The buying process in Hurghada is extremely simple for foreign buyers wanting to buy an apartment and it is all managed by the UK team and the Hurghada developer’s legal team.
Please note: This easy buying process in Hurghada is for the developments we market, if you are purchasing with other agents or developers in Hurghada you must seek alternative buying and legal advice.
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The apartment buying process in Hurghada
Reserving your apartment
Once you have chosen an apartment and agreed on the payment terms, the UK team will send you a reservation form to complete and email back. The reservation form is to collect the details required for the developer’s legal team to draw up the property sale contract and start the process of buying property in Hurghada, Egypt.
Paying your deposit or instalment
Once we have received the completed form (by email), you would need to compete for the reservation by transferring the initial payment by bank transfer (This will be the first instalment if you are taking the 0% deposit scheme or the deposit if you have agreed on another term).
Drawing up your contract
The property is now reserved and it will be taken off the market. The money and forms will be transferred to the developer’s legal team who will then draw up a legal contract for the property sale and this will be sent to you by email within 10 working days.
Signing your contract
Once you receive the contracts, you will have plenty of time to take a look through and ask us any questions before printing off 3 copies of the contract, signing each page and returning the contracts by hard copy in the post.
Legal contract complete
You have now completed the sale, you will receive a stamped and signed copy of the contract (From one of the 3 you have sent) to your home address to keep as a proof of purchase and you will need to pay the payment plan over the agreed terms, which will be found dated in your contract.
Legal costs and contract information
What are the initial legal costs?
The initial due diligence are carried out by independent lawyers and these are carried out free of charge and you will be provided with a copy along with your contract.
The due diligence carried out are all the necessary legal checks on the project, ensuring it has all its licenses and relevant building documentation in place to legalise the buying process in Hurghada. We never sell in any project until the full due diligence has been completed, to ensure the buyers are as safe as possible when buying process in Hurghada.
If you wish to have the contract checked and due diligence carried out via an independent lawyer, then it is recommended that you use an Egyptian lawyer, as they will need to know the Egyptian law. We are happy to set up a meeting onsite in Egypt with your lawyer and the developer’s lawyer to go through all the original paperwork if requested to help you with the buying process in Hurghada
What are the legal costs on completion?
On completion (Once the property is built and has been paid in full), it is recommended that you carry out a process called the signature court validity.
To keep the buying process in Hurghada safe, 99% of foreign buyers carry out this process as it is a way of confirming your ownership in the courts and having it recognised by them as your property and this usually costs approximately £500 or higher.
This process is a way of certifying your ownership without having all the unnecessary restrictions that come with the full registration process. With the full registration process (not recommended), you can not rent out or sell the property for 5 years and you can only register 2 properties under this process. With the signature court validity, there are no such restrictions, you can buy as many properties as you want and rent them out and sell them when you wish.
We have written more in-depth about this and you can see this in our buying process in Hurghada legal guide >
What are the legal requirements to purchase furnished apartments for sale in Hurghada?
When searching for property in Hurghada for sale, you will need to be over 18 and be able to provide details relating to identity (passport information), Address and nationality.
Do I need a visa to buy a property?
To complete the buying process in Hurghada you do not need a visa when buying an apartment in Hurghada, this however is a requirement when carrying out the signature court validity suite on completion and the lawyer carrying out this process will organise a temporary one for you in order to complete the process. This will be included as part of the overall legal cost for this.
Do I need to be in Egypt to sign the contract?
No, as the majority of the properties we sell are off plan or partially off plan then we make the process much simpler by being able to complete the buying process in Hurghada from the comfort of your own home. It can all be completed by email, phone and post and our team will assist you throughout the whole process.
Can I purchase the property with additional buyers?
Yes, we can add up to 3 additional buyers to the contract and you will then all be joint owners of the property. We will just require the same details for each person as we require for you in order for the contract to be drawn up in all of your names.
Can the property be purchased in the name of my child or a person under the age of 18?
Your child can be added as an additional purchaser alongside yourself or a person over the age of 18 and the person over the age of 18 will be able to legally sign for the property sale on the behalf of the minor.
Can I purchase the property via a company?
This is possible if you are the full owner of the property and there are no other directors or shareholders on the company. You must be the sole director and have all the rights to sign on behalf of the company and the payments towards the property must come from the named company account or from the directors personal account.
The buying process in Hurghada has limited costs for foreign buyers
Property purchasing costs
The costs involved in the buying process in Hurghada are very limited and this is what is increasing the popularity of foreign buyers owning holiday homes in Hurghada year on year.
The costs you should be aware of are as follows and these are completion costs and paid once the property is completed:
Water and electric meters
There is a one-off cost for the water and electric meters to be installed on the completion, the cost of these are approximately £250 each.
