Real estate loans in Egypt – also for foreigners

Many foreigners think that they cannot get a real estate loan in Egypt. That's not true, it just works differently here. When buying property or investing in Egypt, you typically have three payment options available. Of course, this depends on which builder you are buying from or where you are investing. Here at Living Point we explain how it works.

Pay in cash, on an installment plan with interest, or on an installment plan with no interest.

These options are offered not only to buyers and investors with Egyptian citizenship, but also to overseas buyers and investors (non-Egyptian citizens) and mostly without credit checks.

If you decide to buy a “turnkey” property, you generally pay in cash (or by bank transfer, but the full purchase price). Sometimes a "turnkey" property can be provided with either of the two payment plans. However, this is quite rare and usually only exists on new builds that are nearing completion. So you usually get a real estate loan in Egypt from the builder or the operating company itself.

Installment plan for real estate loans in Egypt

If you decide on a new building project that is under construction or is still to be built (this is also called an OFF plan in technical jargon), you can choose between different (installment) payment plans. Pay in cash with an attractive discount (usually 5 - 20% of the purchase price) or pay over several years with an installment plan with or without interest - depending on the builder.

How the installment plans look like can vary from client to client and from project to project.

Below is an example of an interest-free installment plan

The property price is: €60,000 (Note: the percentage and payment schedules below is an example)

10% reservation – 10% of the total price of the reservation (€6,000)
20% deposit – 20% of the total price upon signing the contract (€12,000)
10% upon delivery – 10% of the total price upon delivery (€6,000)
60% payment plan (installment payments) as an example over 3 years - the rest is 60%, in this case €46,000 with an installment plan without interest over 36 months

Cash payment: 20% discount on the total price - so you get a hefty discount of €12,000 off the total price. So your new purchase price is only €48,000 for the example above.

And why can I buy in Egypt without checking my credit score? The simple answer is the builder takes the risk and you lose your property if you fail to make your payments.

Our tip: Some properties are quoted in Egyptian pounds. We use the currency converter from XE.COM for the conversion. In our many years of experience, this usually has the most correct prices

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