An exciting thing happened: we were guests of TV2’s popular magazine show, “Szépítők” (Beautifiers)! The episodes talked about affordable premium apartments in Budapest, the up-coming big changes in the housing rental market, and of course, we also visited a couple of new Flatco apartments that are waiting for their tenants.
We were very pleased to be invited to one of the biggest tv channels in the country, especially in a trendy tv show that is all about residential real estate, home improvement and home creation, as we have been working for years to give our clients the rental property of their dreams. That’s why we’re truly grateful that we were featured in not one, but several episodes of the “Szépítők” show.
The new housing market trend is getting stronger
Márta Jacoby, Managing Director of Flatco, replied to Csuti’s question: between the cheap low-quality, available by the dozen rentals, usually located in old housing communities or panel apartments, and the opposite of this, selective and luxurious rentals that are unaffordable for the average renter, in the recent years a new category has emerged in Budapest’s rental market. The affordable premium rental apartments represented by Flatco, that are newly built or freshly renovated, furnished with designer furniture, fully automatized, while their rents are barely higher than the rent for a classic apartment.
Márta Jacoby pointed out that, unsurprisingly, more and more home seekers are interested in the latter alternative, as the availability of quality apartments is growing, which are slightly more expensive than the rental of a classic apartment, so does the demand for them increases. This shift could finally create a balance between cheap but weak or luxurious but unaffordable home rentals.
Visiting the two-bedroom, newly rented Flatco apartment in the City Home residential park, and talking to the team of “Szépítők”, we have also found out that multi-room rental properties are not only sought after by families with one or two children. Students and even young couples are increasingly choosing to rent two-bedroom properties. This way in addition to the living room area, they can enjoy the comfort of having independent bedrooms, or the extra space can be used as an office or the base of a home business. That’s why initially Flatco’s interior designers leave the second bedroom empty – the furniture only comes in once there are tenants, so the space can be designed according to the needs and ideas of the new tenants.
Style, forms, functions – or the science of interior design
During the visit to the Metrodom Panorama residential park, the team of “Szépítők” talked to our interior designers. We have talked about how an apartment can be furnished with a certain color combination, style, and design – when we don’t even know who will move in yet. Zsófia Tarnai, our designer said: when they visit an apartment that is empty and waiting to be furnished, they carefully assess the advantages and disadvantages, designate individual living areas and furnish it in a way that brings out the best of that specific space.
The empty spaces are already determined by their size, color, and style of the building, so they choose furniture and accessories that are best suitable – sometimes deliberately, but with a good taste they break up the harmony. They always strive to achieve the best results in terms of value for money: Flatco’s apartment does not come with cheap, widely available furniture, but with design solutions that combine quality and affordability in one. Of course, in addition to aesthetics, practicality has also an important role: whether they are working on furnishing a one-room studio or a multi-bedroom home, each room must be practically designed.
Fanni Weisz also became a member of the Flatcommunity
In the last episode of Szépítők at the end of October, Edina Kulcsár visited Fanni, who showed her brand new Flatco apartment, where she moved after her divorce. The model said it was a little scary at first to do this alone, but Flatco’s colleagues helped a lot in overcoming all the initial difficulties. We learned that Fanni was looking for a new, modern, youthful apartment to rent, where of course the main consideration was it had to be dog friendly. In addition, she needed the property to be fully furnished and equipped, and come with a parking space, so naturally a Flatco apartment was a perfect fit.
In the second half of the show, Flatco’s interior designers talked about designing furnished and equipped “affordable premium” homes.
Since it’s usually the case with renting apartments that you can’t know in advance the identity of the tenant, it is important to use basic colors and create a homely, cozy design which can work for everybody.