[center][/center]Having just put a deposit down for a 2 bed apartment [90sq mtr] in Hurghada and want to use it for investment and occasional use. The sales 'blurb' quotes rental yields from 12 to 23 % but this wont be written into the contract!
I know the political and cultural risks but think the flats are good value at 40k pounds and judging by the amount of people who tell me they have been or are going to go to egypt there should be a good rental potential.
Has any one else bought in Egypt as it would be good to swap information?
Tony
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Full Version: Egypt - Has Anyone Bought There?
hi, i lived in Egypt for 2 years. remember, flies, mosquitos, dodgy tummies, corruption and reports on theft near hurghada, political instability and global warming which estimates within 20 years droughts near nile, coastal flooding in low lying areas of red sea areas. we where looking at hurhgada and despite my gloom would like to buy 1 bed apartment in sharm for holiday home, good local flights from newcastle, but not as investment. too many cheap deals in hotels as mentioned above. lots of luck.
QUOTE(lesqualita @ Jan 21 2007, 01:37 AM) [snapback]531984[/snapback]
hi, i lived in Egypt for 2 years. remember, flies, mosquitos, dodgy tummies, corruption and reports on theft near hurghada, political instability and global warming which estimates within 20 years droughts near nile, coastal flooding in low lying areas of red sea areas. we where looking at hurhgada and despite my gloom would like to buy 1 bed apartment in sharm for holiday home, good local flights from newcastle, but not as investment. too many cheap deals in hotels as mentioned above. lots of luck.
lesqualita, Thanks for that input and I take on board what you and 'Radio' have said. My partner likes Egypt and wanted a little overseas investment so we thought we'd take a gamble on Egypt because the prices are much lower than other countries. Hopefully the developer of the block of apartments , 'Desert Pearl' will be successful in getting a hotel or travel company to take on the apartments as holiday lets... We are not holding our breath however because guarentee rental income wont be written into the contract.
Where did you live in Egypt and can you recommend a good web page for expats there.
Thanks for your inputs
Tony
QUOTE(breeze49 @ Jan 14 2007, 10:33 PM) [snapback]526275[/snapback]
[center][/center]Having just put a deposit down for a 2 bed apartment [90sq mtr] in Hurghada and want to use it for investment and occasional use. The sales 'blurb' quotes rental yields from 12 to 23 % but this wont be written into the contract!
I know the political and cultural risks but think the flats are good value at 40k pounds and judging by the amount of people who tell me they have been or are going to go to egypt there should be a good rental potential.
I know the political and cultural risks but think the flats are good value at 40k pounds and judging by the amount of people who tell me they have been or are going to go to egypt there should be a good rental potential.
1) Do you know Hurghada? If no, check on internet to see that it is mostly a dumphole. Why not buy in Sahl Hasheesh or El Gouna for a bit more than what you are paying. In Sharm you can even get a Golf property for about £27000.
2) People that sell Desert Rose are heavly advertising it, which means there is a big premium embedded in the price. There are plenty of 2 bedroom apts. in HUrghada to be had for
less than £25000.
There is no rental potential in Hurghada or anywhere in Egypt. The hotels are dirt cheap so why bother with self catering?
QUOTE(catara @ Jan 22 2007, 01:22 PM) [snapback]532823[/snapback]
1) Do you know Hurghada? If no, check on internet to see that it is mostly a dumphole. Why not buy in Sahl Hasheesh or El Gouna for a bit more than what you are paying. In Sharm you can even get a Golf property for about £27000.
2) People that sell Desert Rose are heavly advertising it, which means there is a big premium embedded in the price. There are plenty of 2 bedroom apts. in HUrghada to be had for
less than £25000.
There is no rental potential in Hurghada or anywhere in Egypt. The hotels are dirt cheap so why bother with self catering?
2) People that sell Desert Rose are heavly advertising it, which means there is a big premium embedded in the price. There are plenty of 2 bedroom apts. in HUrghada to be had for
less than £25000.
There is no rental potential in Hurghada or anywhere in Egypt. The hotels are dirt cheap so why bother with self catering?
