Buying an apartment in Egypt: the inspection checklist

Everything on this page is about one specific unit, on the day you view it. The legal work comes later and your lawyer handles it; what nobody else can do for you is stand in the flat and check whether it works.

Egyptian apartment listings show finished rooms. They do not show the water pressure on the sixth floor in August, the neighbour who runs a workshop, or the fact that the building's two upper floors were never licensed. This is the list to work through before you talk about a deposit.

Take these on the viewing

Go twice, once in the morning and once in the evening. Traffic, noise, parking and the neighbours are different creatures at different hours.
Run every tap and the shower at the same time, and flush. Check pressure on the actual floor.
Look at the ceiling corners in the bathrooms and kitchen for old damp stains under fresh paint.
Open and close every window and door. In new-build, badly hung aluminium is the common defect.
Check phone signal in each room, and whether fibre is actually connected to the building.
Stand on the balcony and look at what will be built in front of it. An empty plot opposite is a future wall.

Utilities and arrears

Electricity, water and gas arrears attach to the meter, not the person who ran them up. Ask to see the last three bills for each, check the meter readings against them yourself, and make the transfer of all meters into your name a condition of final payment in the contract.

Ask specifically whether natural gas is connected or the building uses cylinders. Retrofitting gas is not always possible.

Building and licence

Ask for the building licence and compare the licensed floor count to what is actually standing.
Ask whether the unit has been altered from the licensed plan — enclosed balconies and removed internal walls are frequent and can be unlawful.
Check the lift's maintenance contract and last inspection, or accept there isn't one.
Look at the stairwell, the roof and the entrance. Buildings are maintained by collective agreement and the common parts tell you how well that works.
Ask the doorman (البواب) about the building. He will tell you more in five minutes than the seller will in an hour.

Documents to ask for before any deposit

The seller's national ID, matched against the name on the contract.
The chain of contracts back to a registered root, or the registered title.
The inheritance declaration and all heirs' signatures, if the seller inherited.
A spouse's consent where the property is matrimonial.
Recent utility bills and the building or compound charge statement.
A furnishing inventory, if the sale includes contents.

Common questions

How much deposit is normal on a resale apartment?

There is no fixed convention. Ten per cent against a signed preliminary contract naming the completion date and the consequences of default is a reasonable structure. Do not pay anything against a verbal agreement.

Should I use the seller's lawyer to save money?

No. Their lawyer acts for them. Appoint your own; the fee is small relative to the transaction and the conflict of interest is total.

What if the seller only has a preliminary contract?

That is common. It means you are buying an unregistered unit, which should be priced below an equivalent registered one, and you should plan how registration will eventually be achieved before you sign.

Last reviewed September 2026. Prices, tax rates, residency thresholds and ownership rules in Egypt change frequently — verify anything you are relying on.