Maintenance costs
This is generally one of the last major costs of the buying process in Hurghada. Each owner is required to make a contribution to the general upkeep of the resort, this is a small contribution and it is payable every 5 years in advance.
The cost is 8% of the property price every 5 years. So, for example:
For example, Your property is £25,000 and it completes in January 2024.
8% of this is £2,000 and this would be payable on completion and it would cover the maintenance until January 2029.
Yearly tax
From completion there is a very small annual tax due to the government, this is dependent on the size of the property owned and it is usually between £25-£100 per annum.
This bill will be sent each year and the onsite team will have a service available for you to easily pay this bill.
Furniture
All of the properties are sold unfurnished when purchasing from a developer, therefore the developers will release packages from the furniture team before completion. This will include various options to give you the option to add items to the property on or after completion. However, you are not obliged to purchase a package from them, you can purchase it where you want and when you are ready.
This isn’t exactly part of the buying process in Hurghada, however, we can help with this on a completed apartment.
As the property freehold are there any annual ground charges applicable?
No, the properties in Hurghada are sold on a freehold basis so there are no ground charges applied. As the properties are in complexes set over multiple floors then in order for the property to be sold as a freehold, a proportion of the communal land and area in the communal block where the property is located is included in the property sale.
By doing this legally allows the property to be sold on a freehold basis and therefore there are no annual ground fees payable.
Are there any stamp duty taxes involved in the purchase?
There are currently no stamp duty taxes in Egypt, making it a much more affordable option for second home purchases over many of the popular European destinations.
You can read more about the other investment benefits when purchasing an apartment in Hurghada
Can the maintenance costs be increased yearly and by any amount?
There is a term in the contract which stops for the abuse of the developers being able to impose unregulated increases on the maintenance costs each year. There is a need to have a gradual increase in keeping with inflation, but this is regulated and it is only possible to increase every 5 years.
The amount it can increase is only 10% every 5 years.
An example of this can be seen below:
For a property of £25,000 with the maintenance cost of £2,000 covering 2024-2029.
In 2029, the developers can increase maintenance by 10%.
Based on the £2,000, it can only be increased by £200 covering the next 5 years.
This means that the 2029 payment will be £2,200 and this will cover until 2034.
Are there any council taxes payable or the equivalent in Hurghada?
No, there are no taxes equivalent to the monthly UK monthly council taxes, the only on-going property tax, is the small annual charge between £25 – £100 which was mentioned in the extra costs information above.
Financing your apartment
Credit and bank checks when purchasing an apartment in Hurghada
Interest-free finance options are available to everyone when they are purchasing a property in one of our developments. The payment plans offered are from the developers directly and they do not require you to take a loan or mortgage or have credit searches.
The payment terms are a legal agreement between yourself and the developers, that you pay for the property over a certain period of time. As there is no lending involved in the sale then there are no credit checks required.
What currency are the property prices based on?
The property prices are set in GBP, this avoids the issues of currency exchange changes causing a change in the monthly amount paid for those based in the UK.
For those based outside of the UK, then on special request, we can set the contracts in Euros or USD in order to set the monthly payments and this will be based on the rate on the day you reserve.
Where do I pay the property instalments to?
You are able to pay the property instalments directly to the developers in Egypt, however, due to the monthly bank charges which banks may charge, we have set up a UK bank account for buyers to make the monthly payments, this avoids the need to pay any bank charges.
Can I pay by credit card?
All payments must be made by bank transfer, as it is a property purchase and the transparency of each transaction is required. You can set up a monthly standing order for the payment to be made and the standing order or bank transfer must come from a personal account of the person named on the contract. Payment can only be made by bank transfer, therefore a credit card or debit card payment would not be possible.
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Frequently asked questions
The property comes ready to furnish, none of the off plan properties include the kitchen or furniture but these items can be added and quoted for near completion of the resort.
The apartments all come finished to a high standard and include neutral painting throughout, floor tiles, plumbing and electricity completed and the bathroom suite included.
The property comes pre-installed for AC units to be added. The furniture team will offer the AC units for sale and the amount required will be depending on the size of the apartment. The quote will be given and this will include the installation via a specialist. You can expect to pay approximately between £500 – £650 per AC unit and one is required for the living room and each bedroom. Some property owners opt just for ceiling fans which we can arrange.
The overall living costs in Egypt are extremely affordable equivalent to the UK and Europe. The costs are much lower than they would expect in their home countries. The GBP, Euro and USD are very strong currencies in relation to the local EGP giving you a healthy amount of exchange.
*The information given about the buying process in Hurghada is correct on the date published 30/06/2022 The buying process in Hurghada made simple!