No, I don’t know Hurghada but I do know that the Egyptian government is spending billions in the red sea area and that the airport is being modernized. I found the other places you mentioned had already gone up in price too much and I think there is more potential for Hurghada to improve. Yes, I know you can find other properties for 25000 but this is a top floor south facing and in a gated complex and that gives me peace of mind. You may have a point about the rental but we are going for short term capital appreciation... They are already going up 12% in Feb and it is expected that they will go up another 12% before year end.
Yes, some parts of Hurghada are derelict but the others are good... How many towns or cities do you know where you have the nice areas adjacent to the rougher areas? Watch this space! It is sometimes better to invest in areas where there is more potential and I see Hurghada as one of these, time will tell. Thanks for your input.
Tony
QUOTE(breeze49 @ Jan 26 2007, 11:08 PM) [snapback]536990[/snapback]
No, I don’t know Hurghada but I do know that the Egyptian government is spending billions in the red sea area and that the airport is being modernized. I found the other places you mentioned had already gone up in price too much and I think there is more potential for Hurghada to improve. Yes, I know you can find other properties for 25000 but this is a top floor south facing and in a gated complex and that gives me peace of mind. You may have a point about the rental but we are going for short term capital appreciation... They are already going up 12% in Feb and it is expected that they will go up another 12% before year end.
Yes, some parts of Hurghada are derelict but the others are good... How many towns or cities do you know where you have the nice areas adjacent to the rougher areas? Watch this space! It is sometimes better to invest in areas where there is more potential and I see Hurghada as one of these, time will tell. Thanks for your input.
Tony
Yes, some parts of Hurghada are derelict but the others are good... How many towns or cities do you know where you have the nice areas adjacent to the rougher areas? Watch this space! It is sometimes better to invest in areas where there is more potential and I see Hurghada as one of these, time will tell. Thanks for your input.
Tony
Some facts about the areas where the Desert Rose is going to be:
- very few and very crowded public beaches. You can go to private beaches for about 5 pounds/person/day.
- the sewage is not perfect, it smells.
- hundreds and hundreds of unfinished and abandoned buildings
Hurghada itself does not have any potential, this is why El Gouna and Sahl Hasheesh have appeared. You can ask any honest person and everybody will tell you this.
Why don't you buy in Sharm? There is no rental potential but at least it is nice for your holidays.
Tony,
Have to admit my view is very much in accordance with Catara,with the exception of the observation that there is no rental potential because of the cheap hotels.Short term this is probably correct but with the emergence of the full service gated community concept the market will shift over time from cheap package holiday to premium self catering.
If you do wish to invest in the area, far better you opt for a property at somewhere like Sahl Hasheesh.Long term you will gain significantly rather than opt for a small standalone community with little in the way of facilities on site.In Hurghada you will be in direct competition with the cheap hotels-lots of hassle from locals,drunken Russians etc.
Just ask yourself,why would your rental guests want to tolerate this when a few kilometres down the road they can insulate themselves from these factors and have access to private beaches,golf,spa,tennis,pools gym,bars restaurants,marina,etc etc.On the surface your apartment may appear good value and despite the proposed price increase all this represents in reality is a paper gain.At some point you will have to find a buyer. Peoples levels of expectation are rising sharply and will continue to do so.The market is moving rapidly towards the larger scale full service resort complex.
If you do not have the additional funds to secure a presence on a decent complex ,why not find a co buyer and go 50/50.This way you can share the costs,spread your risk and more effectively use your CGT allowance on sale of the property.This,imho represents a far more sound acquisition strategy.
Have to admit my view is very much in accordance with Catara,with the exception of the observation that there is no rental potential because of the cheap hotels.Short term this is probably correct but with the emergence of the full service gated community concept the market will shift over time from cheap package holiday to premium self catering.
If you do wish to invest in the area, far better you opt for a property at somewhere like Sahl Hasheesh.Long term you will gain significantly rather than opt for a small standalone community with little in the way of facilities on site.In Hurghada you will be in direct competition with the cheap hotels-lots of hassle from locals,drunken Russians etc.
Just ask yourself,why would your rental guests want to tolerate this when a few kilometres down the road they can insulate themselves from these factors and have access to private beaches,golf,spa,tennis,pools gym,bars restaurants,marina,etc etc.On the surface your apartment may appear good value and despite the proposed price increase all this represents in reality is a paper gain.At some point you will have to find a buyer. Peoples levels of expectation are rising sharply and will continue to do so.The market is moving rapidly towards the larger scale full service resort complex.
