Accommodation in Egypt: scams you should look out for

Hi Bhavna,

I moved to Cairo a few months ago and have a few tips for people looking to rent:

1. Always go through an agency and arrange to meet them first at their office before going to view the property. It’s quite common for ‘agents/landlords’ you meet on property sites to take you to empty apartments that don’t belong to them, in order to cheat you out of a deposit payment. If you go to their office first you can gauge if it’s a legitimate business.

2. If possible always try and take a local with you to view a property, they will be familiar with what to look out for and if you don’t speak Arabic they can ask the questions that you can’t.

3. Look at several properties in one area to establish what the average rent is for the size, decoration and location. To make sure they are asking a fair price.

Cheers

Personally I purchased an apartment in a new building (unfinished) and paid a contractor to finish and decorate it