by Joachim Kipka
Properties
Find and choose your property in Egypt
The most difficult part is choosing the right property for yourself. There are two main types of properties available to buy in Egypt. Off-plan which are properties or developments still to be built or are under construction – or resale & key-ready properties which are ready to move in. Both options have a similar buying process but the main difference is the payment plans. How payment plans works can read about here.
Off-plan property
When buying an off-plan property you mainly do this from a website like ours or a brochure/magazine and from 3D renders of a project. The prices are fixed and not negotiable. Off-plan properties normal have an interest free payment plan between 1-10 years. The advantages with off-plan properties in Egypt is that you can buy a property with a smaller amount of money, 10-40% of the total price (called down payment) and pay the rest with installments over 1-10 years.
Resale & Key-Ready property
Resale & Key Ready properties are properties you can visit and move into immediately (or in short after agreement). The advantages with this kind of properties is that the price sometimes is negotiated. Usually requires 100% payment and the property can be registered Immediately.
How to purchase a property in Egypt?
Document / Paperwork control
Once you have found the property you want to buy, it’s important to make sure that all the paperwork and documents are in order. If you buy through us, there is no need to hire another party as we have already reviewed and approved this.
We do not offer anything that our lawyer not has approved and we don’t do so, as we are very careful not to ruin our reputation.
You do not pay any extra fee for this service through us, but if you hire another party to review this it will cost you extra.
Reservation fee, down payment, installments and full payment
Once everything is approved and checked, you usually pay a reservation fee or the down payment directly. A reservation fee (usually 5 – 10% of the purchase price) is common when purchasing any property in Egypt. This applies to both unfinished and finished objects. This reservation fee and / or down payment is required as the seller needs confirmation that you are a serious buyer before he can take the property off the market.
With the payment of the reservation fee for a property in Egypt, a preliminary agreement is already concluded. This is closed by the reservation form, which is usually created by the agent. This contains all the necessary data to create the sales contract from it. In addition, the amount is noted there, which is to be paid as a down payment and also the partial payments with the date, or the remaining amount.
After receiving the reservation fee, the contract is drawn up and signed first by the buyer and then signed and stamped by the seller. Upon receipt of the contract signed in full by both parties, the down payment or, if applicable, the final payment is due on the agreed date.
Summarized here again:
Reservation: 5 – 10% of the purchase price – depending on the property
Down payment: 10 – 40% of the purchase price – depending on the property
Then the final payment (for resale or finished real estate) either in one sum or the installment payments between 1-10 years (for unfinished real estate) – every quarter.
Delivery of the property
Once the buyer and the seller fulfilled the obligations of the contract your property will be delivered. Off-plan properties by the delivery date in the contract and resales / key-ready properties when full amount have been payed and agreed handover date.
Registering the property – 2 ways
Sign Valid
The Sign-Valid is a temporary security while there is still no “Green Contract”.
During the construction phase it is not possible for the developer to get the so-called “Green Contract” for the building(s). For this reason, a decree on investment security was issued in 1986 in order to secure this temporary phase as well as possible. This is called “Sign Valid”, which translates as “signature confirmation”.
And that’s exactly what it is, a confirmation of the signatures of both contracting parties to the local court. Both contracting parties thereby recognize the contract as concluded.
So is this a substitute for the land register entry (= Green Contract “)? No, but it gives you the right to go to court in the event of disputes. In addition, nobody can deny that the contract was concluded. The content is not at stake here !
The land & building register entry
A registration for real estate in Egypt takes place via the so-called “Green Contract”.
This is comparable to the entry in the basic register (today the land register) and takes place in the land registry in Cairo. This registration takes a long time for newly built properties, as the owner or builder can only register a development once it has been completed.
This testifies to a formal recognition of the state towards the registered private or legal