If you do not have the additional funds to secure a presence on a decent complex ,why not find a co buyer and go 50/50.This way you can share the costs,spread your risk and more effectively use your CGT allowance on sale of the property.This,imho represents a far more sound acquisition strategy.
Sharm-el-Sheik has been hugely popular over the last decade, but this is only just the start of the Egyptian tourism boom.
Sahl Hasheesh is the new destination being heavily promoted by the Egyptian tourism department.
Egypt is in my honest opinion a sleeping giant, tourism has doubled in the last 5 years, the Egyptian goverment is pro-foreign investment and the law very much favours the landlord.
Egypt has the following benefits when purchasign property:
no capital gains Tax
no inheritance tax
no stamp duty
A recipricol tax treaty with the UK (meaning you will only be taxed once on your rental income)
Low entry level (from £22k for a studio)
Huge rental potential
365 days of sunshine (it cools slightly between oct-jan)
2nd only to the great barrier reef in Austalia for diving
The undeniably culturally attractive pyramids
numerous world class golf courses
only 5 hours from the UK
Sahl Hasheesh is the new destination being heavily promoted by the Egyptian tourism department.
Egypt is in my honest opinion a sleeping giant, tourism has doubled in the last 5 years, the Egyptian goverment is pro-foreign investment and the law very much favours the landlord.
Egypt has the following benefits when purchasign property:
no capital gains Tax
no inheritance tax
no stamp duty
A recipricol tax treaty with the UK (meaning you will only be taxed once on your rental income)
Low entry level (from £22k for a studio)
Huge rental potential
365 days of sunshine (it cools slightly between oct-jan)
2nd only to the great barrier reef in Austalia for diving
The undeniably culturally attractive pyramids
numerous world class golf courses
only 5 hours from the UK
QUOTE (breeze49 @ Jan 14 2007, 10:33 PM) 
Having just put a deposit down for a 2 bed apartment [90sq mtr] in Hurghada and want to use it for investment and occasional use. The sales 'blurb' quotes rental yields from 12 to 23 % but this wont be written into the contract!
I know the political and cultural risks but think the flats are good value at 40k pounds and judging by the amount of people who tell me they have been or are going to go to egypt there should be a good rental potential.
Has any one else bought in Egypt as it would be good to swap information?
Tony
I know the political and cultural risks but think the flats are good value at 40k pounds and judging by the amount of people who tell me they have been or are going to go to egypt there should be a good rental potential.
Has any one else bought in Egypt as it would be good to swap information?
Tony
Ok I have been there lots in the last year or two and bought there. I love diving so maybe biased but i love the place and read some of the other comments with confusion. As a place to go and visit i think Hurghada is great. The old town really bursting with life and the lovely new town with the promenade, nice bars and places to eat. No dodgy tummy, no crime and generally really nice people.
Loads of real estate going on and not sure about some of it or the people there selling it, there are some sharks there for sure. I did look at Dersert Pearl but thought they were a hard sale outfit and the location is not as close to the beach as they insist, so avoided them completely. I did look at the finished apartments there just a month or two ago though and admit it looked better than i thought. Build quality average but they were pretty cheap from memory. So pay for what you get i suppose.
Sahl Hasheesh is going to be great but not for a couple of years i dont think and i hated where lots of the new stuff is being offered between Hurghada and El Gouna.
I would definately stick to Hurghada (new) area or Sahl Hasheesh. As there is so much going on there i would stick to beach front or great sea views and pay a bit more. Cant see much rental return until there are regular daily flights as others have said you can get a package holiday pretty cheap. Although i have had trouble getting hotels on a couple of visits where i have booked my own flights and all the hotels seem to run at pretty high occupancy so i alsoi think there is room for rental but that depends on flexible flights arriving (just a matter of time me thinks)
I hope that helps, will be there again next month
One issue I would have with potential property purchase in the growing Egyptian resorts is whether there is a sufficiently mature resale market i.e. all the marketing is of new-build developments which is all well as good (providing the underlying demand is there) .... but with scores of new developments continually coming onto the market, I'd be instinctively wary as to whether a market yet exists for resales.
You are a lowlife spammer tamgoose.
You wouldn't catch me investing anywhere in the Middle East at the moment, or ever, really.
