Egypt

Purchase of apartments and locals

PROCEDURES

buying procedure:

Conditions of sale and purchase apartments in Egypt are similar as in Poland. Purchase is made under the sale contract (in the primary market edited by developer). The lawyer – equivalent of our notary - is drawing up the ownership act and register it by proving entitlement

There are two variants of purchasing:

1. First variant is to buy an apartment during the investment departure – a visit to Egypt.
2. Second option is to buy property without necessity of visiting to Egypt. We are always encourage to use the first variant, it provides a personal knowledge of terrain, surrounding area and immediate neighborhood, what is very helpful in making this type decisions.

We emphasize that the ILS POLAND GROUP is a licensed broker (who has liability insurance) and co-founder of the Polish Chamber of Real Estate – PIN. We care about the best buyer interest in every purchase option.

1. In both variants buying property is associated with several basic steps. That process is completely carried out by the ILS Poland Group and looks as follows:
2. Signing a contract or
3. Organization  of the investment trip, including both ways flight and hotel reservation
4. Pickup from airport and transfer to the hotel is free if the customer has reserved the apartment, in other cases it is a cost of 60 USD (returned in case of purchase)
5. Presentation of alternative properties according to customer specifies criteria and indication of current developers offers
6. We negotiate the offer price with the seller on client request. Negotiations are most effective when the payment is a one-time ora if you are buying at least 2 apartments
7. Payment of reservation (usually about 10% of apartment value) and signing the reservation contract (only when the offers are from primary market directly form the developer). Preparing the preliminary agreement so called: `developer contract` in arabic and english language. It is legally binding document which contains key informations about the terms of the transaction, description of property, price, payment way including the amount of the first tranche and any penalty fees for late in the project or payments. After signing an agreement, the buyer is obligated to pay the first tranche of payment, maximum in 28 days from signing the contract. Height of contract deposit (first tranche) varies between 30-50% of the apartment value depending on developer and investment (condition to receive the signed contract is payment of 40% of the property value). The rest part is paid in individually established instalments with the last payment after the end of building the property. Particular terms of payment are determined by concrete developer in each time and it could be different for each project.
8. During  the  purchase finalization there are possible two options to complete the purchase process and registraction property in notarial books:

• The first  option may be request to the law firm which will proceeded buyer registraction activities as the owner of the property in the Property Registration Office (equivalent of our Mortgage Court) in Cairo the capital of the Arabian Republic of Egypt. In  consequence there exists  the  reduction of  number of properties owned by foreigners up to maximum two with a total usable space 4.000m2 and reduce the possibility of reselling property before the end of 5 years from the date of purchase.
• Second option concerns takeing advantage of registration the ownership by notary (with validation of signature procedure and confirmation the declaration of will by the court judgement) in the local office. By using this procedure you can acquire more than two properties in Egypt or sell them before the end of 5 years.
  After the end of registration sale process, the Property Registration Office – equivalent of polish Mortgage Court issue a final document which confirmed the ownership.
  ILS GROUP,  after the decission of buying the property is pointing and recomending to clients proven and adequate locally law firm (equivalent of notary office) which perform the whole process of property registration after checking the legal status of acquired object.

ATENTION – IMPORTANT

1. Registration status of title is confirmed by review of ownership documentation.
2. The next step is to check if the selected property is not charged with any obligations or mortgages in Egypt. Acording to egytian law such obligations are binding on the property also after transfer the ownership. Potential buyer with ILS and recommended law firm participation gets sure that it is free of legal faults and does not constitute an object of the other transaction or pledge against third parties. The legal control is made by access to Register of Pledges and Mortgages at the public notary in the district which the property belongs to.
3. It is necessary to confirm that all propety taxes was fully paided. Tax rates varies depending on standard and location. Any tax arrears imposed on property are not canceled by ownership transfer. In the buyer`s interest is to check also this fact, because it would be possible to move the tax liabilities to the new owner.

*According to this fact ILS POLAND GROUP during preparation and conducting the transaction recomends to its clients using indicated, proven and cooperating law firm to verify the legal status of each property before making purchase in Egypt.

COSTS

Cost of purchasing:

To any real estate purchase, in this case an apartment in Egypt, except offer price should be added:
Costs of notarial property registration (payed to the lawyer) in the amount of $ 1.000 per one property registration. Payment for registration is made in the law firm representing the buyer.

Permanent costs:

In the territory of the Arabic Republic of Egypt all flats are acres. However in complexes with facilities (swimming pools, gardens, reception, security) all owners and buyers are obligated to pay rent. The amount of rent depends on the type of facilities and size of apartment, it usually oscillates between 400 and 700 per year.

