The Times (London) - no link as paid subscription

House prices in Budapest have risen by 24 per cent over the past year, marking the city out as having the fastest growth in Europe. The Hungarian capital is enjoying a boom, according to a survey by Knight Frank, because locals are encouraged by subsidy schemes to invest in property, while foreign investors are snapping up apartments in grand 19th-century classical buildings to rent out.

The growth rate was beaten only by three Chinese cities. Shenzhen, a technology hub, took the No 1 spot after prices rose by nearly 50 per cent in the year to June.

Moscow and Jaipur were the two worst performers, falling by 11 per cent and 10 per cent, respectively. House prices in Bristol rose 15.3 per cent, the biggest increase in Britain.

Article from The Times (London) - no link as paid subscription/behind paywall

House prices in Budapest have risen by 24 per cent over the past year, marking the city out as having the fastest growth in Europe. The Hungarian capital is enjoying a boom, according to a survey by Knight Frank, because locals are encouraged by subsidy schemes to invest in property, while foreign investors are snapping up apartments in grand 19th-century classical buildings to rent out.

The growth rate was beaten only by three Chinese cities. Shenzhen, a technology hub, took the No 1 spot after prices rose by nearly 50 per cent in the year to June.

Moscow and Jaipur were the two worst performers, falling by 11 per cent and 10 per cent, respectively. House prices in Bristol rose 15.3 per cent, the biggest increase in Britain.

Lots of buildings tho and it continues to be difficult to get any work done. Such as getting my new bathroom fitted.

Finally after owning this flat for over 10 years, we may break even.
Owned a house in S. Cal. for 9 years in the end it more then paid for itself. It was like living there rent free for 9 years in the end when we sold it for less then we could of.
Sold it ourselves in just 2 weeks on the market, didn't need to pay the commission to an agent so could afford to drop the price $30,000 below market value, we wanted to leave ASAP.
Gosh, didn't really make a "killing" in real estate here in HU.
Our friends bought in a much better neighborhood for less then half of what we spend but they bought 5 years before us. Their flat is located in Buda near the castle. Seem to always miss the boat with great deals.
When I now see online how much our old wonderful home last sold for, dang, could of bought a house in the S. of France instead of in Budapest for the amount it rose over the years. Sold it for $237,500 and 5 years ago was going for nearly $700,000!
Shoot me, please...Ok, maybe not the S. of France but retirement would be really sweet right now if we had waited just a few more years to sell out.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

...When I now see online how much our old wonderful home last sold for, dang, could of bought a house in the S. of France instead of in Budapest for the amount it rose over the years. Sold it for $237,500 and 5 years ago was going for nearly $700,000!
Shoot me, please...Ok, maybe not the S. of France but retirement would be really sweet right now if we had waited just a few more years to sell out.

Yeah, tell me about it.  I reckon no-one should sell their original place but rent it out if the rent only just covers the running costs. With an all out sale in a location where there could be mental house price inflation, if one wanted to go back, then one's bridges have been totally burnt.

It might sound crazy but I reckon places like Zimbabwe will be house price mad when Bob (Mugabe) goes.  Investment will pour in and prices will rise rapidly as the economy stabilises.  There will inevitably a reconciliation on land seizures there.  Not more than a stones throw from our place in HU, a man has built a house on land given to him as compensation  for land seized way back when.

Thanks for sharing Fluffy. I don't plan on sharing my place anytime soon (I just bought this year). But from my eyeballing of similar properties, I think everything I've seen is more expensive.  This is great news!

Cool, we know a HU guy who lives on the BIg Island of Hawaii on land he got in some sort of "drug deal" No running water or electric but he and his Inuit wife from Alaska have raised 2 boys in that "shack". The land was never in his name but they have set camp there for 30 some years!
Hope one day they do not get a shock by being evicted off the land.
Guess money isn't everything, they seemed well suited for each other and happy enough.
I totally lost my mind however when my husband told me whenever they have some personal" business" to be done they head to the local Mall to use the WC!!! That is a bit too much of setting the bar way to low!
Money  of course has never been my  main goal in life, mine has always been to try and enjoy each day as it comes and try not to make anyone else's day harder then it needs to be.
Totally a "Hippie" at heart but also not into commune living or fighting the "system".
Not sure we would be happy renting our flat because taking care of any emergency from Las Vegas is a bit of an ordeal.
We tend to just finish things and move on without ever looking back.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

....Not sure we would be happy renting our flat because taking care of any emergency from Las Vegas is a bit of an ordeal.
We tend to just finish things and move on without ever looking back.