Too many muslims, too much risk of things going horribly wrong politically over there.
They are another country that won't allow proper free elections due to fears that too many of the less-educated among their people would vote in an islamic government who would promptly refuse to ever allow more elections, because they were against the will of Allah, or some such nonsense.
Or turn against "foreigners" as and when the next oil war starts next door, or Iran and Israel kick off possibly with nuclear weapons.
Too many muslims, too much risk of things going horribly wrong politically over there.
They are another country that won't allow proper free elections due to fears that too many of the less-educated among their people would vote in an islamic government who would promptly refuse to ever allow more elections, because they were against the will of Allah, or some such nonsense.
Or turn against "foreigners" as and when the next oil war starts next door, or Iran and Israel kick off possibly with nuclear weapons.
Breeze49,
Interesting (and VERY long tread) ref. Desert Pearl on the Totally Property forum. Looks like a can of worms, or more accurately a can of sand, which you don't actually own.
Interesting (and VERY long tread) ref. Desert Pearl on the Totally Property forum. Looks like a can of worms, or more accurately a can of sand, which you don't actually own.
QUOTE (lesqualita @ Jan 21 2007, 01:37 AM)
hi, i lived in Egypt for 2 years. remember, flies, mosquitos, dodgy tummies, corruption and reports on theft near hurghada, political instability and global warming which estimates within 20 years droughts near nile, coastal flooding in low lying areas of red sea areas. we where looking at hurhgada and despite my gloom would like to buy 1 bed apartment in sharm for holiday home, good local flights from newcastle, but not as investment. too many cheap deals in hotels as mentioned above. lots of luck.
http://www.stanford.edu/class/humbio103/Pa...to/website.html
heres a nasty little parisite you didn,t mention ,it enters the pen!s if you urinate while bathing in the nile. another good reason why not to buy in egypt.
QUOTE (kingsgate @ Jul 22 2008, 08:36 PM)
You wouldn't catch me investing anywhere in the Middle East at the moment, or ever, really.
Too many muslims, too much risk of things going horribly wrong politically over there.
They are another country that won't allow proper free elections due to fears that too many of the less-educated among their people would vote in an islamic government who would promptly refuse to ever allow more elections, because they were against the will of Allah, or some such nonsense.
Or turn against "foreigners" as and when the next oil war starts next door, or Iran and Israel kick off possibly with nuclear weapons.
Too many muslims, too much risk of things going horribly wrong politically over there.
They are another country that won't allow proper free elections due to fears that too many of the less-educated among their people would vote in an islamic government who would promptly refuse to ever allow more elections, because they were against the will of Allah, or some such nonsense.
Or turn against "foreigners" as and when the next oil war starts next door, or Iran and Israel kick off possibly with nuclear weapons.
What a load of rubbish, Dubai is actually closer to Baghdad than Cairo!
Foreigners are more than welcomed in these countries (lets not forget that "foreigners" or tourists as they are more commonly known by the locals provide a huge source of income and high % of GDP for these countries and their people this being the fundamental reason why goverments such as UEA and Egypt are investing so heavily in the tourism sector)
I dare say you would have invested in Dubai 7 years ago if you knew in hindsight how it would have turned out with the spectacular growth some investors have seen
Egypt will follow in the footsteps of Dubai - mark my words
In the modern world terrorism is a threat in all countries and cities, for eg New York, London, Paris, Madrid, Bali, Belfast etc etc etc
p.s. and before people ask, I have put my money where my mouth is and have invested in a property in Egypt in Sahl Hasheesh on a 5* gated resort called Veranda for the price of..........an average brand new car in the UK!!
If anybody is interested I can PM you the name of the 'London' based agents I used for my purchase, they were and continue to be fantastic support!
QUOTE (breeze49 @ Jan 21 2007, 01:33 PM)
lesqualita, Thanks for that input and I take on board what you and 'Radio' have said. My partner likes Egypt and wanted a little overseas investment so we thought we'd take a gamble on Egypt because the prices are much lower than other countries. Hopefully the developer of the block of apartments , 'Desert Pearl' will be successful in getting a hotel or travel company to take on the apartments as holiday lets... We are not holding our breath however because guarentee rental income wont be written into the contract.
Where did you live in Egypt and can you recommend a good web page for expats there.
