Egypt » The Purchase Process

Foreign purchasers have the right to own real estate and land in Egypt. Today the government recognizes the great value foreign investors in property have for the success of the economy and have set about actively encouraging overseas buyers to Egypt. New laws have been established to make the Egyptian property purchase procedure more protected.

The government can no longer impound or nationalize any property they wish, a practice that stood for centuries. These changes, along with a few others, are increasing confidence amongst overseas buyers.

Once you decide on a property, you will need to pay a holding deposit to take the property off the market while contracts are drawn up.

It is completely usual to negotiate a property’s selling price in Egypt, unless you are buying off-plan when the price is fixed. 

Lawyers in Egypt will normally speak English and will be able to produce your necessary paperwork in Arabic, as required by all the authorities. Egypt has many multifaceted real estate registration issues so it is critical to have a lawyer conduct the appropriate searches and provide you with legal advice regarding the purchase.

Local lawyers will also help you through the best way to conduct business with the local people who have their own particular idiosyncrasies and customs which are important to be aware of.

The foreigner is treated the same as the Egyptian and has the right to buy and register a property in Cairo. It's possible to the foreigner to rent his apartment to anyone after buying it without any restrictions. The legal shape of the contract is the professional lawyer in the real estate field has distinct contracts that have a legal power to protect the apartment owner.

Apartment's registration is carried out through a professional lawyer. He is doing all the registration procedures in several authorities, such as, the Real Estate Registration Office, the Area Institution and the Real Estate Taxes Association.

These procedures are summarized in fees payment, apartment surveys procedure, preparing legal documents, taking it as authoritative from the specialized public authorities and the signature of the seller and buyer on the final contract.

For the Egyptians, the registration procedures take 3 months maximum, but for the foreigners it takes about 4 months.