How to sell a property in Egypt, step by step: from your papers to registration

The process at a glance

1. Get your papers ready

Buyers, their lawyers and any lender will ask to see that you own the home and can sell it. Have these ready before you list:

• Your national ID, and a registered power of attorney if you're selling for someone else.
• Your title: a registered title deed, or the complete chain of contracts from the developer or first owner down to you.
• Receipts for instalments paid, if you bought from a developer.
• Recent electricity, water and gas bills, and property tax receipts, in your name where possible.

Our guide to the documents you need to sell has the full checklist.

2. Set the right price

Compare your home with similar homes in the same compound or district, adjust for floor, view and finishing, and check what the developer is charging for new units nearby. Our guide on how to price your property walks through it, with average asking prices by area.

3. Decide how you'll sell

You can sell through a broker or on your own. If you use a broker, Egyptian law now requires them to be registered with the General Organization for Export and Import Control (GOEIC), to have a written contract with you, and to be paid any commission over EGP 10,000 through a bank. Commission is whatever you agree in that contract. Ask to see the broker's card, and check agents on Feinh Verify. Our guide on selling with an agent or on your own compares the two.

4. List the home and show it

• Photos and facts sell the viewing. Bright, honest photos of every room, the exact size, floor, finishing and whether the home is ready. See how to prepare and photograph your home.
• List where buyers trust what they see. Every home on Feinh is checked with the owner or developer before it goes live: authority to sell, price, photos, size and availability. You can list your property yourself or compare local agents.
• Viewings. Be present or have your agent there. Keep originals of your papers at home; show copies.

5. Agree the offer and the deposit

When you and a buyer agree a price, the buyer usually pays a deposit, the arboun, to hold the sale while their lawyer checks the papers. Under Article 103 of the Civil Code, if the buyer then walks away, they lose the deposit; if you walk away, you return double.

Write the deposit agreement down. It should name both parties, describe the home, state the full price, the deposit, how the rest will be paid, and the date for the final contract. Our guide to the arboun and closing safely has a full list of what to include.

6. Sign the final contract and get paid

• Have a lawyer draft or review the contract. It should state the price, how and when it's paid, the handover date, who pays which costs, and that the home is sold free of debts and disputes.
• Get paid through a bank. Under the 2020 rules of the non-cash payments law, companies and state bodies can't pay more than EGP 10,000 in cash for property, and state bodies must collect property prices above that by non-cash means. Between two individuals there's no legal cash limit, but a bank transfer or certified cheque protects both of you and leaves a record. Banks also limit cash withdrawals to EGP 250,000 a day at a branch, so a large cash payment is impractical anyway.
• Hand over against payment. Hand over the keys, the original papers and the bills only when the full price is in your account.

7. Register the sale

Registration at the Real Estate Registry (Shahr El Akary) is what moves legal ownership to the buyer. The buyer usually starts it, but needs your signature on the final deed.

• Law 9 of 2022 simplified the process: the previous owner no longer has to be registered first, and the Registry must decide within 30 days of the application, or 37 days if there's an objection. In practice it can take longer.
• Fees are fixed by size and capped: about EGP 500 for a home up to 100 sqm, EGP 1,000 up to 200 sqm, EGP 1,500 up to 300 sqm and EGP 2,000 above that.
• Many resales in Egypt are not registered. Instead, buyers file a Sehat Tawqi' (signature validity) case, which only proves your signature is genuine. It doesn't transfer ownership. A registered sale protects both sides better, because it ends your legal link to the home.

8. Pay the disposal tax

As the seller, you owe a tax of 2.5% of the full sale price, with no deductions, whether or not the sale is registered. Since Law 151 of 2026 took effect on 29 July 2026, you have 60 days from the sale to pay it. Since Law 9 of 2022, paying isn't a condition for registering the sale: the Registry informs the Tax Authority, which collects it separately. Read our guide to taxes and fees when you sell for the exemptions and a worked example.

After the sale

• Utilities and service charges. Ask the electricity, water and gas providers how to move the accounts to the buyer, and settle your final bills. In a compound, ask the developer or management company how the maintenance deposit and service charges pass to the new owner; it's set by your contract.
• Revoke any power of attorney you gave for the sale once it's complete.
• Keep copies of the contract, the payment records and the tax receipt.

Ready to start? Ask up to three local agents for a free valuation.