Thanks for your inputs
Tony
Where did you live in Egypt and can you recommend a good web page for expats there.
Thanks for your inputs
Tony
Hi Tony,
Try this website, someone on here will know of an expat forum for Egyptian residents
http://www.totallyproperty.com/egypt-property/
kind regards
Steve
QUOTE (kingsgate @ Jul 22 2008, 07:36 PM)
You wouldn't catch me investing anywhere in the Middle East at the moment, or ever, really.
Too many muslims, too much risk of things going horribly wrong politically over there.
They are another country that won't allow proper free elections due to fears that too many of the less-educated among their people would vote in an islamic government who would promptly refuse to ever allow more elections, because they were against the will of Allah, or some such nonsense.
Or turn against "foreigners" as and when the next oil war starts next door, or Iran and Israel kick off possibly with nuclear weapons.
Too many muslims, too much risk of things going horribly wrong politically over there.
They are another country that won't allow proper free elections due to fears that too many of the less-educated among their people would vote in an islamic government who would promptly refuse to ever allow more elections, because they were against the will of Allah, or some such nonsense.
Or turn against "foreigners" as and when the next oil war starts next door, or Iran and Israel kick off possibly with nuclear weapons.
You would be an idiot not to invest in the middle east and even a bigger one to invest in US/europe. Fact is middle east property is the only region that is currently experiencing spectacular boom whereas europe, US, OZ, NW and soon asia will be gutted by the credit crunch.
Reason is oil price staying well over 100 dollars and to stay high for a very long time there is a lot of liquidity in the middle east. Lot of property say in Dubai/Abu Dhabi are bought with cash.
And to talk about democracy and governments - look what democracy has done to the west ie credit crunch - all this free world economy with no proper regulation led the greedy banks to lend money left right and center to whomever they could find and that is why we are sufferring now. If this was Dubai/UAE the sheikh (goverment) would have intervened long before and would not have allowed this to happen. They have proved their worth and their dedication to the home property market over and over again. Democracy is not always the best solution...
QUOTE (Ferrari430 @ Jul 24 2008, 10:29 PM)
You would be an idiot not to invest in the middle east and even a bigger one to invest in US/europe. Fact is middle east property is the only region that is currently experiencing spectacular boom whereas europe, US, OZ, NW and soon asia will be gutted by the credit crunch.
Reason is oil price staying well over 100 dollars and to stay high for a very long time there is a lot of liquidity in the middle east. Lot of property say in Dubai/Abu Dhabi are bought with cash.
And to talk about democracy and governments - look what democracy has done to the west ie credit crunch - all this free world economy with no proper regulation led the greedy banks to lend money left right and center to whomever they could find and that is why we are sufferring now. If this was Dubai/UAE the sheikh (goverment) would have intervened long before and would not have allowed this to happen. They have proved their worth and their dedication to the home property market over and over again. Democracy is not always the best solution...
Reason is oil price staying well over 100 dollars and to stay high for a very long time there is a lot of liquidity in the middle east. Lot of property say in Dubai/Abu Dhabi are bought with cash.
And to talk about democracy and governments - look what democracy has done to the west ie credit crunch - all this free world economy with no proper regulation led the greedy banks to lend money left right and center to whomever they could find and that is why we are sufferring now. If this was Dubai/UAE the sheikh (goverment) would have intervened long before and would not have allowed this to happen. They have proved their worth and their dedication to the home property market over and over again. Democracy is not always the best solution...
Well said (although the US will reach the bottom of its cycle once again in another 18-24 months)
QUOTE (Ferrari430 @ Jul 24 2008, 09:29 PM)
You would be an idiot not to invest in the middle east and even a bigger one to invest in US/europe. Fact is middle east property is the only region that is currently experiencing spectacular boom whereas europe, US, OZ, NW and soon asia will be gutted by the credit crunch.
Reason is oil price staying well over 100 dollars and to stay high for a very long time there is a lot of liquidity in the middle east. Lot of property say in Dubai/Abu Dhabi are bought with cash.
And to talk about democracy and governments - look what democracy has done to the west ie credit crunch - all this free world economy with no proper regulation led the greedy banks to lend money left right and center to whomever they could find and that is why we are sufferring now. If this was Dubai/UAE the sheikh (goverment) would have intervened long before and would not have allowed this to happen. They have proved their worth and their dedication to the home property market over and over again. Democracy is not always the best solution...