Components of permanent costs:

To meet your expectations, in order to full illustration the above costs we give an example for the offer of apartment assuming that the cost of year-round living for this apartment will be $400.
This fee forms a cost of managing complex and includes the maintenance of common areas in that:

• front desk
• clock protection
• swimming pools cleaning
• gardens maintaining
• lifts conservation
• renovation fund
• saunas keeping
• gym, fitness and much more etc.
• proportional flat fee for media (electricity and water)

Additional costs:

Additional fees are set on the basis of counter values and includes electricity and water consumption. Sometimes, the fee for the property management includes also a flat charge for electricity and water accounted in annual fee or overpayment after the end of the calendar year. Monthly fees for water and electricity are about $30 per month with average use.

Fiscal charges and taxation:

• There is no VAT
• There is no income or revenue tax
• There is no tax charging on property based on its value

VISA:

The property owner receives a visa for 12 months in case of purchase of apartment with value above $50.000 and 6 month for lower value. Visa application should be consist in visa office and it is for the property owner, his spouse and children. Visa is renewable after the end of validity term.

Costs of complex ILS Poland Group service:

ILS POLAND GROUP provides comprehensive service and conducting every transaction (from own offers bank or from sources indicated by the customer). During the purchase of apartments the broker salary is covered by developer so the buyer is exempt from paying commission!
It is worth to mention that in some cases, when the apartments are more expensive some developers are also covering travel and accommodation costs.

*Any commission for brokering activities including the comprehensive service and accomplishment the transaction can be determined only when you buy the smallest and cheapest apartments in the promotional ILS POLAND GROUP terms, only when the seller is an individual or developer who does not pay remuneration. ILS Poland Group salary is set individually basing on the property price. The client is informed about this before taking decision.

ATENTION: ILS POLAND GROUP provides comprehensive after-sale service including assinstance the immense renovations of houses and during apartments are to be furnished and equipped, basing on individual agreements or separate contracts.

Additional and useful links:

1. Embassy: >>https://www.gov.uk/government/world/organisations/british-embassy-cairo
2. Wikipedia: >>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egypt
3. Search for real estates in Egypt for sale: >>https://en.ilspoland.com/real-estates/egypt
4. Search for apartments in Egypt for sale: >>https://en.ilspoland.com/real-estates/egypt/apartments/sale

Purchase of houses and plots

Buying procedure:

Conditions of sale and purchase plots and houses in Egypt are similar as in Poland. Purchase is made by notarial act which is prepared and signed in the country in which the property is buying.
The process of buying houses and plots looks similar like when buying apartment:

1. First variant is to buy house with a plot or same plot during the investment trip – a visit to Egypt,
2. Second option is to buy property without necessity of visiting to Egypt. We are always encourage to use the first variant, it provides a personal knowledge of terrain, surrounding area and immediate neighborhood, what is very helpful in making this type decisions.

We emphasize that ILS Poland Group is a licensed broker (who has liability insurance) and co-founder of the Polish Chamber of Real Estate – PIN. We care about the best buyer interest in every purchase option.

In both variants, buying property is associated with several basic steps. That process is completely carried out by the ILS Poland Group and looks as follows:

1. Signing a contract or
2. Organization the investment trip, including both ways flight and hotel reservation
3. Pick up from the airport and transfer to the hotel is free if the customer has reserved the apartment, in other cases it is a cost of 60 USD (returned in case of purchase)
4. Presentation of alternative properties according to customer specifies criteria
5. We negotiate the offer price with the seller on client request
6. Organization and signature the transferring ownership agreement at the notary office in Egypt, with the sworn translator provided that the seller – in case of individual – are expected the full price payment during the notarial act signing.
7. In case of developer offers – signing reservation contract and deposit 10% of property value. Preparing the preliminary agreement so called developer contract in Arabic and English language. It is legally binding document which contains key information about the terms of the transaction, description of property, price, payment way including the amount of the first tranche and any penalty fees for late in the project or payments. After signing an agreement, the buyer is obligated to pay the first tranche of payment, maximum in 28 days from signing the contract. Height of contract deposit (first tranche) varies between 30-50% of the apartment value depending on developer and investment (condition to receive the signed contract is payment of 40% of the property value). The rest part is paid in individually established instalments with the last payment after the end of building the property. Particular terms of payment are determined by concrete developer in each time and it could be different for each project.
8. During of finalization purchase there are possible two options to complete the purchase process and registraction property in notarial books:

• The first option may be request to the law firm which will proceeded buyer registraction activities as the owner of the property in the Property Registration Office (equivalent of our Mortgage Court) in Cairo the capital of the Arabian Republic of Egypt. The consequence of this option is reduce the number of properties owned by foreigners up to maximum two with a total usable space 4.000m2 and reduce the possibility of reselling property before the end of 5 years from the date of purchase.
• 2Second option is to take advantage of registration the ownership by notary (with validation of signature procedure and confirmation the declaration of will by the court judgement) in the local office. By using this procedure you can acquire more than two properties in Egypt or sell them before the end of 5 years.

