LIVING "By the Real Estate Leaders" Summer 2016- Issue # 9 | Page 9

Secondly if the building is not registered with the lending bank, they will assign
you a property evaluator who determines the price of the unit, which he may
determine at a lesser amount than it is being offered and thus provide less
financing. The final and most difficult prerequisite is to find a property, which is
registered at the Real Estate Registry.”
There is no doubt that there is plenty of work involved and while it may be
tedious and time consuming, the objective is to protect both buyers and
lenders from any possible fraud. The question is however, “Is it enough to drive
people away?”

Demystifying Mortgage Financing
So how does a clueless individual find the information they need when it
is not all readily available and requires plenty of digging?
Engineer and former banker, Ihab Omar who is the founder of Charter Financial,
mortgage financial broker has been striving since 2004 to find a way to help
educate the Egyptian market about this perceived black hole called mortgage
financing. His commitment to raise awareness and rectify false perceptions are
one of the main reasons he opted to open his own company and help bridge
the knowledge gap between lenders and buyers.
“With the introduction of mortgage financing came rise to a new set of jobs
such as mortgage brokers and evaluators to help assist people in understanding their options, required paperwork and necessary steps.” says Omar,

“Honestly it is not an easy task to take on, on your
own and sometimes people’s requests for a loan
can get rejected for the slightest error. Going to an
experienced mortgage broker can save a lot of
time and reduce unnecessary stress. At Charter
Financial we actually offer this service free of
charge to our customers and take our fees from
the lending bank”
Omar continues to explain that there are two
different sources for financing; mortgage houses
or through the banking sector. He mentions this
because there is a difference between the financing terms and requirements of mortgage providers who have been operating over the past ten
years and newly participating banks that are
taking part in the Central Bank’s initiative. So with
all these varying factors, he strongly recommends
that people get the right kind of assistance so that
they can really start to see the many benefits of
mortgage financing. His firm has even gone the
extra mile to share information by posting on their
website http://charter.com.eg/index.asp the list of
banks that offer loans, property options, how to
apply and even a loan calculator.

A Mortgage Success Story
And while some have not been very successful in making use of these new laws
due to a lack of understanding of its rules and requirements, others have reached
out to professionals who have managed their entire process from start to finish.
One particular IT employee and client of Charter Financial was the hero of a
bittersweet story when the family of his bride-to-be insisted that he purchase an
upscale home before they consented to the marriage. Unable to afford hefty
monthly installments on any of the developments within the new cities, he
decided to try applying for a mortgage loan. His salary placed him in the middle
tier, allowing financing up to LE 500,000 and payments over 20 years. Ironically it
was finding a suitable apartment, which proved to be the most time consuming
but once he was successful in doing so, the entire process was complete within the
course of one month. Moreover because the lending bank paid off the owner the
total amount in cash, he received a decent discount on his new home. He now
happily resides in the upscale neighborhood of Maadi with his new wife and feels
quite content with his decision.
So as things start to become clearer, there just might be light at the end of this
tunnel.

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