Cash price vs installment price: how to compare

Most new homes in Egypt are sold with long payment plans. The plan price looks like one number, but paying over 8 years is not the same as paying today. That is why two homes with the same sticker price can be very different deals, and why a home with a bigger plan total can still be the cheaper one.

Why plan prices look bigger

Developers price the cost of waiting into the plan, so a unit sold over 8 years asks for more in total than the same unit sold for cash today. The longer the plan, the bigger the gap, and most ads never show you the total at all. They show the down payment, or the monthly installment, because a small number sells better than a large one.

One number for every home

3altool adds every payment plan up into one number: the down payment plus every installment still to run. Nothing discounted and nothing estimated. It is the money that leaves your hand from today until the plan ends, and it is the price you see on every listing.

A worked example

Take two apartments in the same compound, same size, same floor. The first is listed for 4.2 million cash. The second is listed with a 600 thousand down payment and 50 thousand a month for 7 years. The second ad looks cheaper, because 600 thousand is the only big number you see. Add it up: 600 thousand plus 84 installments of 50 thousand is 4.8 million, so it costs 600 thousand more than the first. That does not make it a bad deal. If you do not have 4.2 million today, the plan is what lets you buy at all. But you should know the gap, and you should know what you are paying for the time.

How to use it when you shop

• Compare homes by that total, not by the down payment in the ad.
• If a listing only shows a down payment, treat it as incomplete and ask for the full plan.
• If you can pay cash, treat the total as your ceiling: a seller who gets all the money today should take less than the plan adds up to.
• If you are buying on the plan, look at the installment next to your monthly income, then at the total next to similar homes. Both have to work.
• Watch the end year. Two plans with the same monthly installment can differ by years, and the longer one costs more in total.

Questions to ask about the plan

• How many installments are left, and how often are they paid: monthly, quarterly or yearly?
• Are there extra payments on top of the schedule, such as a handover payment, a maintenance deposit or club membership?
• Is the installment fixed, or does it change at some point in the plan?
• What happens if you pay the rest early: is there a discount for that?

The published plan is always shown too, so you can see both views before you call the seller. For resales that carry a plan, read what a resale deal is to see how the amount already paid fits into the total.

Frequently asked questions

Is the cash price always lower than the plan total?

Almost always, because the plan price carries the cost of waiting. The gap grows with the length of the plan: a short two-year plan sits close to cash, an eight or ten-year plan can be a quarter or more above it.

How much discount should I ask for if I pay cash?

Start from the plan total and work down. Sellers who get all their money today routinely accept well below the sum of their installments; how far below depends on how urgently they need the liquidity. Use the cash prices of similar homes in the same area as your anchor, not the developer's plan price.

What if the ad only shows a down payment?

Treat it as an incomplete listing. A down payment alone tells you nothing about what the home costs. Ask for the installment amount, how often it is paid and when the plan ends, then add it all up before comparing.

Does 3altool discount the plan to a present value?

No. The number on the listing is the plain sum: down payment plus every installment still to run. It is the money that actually leaves your hand. The seller's published plan is shown next to it, so you can apply your own discount rate if you want to.