After the end of registration sale process, the Property Registration Office – equivalent of polish Mortgage Court issue a final document which confirmed the ownership.
ILS GROUP, after the decission of buying the property is pointing and recomending to clients proven and adequate locally law firm (equivalent of notary office) which perform the whole process of property registration after checking the legal status of acquired object.

ATTENTION – IMPORTANT

Registration status of title is confirmed by review of ownership documentation.
The next step is to check if the selected property is not charged with any obligations or mortgages in Egypt. Acording to egytian law such obligations are binding on the property also after transfer the ownership. Potential buyer with ILS and recommended law firm participation gets sure that it is free of legal faults and does not constitute an object of the other transaction or pledge against third parties. The legal control is made by access to Register of Pledges and Mortgages at the public notary in the district which the property belongs to.
It is necessary to confirm that all propety taxes was fully paided. Tax rates varies depending on standard and location. Any tax arrears imposed on property are not canceled by ownership transfer. In the buyer`s interest is to check also this fact, because it would be possible to move the tax liabilities to the new owner.
*According to this fact ILS POLAND GROUP during preparation and conducting the transaction recomends to its clients using indicated, proven and cooperating law firm to verify the legal status of each property before making purchase in Egypt.

COSTS

Purchase costs:

To any real estate purchase, in this case the property in Egypt, except offer price should be added:
Costs of notarial property registration (payed to the lawyer) in the amount of $ 1.000 per one property registration. Payment for registration is made in the law firm representing the buyer.

Permanent costs:

In the territory of the Arabic Republic of Egypt, all houses are acres. However, in complexes with facilities (swimming pools, gardens, reception, security) all owners and buyers are obligated to pay rent. The amount of rent depends on the type of facilities and size of apartment, it usually oscillates between 500-1.000 USD per year.

Components of permanent costs:

This fee forms a cost of managing complex and includes the maintenance of common areas in that:

• front desk
• clock protection
• swimming pools cleaning
• gardens maintaining
• saunas keeping
• gym, fitness and much more etc.
• proportional flat fee for media (electricity and water)

Additional costs:

Additional fees are set on the basis of counter values and includes electricity and water consumption. Sometimes, the fee for the property management includes also a flat charge for electricity and water accounted in annual fee or overpayment after the end of the calendar year. Monthly fees for water and electricity are about $50 per month with average use.

VISA:

The property owner receives a visa for 12 months in case of purchase of apartment with value above $50.000 and 6 month for lower value. Visa application should be consist in visa office and it is for the property owner, his spouse and children. Visa is renewable after the end of validity term.

Costs of complex ILS POLAND GROUP service:

ILS Poland Group provides comprehensive service and conducting every transaction (from own offers bank or from sources indicated by the customer). During the purchase of apartments the broker salary is covered by developer so the buyer is exempt from paying commission!
It is worth to mention that in some cases, when the apartments are more expensive some developers are also covering travel and accommodation costs.

*Any commission for brokering activities including comprehensive service and carry out of transaction can be determined only when you buy the smallest and cheapest apartments in the promotional ILS POLAND GROUP terms, only when the seller is an individual or developer who does not pay remuneration. ILS Poland Group salary is set individually basing on the property price. The client is informed about this before making a decision.
In case of purchase the secondary market property the fee is 3% of the property sale price + tax.

ATTENTION: ILS POLAND GROUP provides comprehensive after-sale service including assinstance the immense renovations of houses and during apartments are to be furnished and equipped, basing on individual agreements or separate contracts.

Additional and useful links:

1. Embassy: >>https://www.gov.uk/government/world/organisations/british-embassy-cairo
2. Wikipedia: >>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egypt
3. Search for real estates in Egypt for sale: >>https://en.ilspoland.com/real-estates/egypt
4. Search for houses in Egypt for sale: >>https://en.ilspoland.com/real-estates/egypt/houses/sale