Thanks - this covers utility bills etc but I am also interested in the debt that may have accumlated during the purchase on the original land or a debt on a property maybe from a bank.

In the UK the lawyer is able to find all this sort of info because it is all "registered" but since it is the "norm" not to register but to rely on a POA I suspect that a lawyer cannot prove that there is no debt.

This may not apply much to Egyptians but it will be more and more likely for non-Egyptians when mortgages become more common and there has to be a process in place to cover this aspect. Also the possibility the original land owner may have borrowed money on the land and not repaid it before selling apartments etc.

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I have bought three properties in Egypt, and I have registered all of them. I think that anyone that fails to register is simply behaving like an ostrich. This is a chaotic country where title is concerned, and it is a highly litigious one. As for the 5 year resale rule, there is a perfectly safe and legal way to circumvent this, should you wish to sell before the 5 years are up.

An Egyptian friend of mine has just purchased a property on a mortgage - and the Bank has performed due diligence, including all possible searches not for only for title, but to verify zoning, construction licences and permits, water rights, etc, etc - to a FAR greater extent than he would have been able or inclined to do for himself. I have purchased my properties without mortgage, but in a way I wish I had taken a mortgage, so that the Bank would have done all that work for me.

Where securing their collateral in Egypt is concerned, the banks are infinitely more sceptical than any individual buyer would be. They do the Full Monty, before lending.

What interest rate did your friend pay? Was the mortgage in LE or other currency? I am sure that forum members would be interested in the procedure followed to get a mortgage; for instance, do you have to be tax resident in Egypt?

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PROPERTY SHOP INC. International Property Brokers
EGYPT REAL - Your One Stop Shop for Hurghada Property

Alas, I don't know much about mortgages in Egypt. At one time I believe they were not available for foreigners, but now I am told that they are, if they already have residence. My friend is Egyptian. Unfortunately I have no idea what rate of interest he is paying. I am sure that this information is freely available though since a few more banks are now doing mortgage business, and it is a priority of the Egyptian government to develop affordable real estate financing.

(I am posting under a new registration, since your forum software seems somewhat deficient in recognising a returning member)

Hi mtdd,

How long does registration take then?.

In my case, I was not buying touristic property on the Red Sea, which ought to have relatively simple search procedures if buying from a major developper.

The first property was a flat in Zamalek, in a building constructed in 1996, and therefore also without significant historical baggage. The registration - and by this I mean the registration of the purchase contract ay Sharia Akari - took around 3 months, but I gather that this was because I am a foreigner.

Subsequently I purchased 2 contiguous plots of industrial land in Abu Rawash Industrial Zone, and the registration was faster for some reason - about 6 weeks.

Currently I am building a villa on a plot I have purchased on the Cairo - Alex Road, which I have not yet begun to register. However, my neighbour has had his plot registered by his bank, as part of the mortgage approval process, and I have verified that the owner has title.

This thread concerns Hurghada specifically, and I have no idea how it works there: it may well be that the process is much more streamlined. And in any event legal title must be much more easily established in an area that was just government-owned sand a decade or two ago, than it is in Cairo, which has over two thousand years of contested title for virtually every square metre!

Does that mean the Red Sea in new !!!

Or just the bits near Hurghada !

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All of it was military land..a lot of it still is!

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George/
Sun Homes Overseas Ltd
Properties in Egypt
Properties in Sahl Hasheesh

Well duh, dave99 -

Actually, in terms of private ownership of land, yes the Red Sea in general is a new-born babe compared to Cairo. When we first arrived in Egypt, almost the entire coastline of the Red Sea was government-owned, military-controlled, and strewn with mines. By contrast, there are disputes before the courts in Cairo concerning land-title that were started over a hundred years ago, and are still not resolved. Add to that the monumental State expropriation of private property by the regime of General Nasser, and you have a land title black hole into which you will venture very much at your peril.

So yes, the Red Sea IS new.