Rental property Considerations for ex-pats in Egypt

After the reviloution I must state clearly, I have never felt safer within Egypt then i do currently.

Property rentals are pretty straight forward and you should always obtain a written lease or rental agreement done in duplicate, with one copy being for each party to the agreement. It’s a good ideal to have a witness also be a signatory on your behalf within the completed written agreement in general.

In almost all parts of Cairo you will need to have your passport available for verifying who you are. You should expect to also need to furnish a copy of your passport to the owner, the local authorities maintain a data base of who is where for related national security efforts.

You will find many commercial real-estate firms available which are ready to facilitate your local property search, expect to be shown higher end rentals that have an established expected commission level of ten percent. Do to the general commission structure of the local market along with the perception that all foreigners have un-limited funds.

It's been a customary practice over the centuries within Egyptian society to pay some form of a finder's fee to the individual, firm, agent or entity which located the property for you and helped close the deal. The recent norms established within Egypt are tied to historical practices. A payment equal to one months rent is the established norm.

You should understand you can and should try to split this expected fee with the property owner directly and never prepay a finder's fee when trying to locate a property.

I would ask about the owner about the under counter installation of a reverse osmosis water filtration system. If you will have children present and utilizing water along with fulfilling the daily kitchen requirements. You will find the local population split of the quality of water issue, many just assume it's safe for use or that no other affordable option is available or needed.

You will most likely be asked to pay three or four month's as initial fees when you sign your agreement. First and last months rent and one or two months as security for any potential damages which may be claimed by the owner.

You should expect to be asked for ten percent a year as a normal increase. You should also try to negotiate a lower total percentage increase on a yearly basis and request a longer contract term based on your known period of stay in Egypt. This point should also be included in your rental contract. Many real-estate or property owners prefer foreign nationals as tenants as they are often perceived to take better care of material items which belong to others.

As a rule it's good to ask about the services you need or want in any of the prospective properties that you are or will consider renting. Always ask so no issue arises later during the process. I would ask about natural gas, electric, Internet service provider, satellite television service, water and telephone with international services if needed as some of the services could take a couple of weeks to get working. I would ask if any businesses are located in the building or schools near by do to the related parking issues which routinely arise.

Be sure to inquire and or look for fire extinguishers, small pressurized aerosol can type extinguishers are locally available for a really reasonable price. It’s a good practice to have a couple on hand just for you own emergency use along with a flash light.

You should expect to discover some owners that just tell you no about any rental contract wording or request you may have. This group of owners has been pre-programmed, over the years to treat tenants as and ongoing pool of funds for use only.

Don't panic or become pressured, when you discover this process may require some time and effort take your time and continue your search you will find something suitable for use at a fair price. From one of the many decent people that Egypt is home to. Try to use any friends or contacts that already have a place similar to what you're looking for during your search, if the rental fees are within your target price range. They may have some insight or knowledge of and available apartment. That is only being advertised by word of mouth. Via the local social networking that normally occurs during the daily living processes. Many decent flats and apartments are rented Thur this networking process which is based on solid affiliations and good personal relationships.

Make sure this rental agreement covers and outlines all the pre-existing damage you discover which the owner claims he'll fix after you make a payment or when you sign the agreement. Please never just take a persons word when it comes to money or contract wording. If they refuse to have the items outlined in the agreement it's probably better you forget about this property.

The rental agreement should include language that specifically covers who is responsible for maintenance and repairs of major appliance items which pre exist and are semi fixed to the building or apartment.

The rental agreement should not define and old visibly used flat as "like new or new" the use of this wording will only predispose you to a claim against your security deposit and or require you make everything like new to obtain your deposit.

Some owners will define the property as being rented empty even though it contains some furnishings for your use, this really means you're responsible for any and all repairs that are not separately outlined in the rental agreement along with all the utilities.

You will encounter some flats which are devoid of air-conditioning, light fixtures and ceiling fans. The light fixtures and ceiling fans are very reasonably priced here. You should try to negotiate these issues for some form of offset to your monthly rent based on leaving the fixtures when you depart. I recommend the use of energy saving light bulbs in all the light fixtures.

You should expect to make lots of small repairs on your own to leaky faucets, burnt out light switches, cabinet handles or hinges and to toilets which seem to run continually.

