# Interesting expat read



## aykalam (Apr 12, 2010)

But what do you guys think of the Cairo property prices they quote?

Expat lives: Cairo via Carrefour - FT.com


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## Sonrisa (Sep 2, 2010)

I thinkl the prices are crazy! I am not a buyer and haven't done any research in property but my very rough and unprofessional idea is that a medium sized villa in the alex cairo road should cost no more than 30,000 GBP???
And the other one in homesgofast dot com, will not be going anywhere fast or slow for that price!

TO be honest the thing I loved the most is the picture as this is probably my favourite bookstore in Maadi.


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## aykalam (Apr 12, 2010)

Sonrisa said:


> I thinkl the prices are crazy! I am not a buyer and haven't done any research in property but my very rough and unprofessional idea is that a medium sized villa in the alex cairo road should cost no more than 30,000 GBP???
> And the other one in homesgofast dot com, will not be going anywhere fast or slow for that price!
> .


Really? I was thinking the exact opposite, that those prices are way too low. The one in Hyde Park New Cairo is actually off-plan, so could be right. Of course then you have to finish the villa, will be just a shell I would imagine.


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## ArabianNights (Jul 23, 2011)

I have never been to Maadi before - but is it really as plush as articles like these make it sound? Zamalek as Cairo's "answer to New York's Soho?" Really?


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## Sonrisa (Sep 2, 2010)

Really? I am in complete shock. Who would want to spend that kind of money to own a property in the cairo alex road which is mainly desert? I only know one person looking to buy and she is egyptian who is looking to buy in maadi, and certainly she hasn't got that kind of budget.


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## Sonrisa (Sep 2, 2010)

ArabianNights said:


> I have never been to Maadi before - but is it really as plush as articles like these make it sound? Zamalek as Cairo's "answer to New York's Soho?" Really?


I like Zamalek more than Maadi. 
Maadi is not posh. There are stray dogs, and beggers and rubbish in the streets.


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## ArabianNights (Jul 23, 2011)

Oh Ma God. This Al Kotob Khan international that this article mentions.... he said he drinks a cappuccino there....does that mean there is a coffee shop there? Does it mean I can go there and sit and read books and while away my time? PLEASE TELL ME IT IS, I HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR ONE OF THOSE FOREVER! I cant find one in Alexandria


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## expatagogo (May 31, 2010)

Real estate prices in Egypt give me sticker shock and I can't, for the life of me, understand how the average Egyptian can afford to buy a home.


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## MaidenScotland (Jun 6, 2009)

Sonrisa said:


> I like Zamalek more than Maadi.
> Maadi is not posh. There are stray dogs, and beggers and rubbish in the streets.




Also in Zamalek.. but yes give me Zamalek anyday.


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## MaidenScotland (Jun 6, 2009)

An old Egyptian friend told me this..

House prices, rentals, repairs were all cheap until the American oil companies moved in, the people who rented the houses and needed a repair would not wait until the owner sorted it out, they of course didn't live by IBM so they would do the repairs themselves and that according to my Egyptian friend spoilt it for everyone. A simplistic view on it but I get her gist


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## ArabianNights (Jul 23, 2011)

MaidenScotland said:


> An old Egyptian friend told me this..
> 
> House prices, rentals, repairs were all cheap until the American oil companies moved in, the people who rented the houses and needed a repair would not wait until the owner sorted it out, they of course didn't live by IBM so they would do the repairs themselves and that according to my Egyptian friend spoilt it for everyone. A simplistic view on it but I get her gist


Same with renovating property too, as it seems. My neighbour, when she moved in, did a whole new renovation - new floors, new kitchen, new bathroom... new furniture, everything. And they are renting. I guess people here do not have that mentality of "its not mine, why should I type thing".


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## Whitedesert (Oct 9, 2011)

Prefer Maadi to Zamalek, but purely for practical reasons. Dont care what villas cost, just how much I can rent them for.


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