They say there is no place like home. But how do you choose the ideal agent to help you find that haven. Dena Rashed investigates It used to be simple. Those seeking to buy or rent property in Cairo would seek out the traditional simsar (real estate agent) working the area they were interested in. One could find him sitting on a street corner, usually wearing a galabyia, with a modest banner with his name and phone number hanging next to him or from a tree above his chair. Today, however, he is but one stop in the search. Now, one will probably also pick up a specialised real estate magazine with photos of prospective homes or head towards the air-conditioned office of one of the larger real estate offices that have proliferated across town. Starting in the late 1990s, the simsar business has developed to include businessmen and women in fancy suits, working in chic offices. But is this the triumph of form over content? Ahmed Bakri is a simsar who has been sitting in the Agouza district in Giza for the past 30 years. "I am one of the few certified simsars left in the city," Bakri said proudly as he sat on his wooden chair at the corner of the street he works from. "My job is a family tradition," he told Al-Ahram Weekly. Over the years Bakry has created a strong information network in his area. He knows the streets, the vacant apartments, whom to ask and the prices. And it does not end there. "We are the eyes of the government," he says of his role as a traditional simsar. And while Bakri and his like are seasoned professionals, they continue to cater to a specific market of house-searcher. "We deal mainly with foreigners during the year, but we wait for the Arab tourists in the summer time. One deal could allow us to relax for a couple of weeks," he said. Similarly, on a major street like Abu El-Feda in Zamalek, tens of men wearing galabyias stand by the Nile, displaying no signs or banners. "I don't need a banner. My clients already know me," said Mohamed Farag, one of the most established simsars by the Nile. But men like Bakri and Farag are being crowded out of their jobs by unlicensed simsars. "These visitors [unlicensed amateur simsars ] pose a big problem for us. While we pay taxes, rent and bills, they pay nothing," said Sayed El-Kot, the owner of a small real-estate office in Zamalek. While El-Kot, who has been in the business for the past 20 years, is pleased with the profit he makes, he still believes the newcomers affect his work negatively. "The agreed commission from the buyer and the seller is of 2.5 per cent each. But these visitors take whatever the clients are willing to pay," he said angrily. "There should be some kind of strict law to forbid such people from practising." But this may be a small problem for the traditional simsar in comparison to that posed by the large amounts of money invested and the modern high-tech methods used by the up and coming real estate firms. For Mohamed Abadallah, the managing director of Coldwell Banker Egypt, the market is huge. "It is an industry that can't be monopolised. We need strong competition to push out the amateurs, thus freeing the space to the professionals," he said. Introducing the Multiple Listing Service which allows the client to review the available houses as well as those which have been sold to avoid discrepancies in the prices, Coldwell Banker believes that all real estate offices should make this service available. "But we are dealing with an unregulated market that needs more transparency to function more properly." Meanwhile, streets away from where the traditional Farag sits, the business is taking yet another form. With his slogan "Real estate is our business but service is our product," Sherif Khalifa, the managing director of Trenta, believes it is the service that each of his offices provides that makes his company so much more competitive. "We have launched a very efficient website and we are distributing free magazines showing the available houses and apartments," Khalifa told the Weekly. "We are currently developing free CDs with the available houses so customers can peruse at leisure." The lack of a formal association binding real estate agents is one of the basic problems that faces agents. "There is no law to protect us in case of fraud. The associations that exist today are not strong enough to lobby for the agents," Khalifa said. Although current economic conditions may signal a slow-down in the real estate business, agents believe that this will not affect their work. "Although the business has become that of the jobless people, the market needs more proper real estate offices to serve the clients," Khalifa told the Weekly. Meanwhile, it seems that the market will continue to function without regulation. As a customer you probably have little choice but to diversify your options and take your time to search through the full spectrum of available services.
