An official August 2026 price sheet in front of us quotes a one bedroom at EGP 6,540,000, gives the payment plan, the delivery date and the maintenance rate, and never says where the project is.
The developer left the location off the sheet. The questions before buying off plan in Egypt are rarely difficult ones. They are the ones nobody volunteers an answer to, and we wrote that gap into our Hyde Park price guide rather than fill it with a guess.
Buying off plan means paying today for something you cannot stand inside. From Dubai, London or Toronto you will not drop into the sales office to clear up an ambiguity, or overhear what the rep tells the walk-in customer at the next desk. Everything you know about this unit has to arrive as a document.
The twelve questions below each come from a gap or a surprise in developer paperwork that reached us in August 2026.
If you have an offer in your hand and no way to walk into the office that issued it, send it to us on WhatsApp and we will read it line by line. On primary units the developer pays our fee, so the price you get through us is the developer’s own price. Resale works differently, and we agree those terms in writing before anything begins.
Price and unit: what the number actually refers to
1. Is this a “from” price or a phase average?
A “from” price is the cheapest unit of its type in the phase, often a ground floor or an internal view. An average is a different number entirely.
The developer of One Hyde Park published averages rather than starting prices, one bedroom 7 to 9 million, two bedrooms 9 to 11 million. We left it out of our comparison tables, because an average beside a “from” price is a false comparison.
Ask which of the two you are looking at, and what the unit you actually want costs.
2. Which phase, launch or open inventory?
One project sells at two prices on the same day. At Hyde Park Central a one bedroom starts from 5,900,000 in the launch phase and from 6,430,000 in the open inventory. A gap of 530,000, paid for with a year or more of extra waiting. Without asking, you compare one project’s launch price against another’s open inventory and think you found value.
3. What is the area, and on what basis?
Three answers to one question, each of which changes the price per metre. Net or gross. With the terrace or without, because a Sea Veil chalet is quoted at 111 m² gross including a terrace of 1.80 by 9.00 metres, roughly 16 m² of the 111. Built-up area or land included, because the One Hyde Park villas are quoted as built-up area at 196, 218 and 220 m².
The working is in our guide to price per metre in Egypt.
4. What finishing level is in the contract?
Phases of the same project differ. At Hyde Park New Cairo the Greens phase is delivered core and shell at one year, Parkway fully finished at two.
Do not accept the word “finished” alone. Ask for the handover specification as a written, signed annex covering floors, bathrooms, kitchen, doors and air conditioning. In the paperwork we hold it is never itemised, only the level is named.
Payment: the schedule is the product
5. Quarterly or monthly, and how many?
Instalments here are mostly quarterly. A ten year plan means around 40 payments every three months, not 120 monthly ones. One Sea Veil quotation in front of us runs to 39 instalments ending 18 May 2036.
Budget monthly and you are caught assembling three months of saving before each due date. The plan is also written in Egyptian pounds, and what a quarter costs in your own currency is not something anyone can promise in advance.
6. Are all the instalments equal?
In an official quotation for a chalet at Sea Veil in Azha, Ras El Hekma, every instalment is 517,287 except the third, due 18 May 2027, which is 1,061,800. More than double.
| Sea Veil quotation | Unit price | Standard quarterly | Instalment 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unit A | 21,236,000 | 517,287 | 1,061,800 |
| Unit B | 24,928,000 | 607,220 | 1,246,400 |
Nothing was hidden, both schedules are printed in full. But a buyer who reads “equal instalments over ten years” in an advertisement and never opens the schedule will be surprised.
7. What is the maintenance rate, and when does it start?
Maintenance is a percentage on top of the price, not inside it, and in our paperwork it runs between 7% and 10%. In pounds, 7% on a unit at 10,280,000 is 719,600, and 10% on a unit at 21,236,000 is 2,123,600.
On that Sea Veil quotation it is taken in three payments of 707,867 falling in August 2027, 2028 and 2029, the first a year after the contract date. In the Water Residences launch at Hyde Park Central it is not included at all and is set at contract. More in our guide to payment plans in Egypt.
8. Is there an EOI, how much, and is it refundable?
Some launch phases ask for an expression of interest before you choose a unit. At One Hyde Park it is 100,000, refundable according to the developer’s sheet.
Ask whether it is refundable, within how many days, under what conditions, and where that is written. This is money leaving your account before you sign anything.
Contract and handover: the questions before buying off plan in Egypt that cannot stay verbal
9. What delivery date is written in the contract?
Not the date in the advertisement and not the date the rep says. Across the paperwork we hold, delivery ranges from one year to three and a half depending on the phase. At Hyde Park North Seashore alone, Lagoon Town is 1.9 years, Waterside 3 and Shore Residence 3.5.
Convert the waiting into money. Rent of 25,000 a month means every year of waiting costs 300,000 on top of the price.
10. What is the penalty if delivery slips?
Ask about the clause itself: is there a penalty on the developer, how is it calculated, after how many months of grace, and how is it paid to you.
Whether it exists, and what it is worth, tells you more about the developer’s confidence in its schedule than any presentation will. A slipped date reaches a remote buyer as an email, not as an empty site you drive past.