I recommend when asking about property rentals in your selected area of Cairo that you try to keep it simple and think about the space you need in the context of bedrooms. Use the number of total bedrooms you will really need for your living needs. Then add one extra if you want a home office space and maybe another if you need a guest room. All the other apartment areas will most likely grow proportionately as bedrooms are added. Bathrooms will also be added based on the total of bedrooms, one of the extra bathrooms can be used for a laundry area most likely.

Almost all apartments or flats contain a minimum of one and one half baths as a starting point, a kitchen area and a reception, which is normally the largest area in the flat. which is used to entertain your guest and most flats will likely have two bedrooms as a minimum.

Most of the older flats and apartments have smaller kitchen areas. If you like and need a decent size kitchen area with plenty of space you need to be upfront about this requirement or other specific needs when you begin your search.

Tell all the people or resources you are utilizing for searching on your behalf, you only want to see flats that met your minimum space and or other requirements and have some working utilities such as water and electric. Often the natural gas is shut off when the flats are left setting empty over a long period of time but make sure you look for and see the gas meter for the apartment. The meters are quite often located inside of the apartment. If you don't see a meter you really do need to ask, because the area you're looking in may still use bottled gas for cooking and hot water requirements. Each appliance will need a gas bottle along with one spare tank. Which must be changed when it's empty, this is a real inconvenience and difficult task. Most females will find this task un-manageable as the tanks are very heavy and or unsanitary.

I recommend the use of electric water heaters within Egypt from which can easily be turned on and off by the press of a button on the unit. Each water heater should be installed and wired to a fused power switch for safety reasons outside of the area of use. These units require about an hour to heat up and will keep the hot water for a couple of days as the units are insulated. It's a good general safety practice to heat your water then shut off the power to the unit.

Upper level floors are often found empty due to the exposure to direct heat from the sun and the related cost to cool the area during the summer. Ground level floors which are really the first floor above ground level (unless it’s a villa) are also often empty in many buildings due to the proximity to the street and the related noise, the false perception of exposure to bugs and animals and the fear of being easily robbed.

As a general rule all ground level doors and windows should be covered with decorative iron work to discourage any person which may be less then honest.Egypt is like any other country on earth its home to both,good and bad people. 

If you're coming to work here and your firm has a local office already established, they should and will most likely help navigate you safely Thur this effort within your budget.

If you're pursuing this effort on your own as an individual or for a firm, you should really plan to take a couple of weeks to locate a place that’s both decent, affordable and located conveniently for a more comfortable long term living arrangement if your budgeting allows.

If you're coming for a term longer then one year, it's worth the effort to do some quick calculations for the cost of new kitchen and or electronic items and furnishing the empty flat Vs the cost of a furnished flat of the same size located within the same general area. This exercise will help you understand the daily cost of the furnished items. These items if purchased can easily be sold for half of the initial value, when you're ready to depart with some pre-planning and if you selected decent quality items to begin with. Assuming the items are only two or three years old, remains in good working condition and are presentable with all the original documents.

I highly recommend that all Person's which will be expatriated to Egypt for a period of time in excess of one year, and has a decent Per Diem or Housing and or Living allowance along with a transportation element run the numbers then decide what reasoned course of action is best to follow.

You may find it necessary or beneficial due to time and language constraints to use a local person or firm to facilitate your initial search and facilitate incoming purchasing and furnishing efforts in a reasonable amount of time.

I highly recomend the use of Riham Fadel for your incoming needs and objectives being meet in a timely fashion.She can source and handle the proper rental contracts and or negotiation efforts, vet the rental properties uitilites and obtian the other needed or wanted services necssary for your selected living quarters.

The cost of renting a flat or apartment in a multi family building should really contain two elements which result in a monthly total. The smallest component will be for the general shared building maintenance, cleaning services, hallway and garage lighting and may include a doorman's salary and trash services in some areas of Cairo. This money you will need to pay but "it should not be counted as part of the monthly rental fee" in the lease or rental agreement as they are two separate issues.

You should always prior to signing any agreements or making a deposit, be sure to obtain the latest bills or invoices for all the unities your expected to pay for the apartment or property you are looking at. These invoices are easily verified as being currently paid based on the meter numbers name and address. It's important to verify all services are current and available for this property.If your not fluent in Arabic you will need the help of a person which is to accomplish this task.It could and will prevent you from becoming entangled in a dispute for any past due amounts which are owed for utilities.

Egypt using a Reverse osmosis filter system for drinking water.

