We are pleased to present you our Egypt property buying guide, explaining the process of property purchase in Egypt.

The process of purchasing property in Egypt

Do your research when buying property in Egypt

Now that you know all the advantages of buying property in Egypt - do your homework to invest money wisely!

There are plenty of resources available on the internet offering Egypt property search facilities and often not much more than that! Don’t waste too much of you precious time and use a reputable estate agent specialising the Egyptian property market who will support you throughout process of identification of suitable property in Egypt, rather than websites offering commercial property listings. Why is this so important? Only specialist agents will be able to offer you specialist advice related to expected returns on your investment, attractiveness of chosen location as well as fully explain benefits and all pros and cons of each of the offered investment options when it comes to property in Egypt.

My Red Sea Real Estate offers you numerous Egypt property options as well as user-friendly search facility allowing you to stay on top of the current developments throughout the Egyptian Red Sea Riviera. We have a comprehensive knowledge of the Egyptian property market and will be happy to answer all your questions you might have, helping you to choose property in Egypt, which is most suitable for your needs. Using our website you may compare existing Egypt property listings, shortlist them as well as register enquiries for ‘wanted’ property, should you wish to look further. We are always pleased to help!

What you need to know about prices of property in Egypt

Using a specialist real estate agent will save you a significant amount of time, ensuring that pricing information for property in Egypt you receive is correct and up to date, especially that apartments pricing structure will vary for each of the resort, mainly depending on its construction stage, distance to the beach and facilities. Prices of apartments will also vary within each of the resorts, and will depend on location of your chosen apartment and the view from its windows. Yes, the most pricey apartments are those offering sea views.

Whatever your budget, you might need to budget-in the currency risk, especially if choosing a property in Egypt with an extended payment plan and repayments in a currency that is different to the one of your earnings. Residential property within the Egyptian Red Sea Riviera is priced in a number of different currencies – mostly Egyptian Pound, British Pound, Euro and US dollar. It is unlikely that you will be able negotiate with developer a change of a currency for the payment plan, therefore apartment prices of property in Egypt will vary depending on the currency exchange rates.

My Red Sea Real Estate has decided to publish Egypt property listings with prices the currency which will be used for payments, in order to provide accurate and transparent information for the buyer about each Egypt property for sale. We encourage you to register on our website in order to benefit from Egypt property search facilities like shortlisting of the most interesting investment options to easily compare current offerings of property in Egypt.

If you are looking at mid-term financial gains from your Egypt property investment, consider buying an off-plan apartment. Based on the experience and trends over the last couple of years we have observed that prices for off-plan resorts in Egypt increased in a region of 40-50% over an average of two years - from its pre-release stage to completion of the resort. Additonally, the value of Egypt property used to increase in the previous years in a region of 20-25% per year.

Although there seem to be less cash available to investors due to the economic slowdown, Egyptian property remains an attractive investment option, especially when it comes to Egypt property with rental guarantees, which will bring returns in the region of 5-10% per year. It is unlikely these days for an investor to find such a solid and relatively low-risk investment option bringing such returns. We believe that over the next coming years, the property prices in Egypt will keep increasing as in the previous years, as property in Egypt is still relatively cheap when compared to other locations offering similar environment and facilities. Understanding the current market conditions, many developers responded by increasing the duration of payment plans, often interest-free to make Egypt property easily accessible.

Financing property in Egypt

A question often raised by our clients is the availability of mortgages in Egypt. The bottom line is – these are yet not available to foreigners, however, there are numerous developer mortgages with flexible payment plans available for property in Egypt which we offer. Please contact us for more details.

You may want to arrange funding for your property in Egypt in your country of origin – be it your savings, re-mortgaging of your house or a cash loan facility, depending on your individual circumstances. Having said that, to secure your property in Egypt you will need between 20-50% of the apartment price. As for the remaining balance, you may choose from many attractive payment plans offered by the developers, extending as far as 5 years. You can also choose a resort offering a rental guarantee scheme, where you will utilise your rental income from the time of handover, which is usually in a region of 2 years. This means that property in Egypt is still an affordable, as you only need a fraction of a price to get on the Egyptian property ladder.

