LIVING "By the Real Estate Leaders" Summer 2019 #Issue 18 | Page 9

Targeting foreign buyers, though, is entirely different to
targeting local buyers. There are many factors at play.
Tourism, for example, will have a strong effect on the real
estate exporting industry; as tourism rises, it means a rise in
prospective buyers in the country.
Another main factor that will heavily influence the success of
this new direction, is the quality of the units. Clients living in
Europe or the Gulf area are used to a certain level of quality,
one that is not easily found in Egypt. If Egyptian developers
want to attract these kind of buyers, they must provide
properties at a very high standard. This includes employing
the latest technologies in order to produce smart
environmentally-friendly homes. Developers also need to
keep in mind that different nationalities search for different
types of units, for various purposes. For example, most
Western buyers are interested in summer homes and will
therefore purchase units mainly in the Red Sea area. On the
other hand, buyers coming from the Gulf usually look for units
in central areas in Cairo; their requirements are more
luxury-focused, and the more facilities, services, and
entertainment available around the unit, the better.
The legal process is another factor that will highly impact the
success of this concept. Foreign buyers will be more tempted
to purchase units in Egypt when the bureaucracy of the
purchasing and registration process is simplified. The
availability of mortgage financing service can also make
purchasing units more attractive to foreigners. Through this
service they can easily purchase a property with a small down
payment and pay the rest in installments.
In an effort to further boost this initiative, the
government took the step of granting
residence to foreigners who buy residential
units and pay 40% of their value in foreign
currency. Quoting Mr. Nasser “There are a lot of
people who are living in counties that are
suffering from political or economic issues and
are in search of a safer social life, so this law will
definitely encourage and attract a big number of
people to whom Egypt would be a better and
safer place to live in.”
With all these factors going into play at the same
time, it will be interesting to see how real estate
exporting continues to develop, and whether a
balance can be made to ensure the satisfaction
of foreign clients and the economy reaping all
the rewards.
RE/MAX’s role in this new direction is highly
valuable. With a network of more than 125,000
agents operating in over 8,000 offices in more
than 110 countries, RE/MAX’s immense global
reach and network will play a major role in
facilitating the process of marketing Egyptian
real estate to foreign clients. “RE/MAX’s presence
and outreach in various countries is an
extremely important factor, because when one
is looking for a partner in a new market, it is
important to find someone trusted and efficient,”
says Mr. Ahmed El Hitamy, CEO of Madinet Nasr
for Housing & Development (MNHD). “Around
ten years ago some Gulf countries prohibited
importing real estate from Egypt as a result of
some incorrect dealings with the clients there.
So, the presence of a company with such
credibility and a strong global footprint as
RE/MAX is tremendously important for real
estate exporting,” he continues. Since RE/MAX
has offices all over Europe, Asia, North and South
America, Australia, Africa, and the Middle East, it
will be able to contribute in this initiative by
utilizing its reach to showcase Egypt’s real estate
potential to its clients everywhere around the
world.
Seeing how enthused and confident so many
real estate experts are, one cannot help but be
hopeful for the future of real estate exporting in
Egypt, and the overall impact it will have on the
economy and the industry as a whole.
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