In places like the UK, it's not a problem to get management agents to take care of a place while the owners are far away.  Of course they charge for it but with house prices being crazily high, many people can easily cover the costs. Lots of people can only afford to rent so demand (and rents) are high, there's easily a higher return on capital investment (the original purchase price) than cash at the bank and potentially a significant supplement to a pension.  There's also the potential for capital gains.

We've been renting our apartment for some years (!!) so that's an awful lot of income for the owner.  However, the place is worth less than he paid for it (he had it valued recently).  Seems like he's heading for a loss but of course that loss is offset against the rent income. I won't mention opportunity costs.

I don't know if the market is developed enough in HU to have managing agents.  But if one can rent out for 3-5 years, then one potentially doesn't need to even come back during those years.

There's a couple of brothers I know of in a very low cost but tropically warm African country who actually live entirely on the income from a house they inherited and which they rent out.  Apparently they have not needed to work for 20+ years.  One has taken up jazz guitar and plays in a band and the other one plays an awful lot of golf.

I had a hairdresser in Vegas who was Hungarian, she used to fly to Budapest every few months for only a few days time just to check her rental. She rented to a family friend too.
Yes we once looked into the rental agents, they at the time charged one months rent as their fee but the taxes on having a rental from utilities to everything else just wasn't worth the worry for us.
Honestly if I rented I would never want to move back again to my apt.
Just a weird mental thing having strangers in our place... yuck.
Many flats in our building have turned into rentals.
The flat above us was ruined by renters, college students, the owner got them out and just left it standing for years, his mind had to recover from the damages done.
They were HU college students so didn't have much say about having their school step in and do something about it.
I believe if foreign students ruin your flat and the deposit doesn't cover the damages, they are held up to pay and will not receive their degree etc. until they pay up.
Not much recourse for local students, so we have heard.
We are getting on in years and the less stress the better.
Extra income is always nice however, we have left our flat empty for almost 2 years at one time and whenever we go home to the states it is empty for 6 months or longer.
Maybe we are just crazy but we figure if money was that important to us, first we wouldn't of moved to HU in the first place and we would be able to work in the US for a month and break even against whatever a renter could pay minus the real estate and tax fees. Driving a taxi for a month in Vegas would more then cover the costs.Like I said too old and too lazy these days.
Hard to find someone willing to stay just the winters in our flat and not move out when we need them to.
We have heard so many horror stories about people moving in their children or elderly relations and then legally you can not evict them. People moving in extra roomy's etc. and damaging the flat
Guess the best bet would be a "nice middle aged couple" but who knows....
I would guess renting to foreigners from western countries would be the "safest" bet.Ones with a steady income from outside of HU, Then again since we live in a house that is mostly all locals, anyone from the west might be a bit put off by ones neighbors.
Over the years there has been some crazy stuff happen in our house. If my husband didn't let me know things were not  wrong, I might be afraid on my own here. Fights with neighbors, police coming in and people dying and killing themselves. This is a fairly average nice building too.

I do seem a bit paranoid by my previous post but...
My husband had considered renting our flat at one time and read all that he could about the subject here in HU.
The laws seem so anti-owner that it  scared him to death. He even went back to the land management to make sure the papers were still in good order for our flat.
Squatters, rights of the children and elderly to not be homeless, very high taxes on any legally rented property,having to change over all the utilities to the renters name or face having to pay their unpaid bills, having changed the name over then having to pay taxes on their bills because it is a rental.
All sorts of scary and potentially mind twisting problems for owners.
Of course if one finds a real friend who ones trusts, that is another thing.
My husband was reading about tales of renters actually claiming the property as their own and the owner not being able to get them out for years and years without rental payments being made.
Before he read all the horror stories he was more trusting. We gave our house keys to one of his long time friends to be able to do meter readings etc, for us while we were gone.
Not suppose to be able to make a copy of our key but we all know how smart HU are, if there is a will, there is a way.
One trip to the US for some reason my husband just got paranoid like crazy. He realized his old friend was not such a great friend after 50 some years time, that he was in something odd with "gangs" in Budapest and one of our neighbors who everyone knows is into "things".
Husband thought worst case, they moved in a family with 10 kids behind our back or that they were suing our flat for a house of pleasure, pocketing money for themselves.
I couldn't believe he was really afraid this was going on but he really got scared.
Called a trusted neighbor then realized they are 2 weak old women and could be pushed to say whatever we wanted to hear by others.
Got so crazy that when we arrived in Budapest he had the taxi driver come with as a witness before he opened the door up.
He even considered hiring a heavy to come with us to not be robbed or put out from our own place.
Not sure if the problems could really be that bad or if my poor hubby has a streak of paranoid in him, safe is better then sorry however.
It would be a nice world if we could trust each other but reality is reality.
Sometimes it is better not to have too much info and just wing it, hope that the good fairies are watching out for us.
Not all the laws in HU have caught up with the capitalist system, some old laws are still on the books and some rules are still very socialist in nature.

