Remember the first house I posted photos of and said we were going to get it? The one that was a sanctuary with the fabulous orange gate? Well after two visits and meeting the owner we were told that they were going to sell the house instead of renting it. This happens elsewhere so we didn't think too much of it. It did break David's heart, however. We forgot the first rule in real estate: don't fall in love. Our realtors were very unhappy because they were close friends with the owner and it came as a surprise to them as well.
Our realtors were so upset at losing the first house and were super excited when they found this second house that they knew we would like--we were supposedly the first ones to view it. They knew the owner (the owner's daughter) also, who had called and asked them to find a renter. I went that very evening to look. Then Dave went the next day to look. Then we met with the daughter this morning, who supposedly was in charge of renting the house even though it belonged to her parents. She said that she needed to meet the potential renters and would be the one to sign the contract. At morning coffee today we met and agreed to start the inspection process with Apache as they have to approve everything. Two hours later we hear from the Apache HR manager that another Apache family already has a contract on the house--through the mother! Phone calls back and forth, the daughter telling our agents that we were the only ones. Our realtors are shocked and quite unhappy once again and feel very bad. It's not their fault! But we are walking away from the house because the other family was first, plain and simple. I told David that third time's a charm.
Here's how real estate works in Egypt, as far as renting. There is no MLS listing. Realtors hear about houses and apartments through word of mouth or contact by owners. They even learn about new places opening up by seeing other realtors going into a home with a perspective client. No one hires a realtor to sell/rent a home--its a free-for-all. Whoever gets the client in the door who wants the place gets the commission. We've used several realtors because each one will possibly have different houses to show. We saw many repeat houses this way. Dave and I prefer Helene as she has shown us the best ones so far and is easy to get along with.
Here's another way houses get rented: departing expats tell their friends they are leaving and one of them steps in and gets the place. That is what happened with this house; the apache family knew the guy leaving and contacted the owner. Which is what I would do if I wanted the house. So the current renter told a friend all the while the daughter contacted our agent and then we collided.
The house is OK, and it has some charm. But it needs updating and they are charging a lot of money (at least the daughter was going to charge us a lot of money!). We were unsure of it, to be honest. Now I feel it just wasn't meant to be. There are many expats leaving now and I think there will be more houses to choose from. The house is in a great area and has a nice pool. Here are some photos.
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| The charm in the house is the curved arches. This is a photo of the entryway and living room as I was standing on the stairs. The people in the photo are our real estate agents, a lovely French woman named Helene and her partner Karim. |
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| Pool. Dave loved the back yard. |
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| Acceptable kitchen. We were going to retile the floor and backsplash, new paint, curtains. |
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