Zafarana beach resort

[propertyinvest]

Hi , i am looking to buy in Egypt , as per normal there are loads of options dont know where to start, The Zafarana has caught my attention, looks a great resort with a 10% rental guarantee , has anyone invested here or have any opinions to share, you can view it at Worldwide Frontiers - Overseas Offplan property investing in El Oasis de Marrakech, Tanjah Beach & Golf Resort, Morocco, Zafarana Beach Resort, Egypt, Dubai ...

[deedee1]

Hi PI,

I too looked at zafarana for a while as Im eager to invest in Egypt soon before its too late!!
Already since Last year alone apparently prices have already doubled and theres still capital growth expected for the next year or so!

In the end I was unsure of its location so didnt persue it further!
Also the project requires 100% payment upfront- but is held in escrow and released at stages throughout the construction period!

With regards to rental guarentees unfortunately you never get anything for free Im afraid!
Rental guarentees are a sales and marketing stunt offered by developers through agents in order to help sell their properties quickly and make them look more attractive to buyers!!

RENTAL GUARENTEES- These are already included in the price the property that you are paying for in the first place as they add them into the sales price- so if fact you are paying the rental return guarentee yourself -not them!!!
Developments and properties without rental guarentee tend to be cheaper to buy because of this!

See ya D

[dave99]

Have to agree about the poor location, and built in cost for the rental income - payment up front is serious bad news.

[jenniann]

Hi Dave99,

Out of interest, is your comment regarding location based on experience? I agree that it is away from the existing "hot spots" but is this necessarily a bad thing? There are plenty of popular resort regions away from Hughada which would have been considered "poor locations" a few years ago. There is also a great deal of investment planned for the Ain Sokhna region over the comming years - suggests that someone thinks the area has potential and I gather the Stella Di Mare resort is doing very well. I'm not saying your comments are right or wrong, just curious.

[dave99]

This particular location is effectively being sold on the back of the "planned" new airport in the region and if and when this happens, and there are direct flights from the UK, it should turn into a real winner, but why wait and gamble for the next 5 to 10 years when Hurghada is there now.
Red Sea Developments (UK & Egypt) - 2 Bed Apartments from £14950

[jenniann]

Hi Dave,

I agree, the airport will certainly be a bonus if it goes ahead but since it is so close to Cairo I'm not sure it matters that much. Granted, there are quite a few developments in the area which are plugging the new airport as one of their main selling points at the expense of other, more positive and certain features, which could prove to be a mistake if it doesn't go ahead.

Personally, I don't think Zafarana is one of them and the developer appears quite up front about what it does and doesn't offer. I have had quite a bit of contact with the developer whilst researching a number of other projects and he seems to have his head screwed on. Hurghada is not really an option for us because with our budget, we would be looking at a studio apartment, sharing a single pool in the middle of a high-rise with a couple of hundred people, or sharing the public beach with every man and his dog. Granted, Zafarana is a bit of a punt and could be a flop, but you get a beachfront pad in a 3-storie building for a fraction of the price further south.

At the end of the day it's horses for courses. If investors want a slightly more certain location then Hurghada may be the way to go but prices and value for money will reflect this. I'm not advocating Zafarana or the Ain Sokhna region in particular, I'm just saying don't rule out alternative locations simply beacuse they are not Hurghada.

[Peter Mitry]

Hi Jenniann do you have any contact details for the Developer in Ain Sokhner? I had heard that in the area where Zafarana is located there are a lot of gas installations and there can be a nasty whiff if the wind is in the wrong direction! Can anyone else confirm this?

[dave99]

I think you're correct about the pricing versa facilities versa location. For my benefit and all other interested parties are you willing to share your knowledge on apartment prices.
The basic price for, say a 2 bed apartment about 80sqm of usable space, on a small complex (mine), with pool is currently around £30,000, in other bigger resorts in Hurghada with more hotel like facilities the same would be about £40,000, in Sahl Hasheesh maybe more like £80,000.

So what are you paying.

Red Sea Developments (UK & Egypt) - 2 Bed Apartments from £14950

[jenniann]

Hi Dave,

No problem. We actually went for a 1 bed at 55sqm and paid £18,000 but for a fair comparison, a similar sized apartment (80sqm) with similar facilities to Sahl, you would be looking at about £28,000. Not to confuse or upset anyone, I am not comparing the resort to Sahl as presently the development is not on the same scale, but it does offer a private beach-front, hotel facilities, low-rise buildings, tennis / squash courts, dive school etc - essentially what you would probably expect of a 5* resort complex. If you go closer to Ain Sokhna itself prices increase slightly but it depends on the resort. Zafarana is about 30 miles away but the new marina which is probably more appealing than Ain Sokhna, is half way in between so only 15 miles away. Personally, I think the region does have good potential but it's easy to get excited about cheap prices and forget the fact that there is a reason - investors do need to go in with their eyes open.

Peter,

No, I'm afraid I don't. I'm not sure how many are at the marketing stage yet, there have been quite a few articles in some of the Egyptian newspapers about development in the area giving names of some of the resorts but other than Zafarana the only main one I came across was "Aquarious Resort" which is described as Irish owned but no details of who the developer is - it is being marketed primarily by Red Sea Investors. The developer for Zafarana is IPI who are Dutch. With regard to gas installations, I haven't been out that way myself but know of quite a few people who have and you are the first to mention it so I'd be interested to know other people's experiences.

Hope this helps!

[dave99]

Hi
Just been looking at this resort and have to say on initial viewing it looks too good to be true, but then on further investigation its very restrictive.
You are limited to 6 weeks own use, no air conditioning, full payment upfront, about £40 transfer fee from Cairo airport (180km away), contract for rental must be for 5 years, mandatory furniture packs if renting, extremely optimistic rental yield of 14% in year 5 (if you last that long). The baisc price is very low but are you really buying anything.

And they are pushing the fact in the ads that there is planned new airport which may or may not get UK flights in the next 10 years, but even then it still going to be a lot further away than Sharm or Hurghada resort complexes.