Can anyone offer advice on buying in egypt? Is it possible to get finance there? Is it a safe investment opportunity? I have seen apartments advertised for £18K+. Is there an rental market for this type of apartment?
If anyone has purchased here, please could they recommend area/ development?
I have an apartment in El Gouna (Bought May 2004 finished in Dec 2006 on time on a 30 Month contract),which was bought as a lifestyle purchase as we loved the resort after going there for a Holiday . As you say there are many cheap properties around but think very carefully and visit the location before deciding to buy ,many areas in Egypt have poor infrastructure and just arent appealing to a holiday Market.
Good rental returns are difficult as Egypt is not really seen as a DIY destination . The integrated resorts such as El Gouna are the best bet for rental returns as many people who stay in a hotel for their first visit realise how safe and self contained the resorts are and return on a DIY basis .
That said propery prices are now much higher in these resorts (from £49,000 )and there are high numbers of rental properties available . I do not actively advertise my property for rent. I have had a couple of enquiries through forums and colleagues but these have not come to an actual rental . We just like that our friends and family can use the place when they want
. We self financed the apartment so do not need rental income to pay for loans and I wouldnt advise relying on rental payments to pay for loans. I am also not aware of any financing available in Egypt
If you want to know more about El Gouna or see some pics .You can PM me from the Holiday truths or Tripadvisor websites (User is Crombiestone)as I dont know how (or if you can ) post pics on this forum.
Hi Phil I have purchased several properties in the Sahl Hasheesh resort near to Hurghada. There are three front line beach projects to choose from; Palm Beach Piazza which is already finished. El Andalous which will be completed in Autumn 2008 and Ocean Breeze which will be finished in Spring 2009. I have bought in all three! Ocean Breeze is the nearest to Serrenia the new 640 berth marina which will look like the Palms in Dubai! Although there are no mortgages at present within a matter of weeks HSBC will be providing 60% mortgages. Also, an International Hotel company will manage all three resorts and will have a 24 hour reception and concierge service on site in all three. The first phase of the resort is nearly finished and whilst I don't expect to achieve a rental income this year I definately believe that 10-15% net is achievable in the future.
Is this a set-up? If you are trying to encourage somebody to spend £90.000 on a two bedroom apartment, advocating that there will be 10 - 15% rental yields, then shame on you. Prices have unjustly risen 30% this year on the strength of the greedy (yet more successful) Sunset Pearl charging over the odds for their properties and the Palm Beach Piazza scrapped their laughable rental guarantee at Christmas. If PBP couldn´t guarantee 3%, then how can you suggest that yields of £10.000 to £15.000 are available. As well as Sahl Hasheesh, there are resorts at Hurghada and Sharm el Sheik vying for your business, and when Gamsha Bay is released at the end of the month, what will happen to the appeal of Sahl Hasheesh? There is no doubt it is a good resort. There is no doubt that people would enjoy a superb holiday there. What you have to consider is that "according to official sources" 5 million people will be going to Morocco (when it´s finished) 5 million people will be going to Turkey to look at a golf course that nobody can afford to play on, at least 10 million people are going to cram into Sunny Beach or go skiing in Bulgaria this year - all those golfers are going to forgo the Costa del Sol and its 60 golf courses to fly to Egypt and play either 3 or 8 golf courses (depending on your sales agent) and I can fly to El Gouna in July, stay in the Movenpick on B&B basis for two weeks and it will cost me less than £480. Omn the basis that a flight only will cost £320 - that values the accommodation at £80 per week. I´d have to rent my apartment out for 180 weeks a year to generate 15% yield. Okay, I know it´s not a like for like comparison, but point made.
Hi Andy, point made and point well made. Sharpnose sounds like an agent trying to sell and not someone investing! i went to sahl hasheesh, think its great but wouldnt bank on any real rental for a couple of years at least. Saw sunset pearl, that is too dear now also saw Desert Pearl in Hughada town, what a joke talk about over built. But did find one small project in a better plot a genuine 200 meters from beach with views for 20K and 2 year 7% rental thrown in.