I have from time to time searched for information on the quality of potable water within Egypt.the areas covered in this linked report feeds the water supply where i live currently.

I have always used the local water boiled for coffee,tea and any other type of drink which requires refrigeration for storage. We also use the water for cooking.

We have always used bottled water for our daily drinking habits.

If anybody has any related current reports or information on the water quality within Egypt it would be appreciated if you add it to this thread with a link back to the source.

The report above also suggest using a point of use filtration system and then still boiling the water prior to use.

We normally use a large counter top type electric water boiler which is kept full of water that has been boiled at least one time prior to use in our daily cooking.

We recently installed a under counter model reverses osmosis filter system with five stages along with a storage tank.The unit automatically cleans the filters on a regular cycle which is pre programed into the small system and discharges the backwashed solution into the buildings drain system.The unit produces on average seventy five gallons a day of cleaned water or 12 liters per hour on a continuous basis. I'm happy to say the water taste quite like aquafina which is one of the popular local brands.

based on our family of four and our related past purchasing level for bottled water we will recover the cost of the system in under a one year period.

It took some effort to locate and contact the company we purchased our filter system from.Like many of the company's here that have web sites, the email links were found to be none functioning for two of the three firms we contacted and the third firms worked but they were none responsive to our initial attempt at contacting them via email in English.

I find this habit a bit bothersome,why build a web site for advertisement,sales,brand or company promotion with a link for use while contacting the firm. if you fail to respond to enquirers.

My luck with using the land lines was just a little better, i did manage to contact two of the the three firms and made a little head way speaking in English.In the end we used the mobile phone numbers and contacted them again using Arabic all three were quick to answer our questions.

Carrefor sales and assortment of cheap filters for in-line and counter top use. none of which can filter,clean and store water in a sufficient amount that we use as a family on an hourly or daily basis.

This product area is currently under study we will most likely enter the residential sector for this consumer product line.which is really needed within Egypt at a fair consumer price range.


I will list/link to some of the recent study which are available on-line and relate directly to the quality of available waters within Egypt.

Quality of Bottled Water Brands in Egypt

chemical-quality-of-tap-water-versus-bottled

Work instructions with quality check points.

The use of simple computer based work instructions,with mandated detailed quality check points,that detail pass or fail criteria for the specific step.This would seem to be a must have "type of document" in all manufacturing facilities today!And that this document, would be available in or accessible within all the departments.Which are related or directly associated with the product manufacturing pathway used by the facility for the article under manufacture.

This lack of detailed instructions and or process controls often results in additional down time do to recurring issues which should have been corrected systematically over the products previous manufacturing cycles.

I recently witnessed a batch of primer under going its final steps in the mixing and dispensing process.I observed what appeared to be a shortage of product containers based on my quick calculation of the number of necessary containers verses what was located at the filling station.I was shocked to learn, that no other containers for this material were available within the factory or from the material control group. which utilizes a manually written simple record system of in and out without the benefit of any min/max requirements for new order generation.Which should be based in part, on a historical known purchase cycle time for the needed article.

Paint Booths are needed within Egypt.

Over the years, I have visited many workshops within Egypt, along with some decent size factories that apply paints by conventional spray methods.Quite often the spray operations are being performed in an open area or just at curbside. With little regard being giving to the effects of the material being sprayed on the environment or for the spray technicians personnel health.

All to often the technicians knowledge base is or was constructed utilizing outdated concepts and ideals.Which were accumulated over the years working within the particular industry sector. Very little of this information historically was documented in any repeatable medium.That the workers could access, recall or use at a later time, in the context of specific work instructions or process control sheets. Which also should detail the necessary reference materials or other related regulations under the laws of Egypt. which are required for use and should be applied under current ISO standards.

I have found it very difficult, to effectively change the manufacturing culture in Egypt within some firms.As many firms only want to make very minimal changes to the established systems which are currently in use.

One company which I recently performed a manufacturing consultation for. Knew that his company operated at a decent profit level on a monthly basis. That his staffing level was just under one hundred employee's.And that the accountants could and would sort out the other details when they were needed through out the year."Nothing" was accessible or being tracked on a current data base!For any of the established norms and metrics which are routinely used for tracking and planning future business needs on an automatic basis.

This specific firm has been in continuous operations for almost forty years.This firm plans to build a new facility within two years and will implement many new controls within its manufacturing facilities.