Sometimes the "Good Guys" do win though.
All this about property rights etc. made me think back on one of the many crazy episodes in our lives.
Was sometime around the early 1980's when we owned a machine shop, my husband's business partner was another HU who we found out had been skimming the till.
We broke the partnership and another "helpful" Hungarian told us we could store our machinery in his industrial unit, of course we paid him rent.
Our machinery was worth 10's of thousands of dollar and he had a safe secure building to store our things until we found another location to restart our shop.
All good a couple of months went by and we found a spot for our shop, told the guy we would be hiring a machinery mover to take our things etc.
The dang guy refused to give us back our machinery. He thought possesion is 9/10th of the law!
Dang jerk!!
Of course we freaked out.
I called a lawyer straight away, spoke to my sister's BF who was also a lawyer and got all the info I could.
I found out we could take possession of our equipment but had to take care not to break anything that was not ours.
I called the mover, called a glass repairman and the police.
I called the police on myself telling them I was about to break and enter a building to collect my machines.
I was surprised how helpful the LAPD was, they brought over 2 squad cars  to watch us and to make sure everything went smoothly.
As long as we replaced the glass we were good to go.
My husband took the first swing with a hammer then I did broke the glass in the front of the office, opened the door and took possession of our things.
We had all sales papers and rental agreement with that jerk with us to prove our case.
The HU guy was shocked that the police allowed us in like that.
It felt nice to know at least back then, they cops had a brain and were out there to help honest people. It was very entertaining for them i am sure.
Had everything planned perfectly, glass was replaced and the mover drove our machines away, said a big thanks to the police.
Learned a hard lesson that time, really can't trust too many people as they get greedy. Don't even know how or why that dude thought he had rights to our things when we paid him rent for storage.
It was nice that things were so simple then, just follow the law and no problem, wonder if we could do the same today however, probably have to go to court.
It was also really sweet to have the cops scare that jerk and be on our side.
We were out at least $400. for the window but it was worth worth it to see the look on that jerks face as we all drove off.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

.....
The flat above us was ruined by renters, college students, the owner got them out and just left it standing for years, his mind had to recover from the damages done.

My own feeling is not to think of the rented out apartment as your home but as a business.  And build damage into the rent.  The moment one gets emotional about possessions like cars and houses is the day one is doomed.

I cite myself as doomed because of my ancient 4WD. I am utterly irrational when it comes to maintaining it.  But hobbies aren't for profit anyway.

Totally understand the "getting emotional" part of owning certain cars.
In my lifetime I have had well over 30 some cars, some were hauled to the junk yard and others sold off as we moved away.
My one car that hurt to let go of was my 1986 Saab 900.
Bought it for cash when it was almost new, only 18 months old.
Ran like a charm, only had to change out the water pump ( Saabs have crummy water pumps, too much  tension on the belts and they break)
Loved that car drove it for years all over Cal. then to NM then paid a ton to ship it to first Honolulu then over to Hilo back again to Cal. towed it to Nm again, drove it for another couple of years and then towed it to Vegas were it finally died. The tranny went out after nearly 300,000 miles.
Nice thing was I found another Saab freak who knew about Saabs, he flew in from Washington state and bought it off of us, was going to overhaul the car.
Made me feel ok about saying goodbye to my trusted friend.

fluffy2560 wrote:

I don't know if the market is developed enough in HU to have managing agents.

Finding one, or anyone, you can trust in Hungary is a problem. Basically, I would be very careful about renting out your property in Hungary if you live abroad. Too many potential problems, as Marilyn already listed.

There is always a degree of risk when you rent out property in any country but when I have done it in the past it is worth taking out some form of landlords insurance.
When the renters don't pay or just wreck your place it is helpful to be insured.
Any form of agent or agency is of variable usefulness in any country.  Sometimes they don't even take care of basic once a year checks. 
If I was renting out now I would choose the largest most professional agency because these one man firms often prove to be overstretched and lazy.

klsallee wrote:

fluffy2560 wrote:

I don't know if the market is developed enough in HU to have managing agents.