11. What are the transfer terms if you want to sell before handover?
It may not be your intention today, but ten years is a long time. Ask whether contract transfer is permitted, after what percentage paid, at what administrative fee, and whether the developer’s approval is required. Terms vary by developer and by phase, and the answer decides whether you bought a liquid asset or a ten year obligation.
12. Where exactly is it, and who is next door?
Back to the sheet we opened with. Ask for the pin on a map rather than the name of a district, what is planned for the adjacent land, and what the road you would use daily looks like at rush hour.
Distance matters too. Azha in Ras El Hekma sits on the Alexandria to Matrouh desert road at around kilometre 222, roughly a two and a half hour drive from Cairo.
If you cannot stand on the land yourself, send someone you trust, and have them see a delivered, inhabited phase by the same developer.
What is contractually guaranteed, and what is only a render
The Hyde Park Central sales kit describes a continuous, vehicle free central park across 158,000 m², a 15% building footprint against 85% green and open space, and a jogging track of about 1.2 km. It is a good description, and it lives in a sales kit.
Ask which of those items appear in the contract or its annexes, and what the developer may change without your consent. A render is a drawing. A specification annex is an obligation.
The Sea Veil quote we hold carries a footnote saying it is not binding unless signed by the specialist and stamped by finance. Ask for the stamped copy before you transfer anything.
Have an Egyptian lawyer read the contract and its annexes before you sign, and confirm anything touching ownership, tax or residency with the relevant Egyptian authority for your own case.
The twelve answers, and where each one has to live
| Question | Where the answer belongs | Cost of leaving it verbal |
|---|---|---|
| 1. “From” price or average | Quotation, per unit | Projects compared on different bases |
| 2. Launch or open inventory | Quotation, phase named | Open inventory price for a launch wait |
| 3. Net, gross or built-up area | Contract and unit schedule | Price per metre wrong from the start |
| 4. Finishing level | Signed specification annex | “Finished” turns out to be core and shell |
| 5. Instalment count and frequency | Dated payment schedule | Monthly budget, quarterly plan |
| 6. Equal instalments or not | Full printed schedule | A doubled instalment you did not plan |
| 7. Maintenance rate and dates | Contract, stated separately | 7 to 10% outside your budget |
| 8. EOI amount and refund terms | Written refund conditions | Money gone before any contract exists |
| 9. Delivery date | Contract, not the brochure | Years of instalments, nothing to live in |
| 10. Late delivery penalty | Named contract clause | A slipped handover, nothing to offset it |
| 11. Contract transfer terms | Contract clause | A ten year obligation with no exit |
| 12. Exact location and neighbours | Map pin and masterplan | A good price in the wrong place |
Every row where you cannot name the document is an open item. Send the project name on WhatsApp and we will come back with the official developer quote and an independent read of the terms.
The questions before buying off plan in Egypt you ask yourself
These three are not for the sales rep.
When do you actually need the key? The answer alone eliminates half of what is on offer. Can you be in Egypt for handover and inspection, and who acts for you if you cannot?
What is the largest quarterly payment you can make without it touching the rest of your life? Divide that figure by 23,750 for your ceiling in millions on a 5% down, ten year plan.
Have you counted maintenance outside that number? It arrives in a year you are not expecting, at 7 to 10% of the price.
Before you reserve anything
Settle one thing before you reserve: do you have all twelve answers in writing, or are some still a conversation?
Every verbal answer is an open item, and a refusal to write one down is itself information.
Every figure here is in Egyptian pounds, is a starting price set by the developer, and changes with every inventory update. Send us a project name or a question on WhatsApp and we will tell you which line is missing and which is worth negotiating. If you are buying from outside Egypt, our guide to buying property in Egypt from abroad covers how that works in practice.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the single most important question before buying off plan in Egypt?
The delivery date written in the contract, not the one in the advertisement, with the late delivery penalty beside it. It decides how many years you pay instalments without living in the unit or letting it. If you pay rent meanwhile, each year of waiting costs a year of rent on top of the price.
What is the difference between a “from” price and an average price?
A “from” price is the cheapest unit of its type in that phase, and the unit you would actually want typically sits 10 to 20% above it. An average represents the middle of the phase’s range, so comparing one project’s “from” price against another’s average gives a wrong answer every time.
Is the expression of interest refundable?
It depends on the developer and the phase. In the One Hyde Park launch phase the EOI is 100,000 and is refundable according to the developer’s own sheet. Ask for the refund conditions in writing: within how many days, and under what circumstances.
What happens to my payment schedule if construction stalls?
The schedules we hold are tied to calendar dates rather than construction milestones, and none contains a clause suspending the buyer’s instalments if work slows. Put the question explicitly and have it answered in the contract, alongside the late delivery penalty. Ask a lawyer to confirm what recourse the contract gives you.
Can I sell the unit before handover?
It depends on the developer’s contract transfer terms, which differ by developer and by phase. They may include a minimum percentage paid before transfer is allowed, administrative fees and prior approval. Ask for those terms before you sign rather than after.
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