Quote:
Originally Posted by dave99
Given the other threads on the potential issue of registration of property in Egypt, I'd like to know if there are any UK residents who have bought a property in Hurghada, moved in, and then registered their property at the land registry yet.
If so how did it all go,
how much did it cost,
what documents did you get back.
did the developer or agent help
did you have to attend in person
did you use a Power of Attorney (through a lawyer)
I'm sure all us developers / agents etc are keen to set the record straight on this issue.
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Hi,
I've been living in hurghada for 4 years and have two apartments both of which are not registered. You have given a power of attorney, which is the way that the egyptians buy and sell their properties. It is all legal and safe, as long as you don't lose the paper!
You will find that most people do this. I don't really know why, and to me a power of attorney is something different to how it is used here. But this is how they do it.
If you don't want to be tied to keeping a place for 5 years, but understood that this does not apply to foreign investors, it is all done by the lawyers and is ok.
At the visa office I read that to have a residential visa, to come and go at will, you have to have bought a property to a value of at least 250,000 egyptian pounds, or it does not apply to you. That is roughly 25,000 gbp.
Buying through the estate agents is a more costly way of buying apartments here. The first I bought we heard through friends and got it for around 8,000 gbp. It took around 5,000 to put in a kitchen and bathroom, and another 4,000 to furnish it. It is now worth more than 25,000 gbp in just a year.
The second apartment we went with a co-operative. We knew someone again. We paid 2,500 gbp up front and then 400 gbp per month for 11 months and then a little extra cos the price of steel went up. I know this isnt available to a lot, but we paid around 7,200 gbp and it is semi-finished and we have a share in the shops that will be below. It will take at least 5,000 to finish it to a british standard. If you have an egyptian make the deals and talk to workers it gets done for a lot less. It is now worth double, not finished.
It took 18 months from start to finish, it was to take 10 months lol. Apparently after the bomb in Sharm there were a tightening in hurghada of workers here. A lot who work on the construction sites do not have papers given from their employers to be able to work here, it makes it cheaper to employ them, so if the police did checks and you didnt have the card to say you are employed here you were sent back to your home town. Hence most building work slowed down. But saying that, the uk developments seems to be progressing.
Semi finished means that the electrical work is done, walls are finished ready to paint, windows and doors are also fitted. Unfinished means everything has to be done because it is just bare bricks.
Hope this helps a little.