Finding one, or anyone, you can trust in Hungary is a problem. Basically, I would be very careful about renting out your property in Hungary if you live abroad. Too many potential problems, as Marilyn already listed.

I think that's the same anywhere with a commercial arrangement.  Why should anyone trust anyone in say Italy any more than I trust someone in Spain (as random examples).  I might trust someone in the UK over someone in say, Portugal simply because the market is more developed and the rule of law is more than like workable.

The problem is what happens if the managing agent messes up and it gets nasty trying to enforce a contract through the courts. 

In theory in the EU (I would hope) the any professional services organisation should have professional liability insurance.  For a property rented out as a kind of business, commercial buildings insurance might also be available.

I know it's all hassle but there should be a way.  Whether it's worth it is another thing!

I was a landlord for a short time (3 years). I had good tenants. However, the stress described, the always-in-the-back-of-my-mind thoughts of the what-if scenarios (non-payment, eviction, lawyer fees, destruction of property, etc.) was too annoying for me to want to continue. I got out and made a slight profit and never want to be a landlord again. There are better, more comfortable, ways for me to invest.
I'm wondering if anyone has tried something a little different -- AirBnB?
Plenty of Budapesti listings, plenty of worldwide flats / rooms that look tremendous. Plus with a 2-way rating system, you should be able to get a fairly good impression with the result of a search.  Anyone have thoughts on renting out or taking advantage of a rental on AirBnB?

I would have to have my husband look over our house rules but I do think we can not do a B&B sort of thing in our house.
People do not want loud short term visitors running around the house.
We do have many renters here but not a B&B style.
If I remember properly we signed we would never let out a hostel style flat.
I understand, I would not wish the flats near me to rent out to noisy tourists who could care less about house rules.
For example if I had anyone even close to my rocker/biker baby bro in the house, I would lose my stuff.
He once came to Las Vegas and brought all his amps and guitars into his room and started blasting away at 2 am! This was in the old Sahara hotel. Love my baby bro but he is a no invite to sleep over sort of guy.
If I ever wished to leash out any sort of revenge on any of my neighbors all I would have to do is invite my bro for a holiday, believe me anyone who could care less is not a good tenant.
Took him to the Hard Rock Casino in Las Vegas and he was just about 86'd out of there!
Must be a "family trait" my older sister all of 120 lbs, was thrown out on her bottom from a biker bar in N. Hollywood for being rowdy!
I am the calm, cool, collected one in my family, anyone like him or most younger people could care less about rocking the boat as long as they knew they were not staying long.
Seriously in Hungary or anywhere were wages are low, people would rent out your flat for a few hours of "Adult Activity" and make a few bucks on the side under the pretense of a B&B.
Too many years in Vegas, I sort of know the drill.
We used to live in Vegas in a "nice" apt. house, a huge complex with 3 pools tennis courts and near the strip.
All nice and cozy, found  out that several apts. in the complex were being rented by "ladies of the night" for entertainment purposes only... This in a good building with a coded gate entry.

fluffy2560 wrote:

the market is more developed and the rule of law is more than like workable.

That was kind of my point. From my experience, and from second hand comments from other's experiences, neither the market or the rule of law is as well worked out here. So proceed at your own risk.

fluffy2560 wrote:

In theory in the EU (I would hope)

From my experience, and consulting with attorneys on some issues I have had here, EU law is not well understood, if not at times actually ignored, by the courts here.

So "hope" may be useless. Even a "normal" contracts or insurance may not help you out when things go wrong, or if you have to go to court. Just hard to count on much here when things go very wrong. Other's experiences may differ.

klsallee wrote:

.....when things go wrong, or if you have to go to court. Just hard to count on much here when things go very wrong. Other's experiences may differ.

Very shortly Mrs Fluffy and I are heading for a reckoning on our land dispute - we've been called to meeting, possibly even a hearing.   While I cannot be there that day, she's taking along a big dog (our lawyer).  I agree it's almost certainly not going to be rational decision if imposed.  We've asked our lawyer to find out if there's an appeal mechanism - a Plan B.

My thinking is that we should plan for the worst, hope for the best. Which while useless in a random situation, works as a saying anytime, anywhere.  I also like the military one about plans going out the window 30 seconds after the start of a battle.

Good luck to the Fluffy Family.

I had wondered about the Hungarian legal system, as I got ripped off by another British expat. in Hungary. I lent him money which was done with a legal agreement and was supposed to be secured against his house at Balaton. The lawyer drew up the agreement but never secured it against the house and the guy never paid anything back. Another lawyer says it would cost me another million ft to sue him, take possession of his house etc and I'm thinking it it will be just a case of good money after bad.

