Gyorgy Zalavari, Senior Partner at the Ecovis law firm, has set up a Hungarian network of lawyers who also act as realtors in the country: UgyvedHazak (in English: RealtorLawyers).
Zalavari says the logic behind the network, which starts with 23 offices in seven Hungarian cities, is simple. “At a national level, approximately 150,000 real estate transactions are made each year in Hungary, and almost all of them are created with the assistance of a lawyer. But lawyers are not only able to help with the contracting work and title registration. Maybe it is not a common knowledge that lawyers are also available for real estate brokerage service and their engagement typically involves lower fees than the commissions of the well-known Hungarian real estate networks.”
Ultimately, Zalavari explained, “the real estate brokerage activity of the lawyers is well-regulated, guided by ethical rules, supervised by the chamber of lawyers, protected by liability insurance and priced well in the market. Lawyers are also entitled to handle financial escrows in a lawful and supervised manner in real estate transactions.”
The network is set up independently from Ecovis and Zalavari will continue in his role as Senior Partner with the firm.
