Find your property in Egypt and choose the right one
The hardest part is to make a Real Estate purchase in Egypt is the right way . There are two main types of properties that can be purchased in Egypt. Off-plan, i.e. properties or projects that are still being built or are under construction, and turnkey properties that can be moved into immediately. Both options have a similar purchasing process, but the main difference is the payment plans. You can read how payment plans work here.
Unfinished properties
When you buy an off-plan property, you do so primarily through a website like ours or a brochure/magazine and through 3D renderings of a project. Prices are fixed and non-negotiable. Off-plan properties typically have an interest-free payment plan between 1-10 years. The advantage of off-plan property in Egypt is that you can buy a property with a smaller amount of money at your disposal. Usually 10-40% of the total price (called a deposit) is due and you can then pay the rest in installments of 1-10 years. Green Contracts can’t be available at this point.
Resale & Turnkey Property
Resale and turnkey properties are properties that you can view and move into immediately (or shortly thereafter). The advantage of this type of property is that the price is sometimes negotiated. Typically 100% payment is required and the property can be registered to them immediately.
Real Estate purchase in Egypt step by step
1) Verification of documents/papers
Once you have found a property you need to make sure that all the papers and documents are in order. If you buy through us you don’t need to do this as we have already done this. We never offer anything that our legal department has not reviewed and then approved. After all, we don’t want to ruin our good reputation.
You do not pay any additional fee for this service to us. However, if you order an inspection yourself, you will of course also have to pay for the costs incurred.
2) Reservation fee, deposit, installment payment and full payment
As soon as everything has been checked, you pay a reservation fee or the deposit directly. A reservation fee (i.e. a sum) is common when buying a property in Egypt. This applies to both unfinished and finished objects. This reservation fee and/or deposit is required because the seller needs confirmation that you are a serious buyer before he can take the property off the market.
A reservation fee differs from the deposit only in that the reservation fee is any amount to reserve the property in your name. A deposit is the agreed amount that is paid upon signing the contract.
By paying the reservation fee for a property in Egypt, a preliminary contract is already concluded. This is completed through the reservation form, which is usually created by the agent. This form contains all the necessary data to create the purchase contract. The amount to be paid as a deposit is also noted there as well as the date of the partial payments and the remaining amount.
After receiving the reservation fee, the contract is drawn up and signed and stamped first by the buyer and then by the seller (sometimes we change this for convenience). After receipt of the contract fully signed by both parties, the deposit or, if applicable, the final payment is due on the agreed date. Here we are the interface between buyer and seller.
Here summarized again:
Reservation: usually 5 – 10% of the purchase price – depending on the property
Deposit: 10 – 40% of the purchase price – depending on the property
Then the final payment (for resale or finished properties) either in one lump sum or the installment payments between 1-10 years (for unfinished properties) – every quarter.
3) Handover of the property
Once the buyer and seller have fulfilled the obligations of the contract, the property will be handed over to you. Unfinished properties on the contracted handover date and resales / turnkey properties when the full amount has been paid and a handover date has been agreed.
4) Registration of the property – 2 options
a) Signature validation
The Sign-Valid is a temporary security as long as there is no “Green Contract”.
During the construction phase, it is not possible for the developer to obtain the so-called “Green Contract” for the building(s). For this reason, an investment security law was passed in 1986 in order to secure this temporary phase as much as possible. This is called “Sign Valid”, which translates to “signature confirmation”.
And that’s exactly what it is, a confirmation of the signatures of both contracting parties before the responsible court. Both contracting parties thereby recognize the contract as concluded and their signatures as theirs.
So is this a replacement for the register entry (= Green Contract)? No, but it gives you the right to go to court in the event of a dispute. In addition, no one can deny that the contract was not concluded. It’s not about the content!
b) The Green Contract
Real estate in Egypt is registered via the so-called “Green Contract”.
This is comparable to the entry in the basic roll (today’s land registry Office) and takes place in the land registry office in Cairo or Qena. This registration takes a lot of time for newly built properties, as the owner or builder can only register a building project after its completion.
This is the formal recognition of your Real Estate purchase in Egypt by the State to the registered private or legal entities.