Inspection trip to Egypt

Once you know your options, it is generally a good idea to visit your chosen investment location in Egypt for an inspection trip – especially within popular resorts like Hurghada and Sharm El Sheikh, so accessible these days. You will be able to get to know the vicinity of the resorts and compare available facilities. We will be pleased to help you organise a hassle-free inspection trip, please contact us for more details.

Reservation of the Egyptian property 

Having decided what you wish to buy, you will need to sign a property reservation form which we will provide to you as well as to pay a small reservation deposit. This may or may not be refundable depending upon the developer in question, so be sure to check this with us.

Appoint a lawyer 

The developers of the majority of developments that My Red Sea Real Estate represents will be able to recommend a local lawyer to you in order to assist you in the process of buying property in Egypt. However, in order to ensure that you receive totally independent and unbiased advice, we strongly recommend that you hire a lawyer of your own. You may also request a check of the due diligence documentation for the selected property in Egypt.

An advantage of using a lawyer is that, by giving them ‘Power of Attorney', they will be able to sign legal documents on your behalf. This can offset some of the costs if it means your having to make one less trip to Egypt in order to complete the process of buying property in Egypt.

If you do decide to employ the services of a lawyer, reckon on paying around GBP700 to them to take you through the entire buying process. We will be happy to recommend some English speaking independent lawyers to you. Please contact us for details of independent lawyers.

Contract and payments

The main document involved with the purchase of property in Egypt is an initial sales and purchase contract that will be drawn up by the developer and revised by your lawyer. This is a formal, legally-binding contract which contains all of the key information about the agreed deal including the details of the property in Egypt, the total amount payable, the deposit, penalty clauses, etc.

Once the contract is signed, the buyer will need to pay a deposit for the property in Egypt, usually within a month of signing the contract. The amount of the deposit differs from one development to another, but is usually in the region of 30-50%. The balance of the funds is usually payable in stages between signing of the contract and handover of the property in Egypt once it is finished. Again, actual terms vary from developer to developer.

In order to purchase property in Egypt, you will also need to obtain a residence visa. This is a formality for your lawyer to arrange, even if you are not planning on spending much time in Egypt.

Completion, inspection and handover of your property in Egypt

To complete the purchase of your property in Egypt, the buyer of the property needs to pay equivalent to a Stamp Duty. This is now a fixed sum, which varies according to the location of your property in Egypt. The maximum amount that this will cost is currently EGP2000 (GBP180/EUR260).
You will also need to pay a small inspection and measurement fee, of approximately GBP50/EUR65.

There are property inspection services now available in Egypt, should you wish to  engage a specialist who would inspect your property in Egypt on your behalf prior to your arrival for handover. Please contact us for more details.

Ownership transfer of the property in Egypt

Once the property is complete, your lawyer needs to arrange that ownership of the property in Egypt is transferred into your name. You have two options as to how you finalize the deal. One option is to get your lawyer to register you as the owner of the property at the Land Registration Office. The problem with arranging it this way, however, is that in foreigners are allowed to buy a maximum of two properties in Egypt with a maximum of 4000m2 of floorspace between them. They are also not allowed to sell property in a period of under five years from buying. This could be a problem if you are looking to 'flip' the property for a quick profit after a relatively short period of time. However, these restrictions are not applicable to Sharm El Sheikh, where different regulations are in place, allowing only leashold  as a form of ownership  for foreigners. See our legal pages for more information related to the Egypt property laws.

The way to get around these restrictions is to register your ownership with a notary, which costs around EGP2000 (GBP180/EUR260). This confirms your ownership of the property in Egypt, but it does not add your name to the Land Registry, which means that you are free to buy as many properties as you like and you can also sell your property at any time you would like.