Reason is oil price staying well over 100 dollars and to stay high for a very long time there is a lot of liquidity in the middle east. Lot of property say in Dubai/Abu Dhabi are bought with cash.
And to talk about democracy and governments - look what democracy has done to the west ie credit crunch - all this free world economy with no proper regulation led the greedy banks to lend money left right and center to whomever they could find and that is why we are sufferring now. If this was Dubai/UAE the sheikh (goverment) would have intervened long before and would not have allowed this to happen. They have proved their worth and their dedication to the home property market over and over again. Democracy is not always the best solution...
It was only the other day I was considering the plunge into Properties in Abu Dhabi. Its hard to see if they aren't just trying to milk the money out of investors over there tho. Its definatly worth a few good ours of research in my opinion, I mean some states in the UAE are doing better than others market wise, but they all generally perform better than here right now. If I wore allready an overseas investor my eyes would be pointing in that direction.
I don't however blame the intentions of democracy and governance... i blame poor implimentation and imcompetance of our democracy and governance. I beleive it was our government that allowed the country to accumulate debt and borrow more money that we could handle.
Egypt certainly has its merits - hot weather, night life and exotic destinations. However property investment is another thing, the rental yields you have described, to put it mildly, absurdingly high. http://www.hiday.net/news.html?newsid=278
QUOTE (BigMike @ Aug 19 2008, 11:37 AM)
It was only the other day I was considering the plunge into Properties in Abu Dhabi. Its hard to see if they aren't just trying to milk the money out of investors over there tho. Its definatly worth a few good ours of research in my opinion, I mean some states in the UAE are doing better than others market wise, but they all generally perform better than here right now. If I wore allready an overseas investor my eyes would be pointing in that direction.
I don't however blame the intentions of democracy and governance... i blame poor implimentation and imcompetance of our democracy and governance. I beleive it was our government that allowed the country to accumulate debt and borrow more money that we could handle.
I don't however blame the intentions of democracy and governance... i blame poor implimentation and imcompetance of our democracy and governance. I beleive it was our government that allowed the country to accumulate debt and borrow more money that we could handle.
Yes Abu Dhabi could be a great investment now. In the first 3 months of this year leading upto the Cityscape AD things went a bit mad and prices spiralled up in a big way. I knew of speculators buying whole floors and towers and marketing to the generel public. (I bought a property too on the Reem Island facing the sea). Fortunately, the market has cooled a bit and currently speculators cant make the same premium as they were making in Jan/Feb 08 and where there are reports speculating slowdown of Dubai in the next 2 years - all current reports seem very positive about the long term prospects of AD - maybe i need to start a thread on it.
Egypt property Investment Blog
Does it have to be the Red Sea? Theres a lot more to Egypt than Sharm el Sheikh. And I see that Morgan Stanley have just opened in Cairo which suggests stabilty for investment and Egypt seems to be the next choice for property investment. Not everyone wants to be stuck in a hotel
Does it have to be the Red Sea? Theres a lot more to Egypt than Sharm el Sheikh. And I see that Morgan Stanley have just opened in Cairo which suggests stabilty for investment and Egypt seems to be the next choice for property investment. Not everyone wants to be stuck in a hotel
Few months ago I bought 2 bed apartment in Delta Sharm Resort (Sharm el Sheikh) for £52k. Month ago, I had a buyer for £65k, but I've rented apartment for long term (2 years contract with option for another 1 year extension) for £500/month. My tenant is a manager of expanding tour operator. I know tenant personally and most of his rent is paid by company (70% company bank transfer, another 30% by tenant cash deposit in to my Egyptian bank acc.).
If Middle East is too dangerous than... well, what would you say about US and UK property market now? Netherless mentiond about stock exchange investments.
There are no real profits without risk.
If Middle East is too dangerous than... well, what would you say about US and UK property market now? Netherless mentiond about stock exchange investments.
There are no real profits without risk.
I think Egypt is a fantastic investment opportunity at the moment. I just bought an apartment in 5* complex for £60,000 from Homestates. It's half way between Hurghada and Sahl Hasheesh and is adjacent to the Golden Five hotel and I can also use the facilities there. I think it will pay off well in few years time
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