Buying a unit under construction in Egypt can be the smartest investment of your life or the longest nightmare in it. The difference between the two is not luck, it is the questions you asked before signing.
This guide is not against any company. The serious ones respect you more when you ask these questions. And if you are wondering why it does not name specific companies: the same developer can have an excellent project and a stalled one, these signs work with any company and any project, and they are the way professionals evaluate anyway. The list runs from the most dangerous to the most common.
1) Land ownership is not clear
The most dangerous sign of all. The project can look spectacular in the ads, but if the land itself is disputed or the developer has not yet met the conditions of its allocation, you are buying paper.
What to do: ask to see the land title deed or the allocation decision and its date before paying any reservation deposit. A serious company shows this without embarrassment, and on a large deal have a real estate lawyer review it, because the fee is far cheaper than any problem.
2) No building permits or ministerial decision for the project
The phrase "the permit is on its way" gets said a lot, and what it really means is: the project is not yet fully legal.
What to do: ask for the building permit number and the ministerial decision, and make sure the specific phase you are buying in is licensed, not the project "in general".
3) The price is unrealistically below market
There is a difference between a real offer and an impossible price. If the price per square metre is 30-40% below every neighbour in the same area, ask yourself: where is this developer funding construction from? The answer is usually from new buyers' deposits, and that model collapses the moment sales stop.
What to do: compare the price per square metre against the real area average from thousands of actual listings on 3altool; every listing carries a stated cash price so the comparison takes minutes. Cheaper by a reasonable margin is an opportunity; cheaper by a shocking margin is a red flag.
4) A one sided contract: the penalty clauses are all on you
Read the penalties clause twice. Many contracts carry a strict penalty if you are late on an installment, and not one word about the developer's obligation if it is a year or two late on delivery.
What to do: require a clear compensation clause for delay, a monthly percentage or a set amount, and a delivery date fixed to the day, month and year, not "within so many years of contracting". If the company refuses any amendment at all, that is an answer in itself.
5) An elastic delivery date and open ended grace periods
Some contracts give the developer a six month grace period, then define "force majeure" so loosely that almost anything qualifies. The result: a two year delay without the developer ever being "late" legally.
What to do: set a hard ceiling on the grace period and a narrow definition of force majeure. The law is on your side anyway, as the rights section below explains.
6) A weak track record or late earlier projects
The truest indicator of your future with a developer is its past with everyone else. A developer that has never delivered a complete project on time will not start with you. The research is not hard, and half an hour saves you years:
Search Google for the company name with words like "delivery delay", "problems" or "lawsuits". Join the Facebook groups of owners in the company's earlier projects; every large project has an owners' group, and it is the most honest source there is because you are reading the experience of people actually living with the company. Read Google reviews intelligently: ignore the single angry review and the over the top praise, and look for recurring patterns, because if thirty different reviews complain about the same thing that is a fact, not a coincidence. Finally, visit a project the company has actually delivered and see its condition two or three years after handover.
7) Net area and loading ratio are unclear
You buy 150 square metres on paper and receive 115 inside the apartment, the rest being a "loading ratio" on shared spaces. That ratio is normal within limits, but hiding or inflating it is a bad sign.
What to do: require the net area, the gross area and the loading ratio to be written explicitly in the contract, with an approved engineering drawing of the unit.
8) Vague maintenance deposits and future charges
The maintenance deposit, often 8-12% of the unit price, plus club and meter charges can add hundreds of thousands on top of the advertised price, and some companies delay mentioning them until the last moment. Some also collect maintenance charges years before handover itself, as press coverage of owner complaints at some large projects has documented.
What to do: ask for a written list of every extra charge and when each falls due. The real price of the unit is the contract price plus all of them.
9) Selling by power of attorney or outside official channels
Buying via a power of attorney instead of an official assignment contract used to be common, but it has become a large risk: the state has begun a campaign to inventory units traded by power of attorney in the new cities, with a window to regularise and a warning that allocations may be cancelled for those who do not.
What to do: any purchase, direct from the developer or resale, must go through an assignment contract approved by the company or the city authority, not a general power of attorney in your pocket. We explain the correct procedure step by step in the resale and tanazol guide.
10) The "offer ends today" pressure
Last day of the discount, last three units, the price goes up tomorrow morning. These are pressure tools whose only purpose is to get you to sign before you think, and a developer with a good product does not need to choke you with time.
What to do: a fixed rule: no signing and no payment on the same day as the viewing. Take the contract, review it calmly and come back. If the "offer" really did disappear, you won, because you found out how the company operates early.
Your legal rights if the developer misses delivery
Egyptian law gives you real protection here and most buyers do not know it. Article 15 of Consumer Protection Law 181 of 2018 treats the contract as rescinded if the developer breaches the delivery date, and you choose between rescission with all your payments returned within 30 days of the request, or continuing with the contract while claiming compensation for the delay.
The final checklist
Tick off everything you have done. Do not go to a viewing before you have memorised this list:
Key facts
- Top red flags when buying off-plan property in Egypt: unclear land title, missing building permits, prices far below market, one-sided penalty clauses, vague delivery dates with open grace periods, weak delivery track record, unclear net area and loading ratio, hidden maintenance fees, sales via power of attorney instead of official assignment (tanazol), and high-pressure tactics.
- Legal protection: under Article 15 of Egypt's Consumer Protection Law 181/2018, if the developer misses the delivery date the contract is considered rescinded; the buyer can recover payments within 30 days of the request or continue and claim compensation.
- Due diligence tip: project owners' Facebook groups and recurring patterns in Google reviews are the most honest sources on a developer's real delivery record.
Frequently asked questions
Should I pay a reservation deposit before seeing the contract?
Better not to. And if you have to, make sure the deposit receipt states explicitly that it is fully refundable if you do not complete the contract after reviewing it.
The developer is late on delivery, what do I do now?
Document all correspondence, send a formal notice through a court bailiff, and then you legally have the choice between rescission with your payments returned or continuing while claiming compensation. Consult a lawyer before stopping installment payments on your own.
Is buying resale from an owner safer than buying from the developer?
Each route has its advantages. Resale gives you a ready or near delivery unit you have seen with your own eyes, which means less delivery risk, provided the assignment is completed officially through the developer or the city authority.
Want a unit you have seen with your own eyes instead of off plan promises?
Over 67,000 listings with a real cash price, and no "call for price".
Browse listings on 3altool