That is horrible, I would at least look into suing the lawyer for not doing his legal job.
Never loan more money then one can afford to lose is a hard lesson to learn.
We did that once.
My husband worked with a single older guy who shared a machine shop in Cal. with a guy my husband worked under as a sub contractor.
All 3 were HU and worked in the same shop for nearly a decade.
The single guy had a major contract with the USAF to make ball bearings for night vision bearing for helicopters.
He was very skilled and did the job by hand made a ton of money and spent wildly on trips to Africa to hunt lions, do whatever he wanted when he wanted to do it, free as a bird.
Ok, we sold our house and my husband promised to loan him $22,000 bucks to help pay his back taxes.
A handshake deal of trust between two men who thought they knew each other.
I was against it but my husband being a stubborn old fashioned guy said they shook hands so he had to honor it?!!
The deal was the guy would pay us in full within 3 months time. I thought what the heck, he easily made that much in 3 months time but why did he get into trouble in the first place with taxes?
He gave my husband the pink slip on a vintage Jaguar car, it probably was really only worth about $10,000 as it needed work on it.
Dumb thing my husband didn't have him actually sign the pink slip over, just gave him the paper without his signing it!
We moved out of state to NM.
3 years came and went, for some reason the guy only paid us back in drips $3,000 here, $4,000 a few months later, it was coming back so slowly that we never felt we were getting anything.
We finally sued him, had to travel all the way to Cal. 3 times, stay in hotels, go to court etc.
He did pay us the rest of what he owed but it broke the friendship.
There was no good reason to ever of loaned him the money and no reason he couldn't of paid us back in time.
Now I never even loan out a 5 er, hard lesson learned.

fluffy2560 wrote:

while useless in a random situation, works as a saying anytime, anywhere.  I also like the military one about plans going out the window 30 seconds after the start of a battle.

I am very rational person. Built successful and profitable businesses on information and data management in the US and Switzerland.

But here.... I am still struggling with such a information and data driven world view in Hungary. I have had to basically give up on rational behavior and predictable outcomes. The entire country, at times, seems like a roulette wheel. Which is good and bad. Bad if one expects to work in a rational business climate. But then again, as Sun Tzu said -- “In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity”. For example, my wife is building up quite a nice little business helping out expats navigate the various bureaucratic insanities here.

fidobsa wrote:

Another lawyer says it would cost me another million ft to sue him, take possession of his house etc and I'm thinking it it will be just a case of good money after bad.

Been there. Done that. Not worth it. Let it go. Mainly because, even if you are in the right, you might get a lousy judge and still loose, especially if the paperwork/contract was flawed in any way.

One judge we got wrote in her opinion personally criticized us as a significant reason for rejecting our claim. Which was completely inappropriate, biased and not professional. Such would be grounds for dismissal of the verdict in many other jurisdictions. So we appealed. The appeal court agreed that what the judge said about us was indeed inappropriate, biased and not professional, but still upheld the judges inappropriate, biased and not professional decision. Our attorney said that was expected, and even on appeal most higher court judges will not overrule lower courts out of a weird sense of not wanting to admit other judges were wrong. At that point our legal bills exceeded the original loss (since we lost we had to pay the other attorney costs as well), so we decided to let it go after that (at least the appeal court upheld our good name -- a minor personal victory, I guess, even if a fiscal loss).

Consider it a learning tax on yourself for what to avoid in the future.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

A handshake deal of trust between two men who thought they knew each other.

I noticed at about the turn of the century that "gentlemen agreements" like this no longer worked. After over a decade of doing business on hand shakes without any problems (I was always paid on time), I suddenly lost more than your loss on two "hand shake" contracts in a row. I had to get hard nosed and vowed to never again get into any business dealing without an iron clad signed contracts after that.

Then, despite my better judgment, I made one mistake some years later on a small deal (only $5,000) without a signed contract and again got stiffed.

The world has changed. And not in a good way.

klsallee wrote:

..... hand shakes ...... never again get into any business dealing without an iron clad signed contracts after that. ....

What's that saying?

"In God We Trust....Everyone Else Pays Cash".....

fluffy2560 wrote:

What's that saying?

It certainly is no longer: "A man's word is his bond.".

klsallee wrote:

fluffy2560 wrote:

What's that saying?

It certainly is no longer: "A man's word is his bond.".

Aye.

A "joke" sign that used to proliferate in UK pubs or shops was:

"Please do not ask for credit.......as a punch in the face often offends"