Propertastic's Complete Guide to Hurghada Property and Egypt's Red Sea Real Estate

[propertyborders]

How well is your guide selling Nick?

[awahee123]

Originally Posted by propertastic

Although I would love to keep it current, unfortunately it would just take too much time to keep abreast of all 35 developments, plus new ones that come along.

There were already a few changes over the few weeks that I was writing it (i.e. Sea Land selling out). It can only be 2-3 weeks before Regency Towers and Desert Pearl are also fully sold as well as there are under 10 units left in both.

So unfortunately it will have to remain a snapshot in time.

Its a shame as it is very informative to all who are interested in Hurghada.
Anyway job well done.

[propertastic]

Originally Posted by propertyborders

Proptastic have you bought anything in Egypt yet? if not why is this?

I still like the buying a shop idea any more info on this side of things.

This question strikes a raw nerve, I'm afraid.

The story is this:

My (now ex-)girlfriend and I bought a couple of apartments under market value in this delightful 1960's Communist blockhouse in Latvia's 3rd largest city, Liepaja, during the course of 2005.



We got the pair of them for the princely sum of GBP20,000.

After full renovation on one of them, they were up to GBP60,000 by the end of 2006.

It was at this point that I thought that this was some crazy money for some rubbish old apartments and that there was a bubble in Latvia and we should sell up and buy someplace else.

Exactly where, I didn't know at that time and Propertastic! came about because I couldn't find one source of information that allowed me to compare all of the emerging markets side-by-side. It was while making the research for Propertastic! that I came across Egypt for the first time and couldn't believe how cheap everything was.

I told my girlfriend that we should sell up and invest in Egypt then. Unfortunately, while I am probably too impulsive by nature, she is a great procrastinator, and the situation wasn't helped by the fact that she became my ex-girlfriend over this period.

The result was that we didn't do anything with the properties.

Sadly, my thoughts regarding the great Latvian property bubble came all too true from March 2007 and prices dropped like a stone. The two properties are down to GBP40,000 - and that's if a buyer can be found at all.

Now had we gone head with my plan - sold up and bought a couple of properties in Hurghada instead in Jan 2007 (I'd have probably bought something at The View and maybe Regency Towers back in those days), I'm pretty sure that the GBP60,000 would now be up to GBP80,000.

So her procrastination has cost us GBP40,000 in a period of nine months.

Oh well, can't win them all, I suppose.

But onto the shop. I have to admit that I have done no more research on it - I know that commercial is a bit of a different ballgame from residential.

But if I had some money to invest right now, I mentioned it in the Guide, but I reckon it's a surefire winner, and that's a really good British/Irish pub in the middle of what I refer to as 'Little Britain', which, for those of you who haven't downloaded and looked at the report yet (shame on you all!) looks like this:



Let's count up how many apartments will be there when it's all finished:

Desert Pearl = 400
Suleder = 400
British Resort = 400
Coral Sea Pearl = 180
Regency Towers = 80
Lotus = 400 (a guess, but it looks big)
Red Sea Pharaoh = 45
Sara's Residence = 45
Desert Rose 2 + Misc = 200

So you basically have over 2000 apartments coming online over the next couple of years. Two people per apartment = 4000 people.

That's a fair-sized English village you have there - an English village that would be served by perhaps 2-3 pubs?

I hear ex-pats already moaning that they can't get bacon in Egypt (it's not illegal - just that the muslims can't eat it so it isn't served). Spirits are also hard expensive when served in clubs, but not that expensive to buy in bulk. Have a little shop next to it selling your PG Tips, Heinz baked beans and Kelloggs cornflakes and all the other things British ex-pats miss and someone will have got themselves a nice little cash cow.

If anyone does it, just remember me when you've made your first million from it will you!?

[awahee123]

LOL......

I really wouldnt want to be the first person to suggest importing bacon or any pork products into Egypt, good luck to whoever does as the market is wide open here, I believe the rules for importing meat have been relaxed at the moment due to a shortage of chicken,lamb etc.

Turkey has just about opened up to Bacon even though it was available in a small way from a few years back. I think you will find religion may restrict the handling of pork products,however having said that I did see quite a few Egyptian locals enjoying the local Stella which is also supposed to be a no go.
Regarding the shop idea please correct me if im wrong but I think you may have to have an Egyptian partner,I'm not 100% maybe someone can enlighten us....

[propertastic]

Having done a quick Google, I came across this one chain that is openly selling pork products:

If one want a beer or a bottle of wine at any time, Maison Thomas is the place to go to. This outlet sells all kinds of beers and wines and it is open 24 hours per day. Thomas has been in Egypt since 1922. They are also one of the few places that sell many kinds of pork, including Ham, Bacon, Mortadella, Salami, and others. They are also famous for their pizzas and deserts

Zamalek: 157 26 of July St. 7357057
Mohandeseen: 29 Shehab St 3036139
Maadi: Cairo-Helwan road, next to Metro super market 5243800
Helioplis: 114 Merghany St. 4192914
El Gouna: Abu Tig, Marina

From: A Boozer's Guide to Cairo (and Egypt)

So, if you can't buy bacon direct, you could always just drive up to El Gouna and buy some from their branch there.

There must be ways that foreigners can operate businesses there. I did meet Egypt's dodgiest lawyer (money-laundering is our specialty!) while I was out there. so I'm sure he could sort you out a licence!

[awahee123]

I'm sure there is money to be made in Hurghada and Egypt as a whole,However who do you trust?. Now is certainly the time to get in as a couple of years from now the opportunities will certainly be fewer.
I also think there is something missing in the tourist sector,apart from Safari,Diving etc there seems to be little to do (excursion wise) unless you travel to either Cairo or Luxor.

[propertastic]

Originally Posted by awahee123

I also think there is something missing in the tourist sector,apart from Safari,Diving etc there seems to be little to do (excursion wise) unless you travel to either Cairo or Luxor.

I totally agree. This was another thought that crossed my mind while I was there.

We went to Hurghada on a cheap package through the biggest operator in Hurghada - the Russian giant, TezTour.

As far as I can see, the economics of these tour companies is to sell the packages as cheaply as possible (I tried to do the trip by buying flight tickets and accommodation seperately, but it was a lot more expensive), but then they make their money by selling excursions. This seems to be the main function of the reps.

Compared to the last cheap package we took to Turkey, they really hadn't got a lot to offer in Hurghada apart from the watersports. Trips to Cairo or Luxor required an overnight stay and were really expensive compared to the trip itself. I can't see that many people are going to abandon their rooms to pay for some more in another city.

Against my wishes, my girlfriend did rope me into going on one excursion - some kind of cheesy show with people riding horses around mockups of the pyramids. Totally rubbish and overpriced, but they had hordes of people there.

So I agree that anyone coming up with some kind of excursion or activity of appeal to tourists would do well. Sales & marketing would be very simple - you just need to do deals with all of the major tour companies - including paying them a very hefty percentage which is built into the over-inflated price in the first place - and the customers should come flooding in.

[awahee123]

I wouldn't mind having a go here however it's finding somebody who can tell you the legality of a foreigner starting a business.

[GM43]

Originally Posted by propertastic

So, if you can't buy bacon direct, you could always just drive up to El Gouna and buy some from their branch there.

On this newsletter (weekly) there is an advertisement of Drifters restaurant, location: follow the street next to the telephone central in Sakalla:
spotredsea . com / newsletter / issue236 (remove the spaces)
The newest issue is: issue252

I do not eat pork, but give just the information for the ones who like to eat it.

[propertyborders]

Great Guide Nick well done.