Sharpnose is an agent for Propertyshop International, will post on any forum that talks Egypt to sell Salh Hasheesh. Go north to Zafarana/Ain Soukna for nice priced property - thats where I went. Avoid Hurghada town like the plague, it is a tip. Salh is a disaster zone considering the stupidly high prices - Pizza apartment owners have years of looking out over a litter strewn desert also piled high with disused bricks and cement, walking down a lifeless promenade devoid of facilities, no shops, no gardens, no golf courses, in short, a half finsished war zone of a resort. The logistics and planning has been abysmal. Andalus and Breeze owners will follow close behind. Sunset apartments may escape the worst but they will also get apartments that for ages cannot be used or rented out. When the professionals get going in Gamsha Bay, Salh might die as sales dry up building stops, and prices plummett, agents have been posting as buyers on these forums who have been ramping these properties by talking of massive price increases, huge rents, flipping, sad for punters who believed the agents hype, even sadder because these punters thought they were talking to other punters. The agents will have been long gone by then - having flipped their units to unsupecting punters, I reckon this is what they are doing now, I have heard on other forums of Egyptian Alliance cancelling contracts, putting up prices or not supplying apartments punters have already reserved, trying to wriggle out of contracts blaming design faults, things may be getting desperate. Be sure of who you are talking to with Salh, the bullsiht smells strong. Remember, the rats will always escape a sinking ship.
Originally posted by rolling: Sharpnose is an agent for Propertyshop International, will post on any forum that talks Egypt to sell Salh Hasheesh. Go north to Zafarana/Ain Soukna for nice priced property - thats where I went. Avoid Hurghada town like the plague, it is a tip. Salh is a disaster zone considering the stupidly high prices - Pizza apartment owners have years of looking out over a litter strewn desert also piled high with disused bricks and cement, walking down a lifeless promenade devoid of facilities, no shops, no gardens, no golf courses, in short, a half finsished war zone of a resort. The logistics and planning has been abysmal. Andalus and Breeze owners will follow close behind. Sunset apartments may escape the worst but they will also get apartments that for ages cannot be used or rented out. When the professionals get going in Gamsha Bay, Salh might die as sales dry up building stops, and prices plummett, agents have been posting as buyers on these forums who have been ramping these properties by talking of massive price increases, huge rents, flipping, sad for punters who believed the agents hype, even sadder because these punters thought they were talking to other punters. The agents will have been long gone by then - having flipped their units to unsupecting punters, I reckon this is what they are doing now, I have heard on other forums of Egyptian Alliance cancelling contracts, putting up prices or not supplying apartments punters have already reserved, trying to wriggle out of contracts blaming design faults, things may be getting desperate. Be sure of who you are talking to with Salh, the bullsiht smells strong. Remember, the rats will always escape a sinking ship.
Any purchase in Egypot is a bad purchase now. The cost if airlines is going steeply up and there is no reason to go on your own instead of using a holiday pack.
Zafarana is a joke, 200km from the closest airport.
I would be careful buying into this resort Sahl Hasheeh - some of us have had numerous problems there - check this post out on another forum:
BIG PROBLEMS AT SAHL HASHEESH - PETITION TO BE RAISED TO SOLVE THIS A petition is being raised to address the issues at Sahl Hasheesh resort at Hurghada Egypt. For those who are new to the forums the main concerns around the Sahl Hasheesh resort are:
1 Pre-release and Pre-agreement forms not being honoured by Resort Alliance or the developer “Red Sea International” the developer at the Sahl Hasheesh development. (Even though Resort Alliance for months had informed the buyers that there was no problems - including one case that no notification to the buyer for over 8 months that the pre-contract agreement would not be honoured even though Resort Alliance had been aware for over 8 months that the developer had refused to sign the contract )
2. Peoples contracts showing 2 bed apartments suddenly being changed to be much smaller 1 bed apartments after a floor redesign at the Sahl Hasheesh development plus 3 bed apartments changing to 2 bed apartments.
3. Amendments being made to the Sahl Hasheesh development floor plans with no notification being given to the buyer that this had been done for over 6 months
4. Reserved apartments which had previously been on the floor plan suddenly completely disappearing without any notification to the buyer who had reserved apartment there – the buyer not being notified that this had happened for over 6 months – further the original apartment being given another number which was then sold and the original number no longer existing. (unfortunately this shows the developer Red Sea International appears to also be playing a large part in this –what kind of developer would renumber a floor plan showing apartments numbering 1,2,3,4,5,8,9,10 with apartments 7, 8 being missed out?)
4. Resort Alliance agreeing to contract amendments but the developer refusing to sign or agree to the amendments - subsequently Resort Alliance not notifying the seller for over 8 months that the seller had refused to sign the contract because of these amendments.
5. After the redevelopment of a complex buyers are told that there are no suitable similar sized apartments left as replacements even though current price lists showed over 20 suitable similar sized apartments available.
6. No response from Resort Alliance for weeks to numerous messages left to them via email and to messages left at their reception to contact them back.
7. Refusal of the Resort Alliance management to provide details of the Professional bodies they are members of so that buyers can make complaints against them. 8. Investigation into the collapse of Superior Real Estate as the result of non and delayed payment of substantial funds from international developer and what part Resort Alliance and Sahl Hasheesh developers had to do in this.
