Testimonials

Charlotte Putland, Herefordshire, UK "I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for all your help and advice regarding the purchase of the apartment. In particular, I would like to thank you for answering all my questions so patiently. I would also like to thank you for giving me directions to the site when I was in Egypt last month. I am so pleased to have visited the construction site myself and to have seen the work underway. It is an excellent idea to send photographs of the site at regular intervals and we shall look forward to receiving these progress reports. Thank you for all your help so far"

Counsellor P. Andreas Brogaard Buhl, La Paz, Bolivia "This is to confirm that in April 2007 we bought a building project called Marina View Residence, in Marsa Alam, Egypt through Sajjad Aslam, City and Urban real estate agency and that we have been happy with their services in relation to the purchase process. Furthermore during our holidays in Egypt in July 2007 we had the opportunity to visit the building site with a local representative from the company explaining all the details at the construction site and during the construction phase the company has provided regular photo coverage of the construction process. Since the holiday apartment is not completing until September 2008, we expect that City & Urban will continue to provide us with regular news, good advice and all the necessary documentation up to the final hand-over of the apartment. "

Darren Wilson - Leeds, UK "I was more than pleased with the lengths the company goes to make sure it only deals with the most reputable and established developers. On top of all that they have gone out of their way and been more than helpful to me on many occasions since the purchase, this is why City &Urban not only got my business but also my trust."

Farooq Durrani – Lancashire, UK "I purchased an off plan property in Sharm el Sheikh through City & Urban in 2005. When buying abroad you want an agent with the following attributes: trustworthy, impartial advice, local property knowledge, strong understanding of local property law. City & Urban delivered this plus a whole lot more. Their all inclusive service meant that I could sit back and invest while they co-coordinated ALL the logistics and admin."

Jane Ossman, London, UK "I am just writing to thank you for organising the site visit to Marina View last week. I was very impressed with your local agent, Abu Bakr. He provided a very professional door-to-door service in a comfortable air-conditioned people carrier and spoke excellent English. He took a great deal of time and trouble to show us, not only the site, but the town and surrounding area. He was very knowledgeable in the history of the town and the planned development and infrastructure changes. He did not hurry us at all and gave us plenty of time to thoroughly view the site and the beach and to wander around the town to get a general feel for the place. We also met with the architect and site manager and had the chance to go in one of the flats which had been built. The site appears to be exactly as it was shown on the plans and we are very enthusiastic about the location and the building work so far and look forward to the flats being finished. I should take this opportunity to say that I am very impressed with the way you and your agency have handled the purchase right from the start. Obviously it’s a big step to buy abroad for the first time but I felt very reassured by your expertise in the area and appreciated your patience in answering the many questions I had. The marketing materials have been excellent and very comprehensive and I am sure contributed to my family members’ interest in also buying flats in Marina View (so much for my getaway in Egypt!). The payment plan has also made it very affordable for us all. We are all very excited about Marina View and enjoy getting the regular links to your website with photos showing the situation on site so far, and eagerly await further updates as the site progresses. Thanks again for all your help so far, you have made the whole experience very straightforward and stress-free."

John Green – Hong Kong "Last year I purchased two properties in Sharm El Sheikh through Sajjad Aslam at City & Urban in London. Being new to the property market in Egypt, I was very impressed by Sajjad’s knowledge and experience of the area and his willingness to share this information to help me make the decision on what and where to buy. All in all, I have been very satisfied with the excellent level of service and would certainly recommend Sajjad Aslam and City & Urban to anyone thinking of buying a property in Egypt."

Malcolm & Sue Wallace, East Yorkshire, UK "We just wanted to first of all congratulate you and your wife on the birth of your son, trust all the family are doing well. Having four sons ourselves we feel we can appreciate the elation you and your family must be feeling at this time. In addition to this we also wanted to thank City & Urban for providing us with the help & guidance we required during our first property purchase in Egypt. We have found your service (even during your stressful family times) very professional and reassuring, your expertise has made the experience for us a pleasant one and we look forward very much to the completion of the apartment. "

Michael Richardson, London, UK ""I bought an apartment in Marsa Alam through City & Urban in March 2007. From the very first meeting i was impressed with the sincerity and professionalism of the staff i encountered and have had no reason to amend my initial opinion subsequently. The development would seem to be on track for the promised delivery date of August 2008, when i shall look forward very much to taking possession of my Red-Sea investment.""

Monaza Syed, London, UK "In Oct 2007, I contacted City and Urban and successfully purchased a two bedroom apartment with a sea view in Marsa Alam. I found the company to be honest, professional, knowledgeable and helpful. Due to the competitive prices City and Urban sell there apartments for, as well as the high demand in this area, there were not many apartments left for me to chose from, as they were snapped up very quickly. I was guided by a City and Urban representative in selecting the best apartment from the limited availability, I was very pleased with my purchase and subsequently advised friends and family to also jump on the 'band wagon', which they did. All my friends and family are equally pleased to be successful overseas property owners. I have been keeping a close eye on the ongoing developments in the Marsa Alam area and although it is not as commercial as Sham el Sheik, it is increasingly growing in popularity. I have discovered many of the reputable tour operators are now advertising Marsa Alam as a place to go for a tranquil holiday with the family. There is a vast amount of construction work being conducted in the area and I believe that it has the potential of being as popular as Sham el Sheik. On a final note it came as no surprise to me when I heard that City and Urban won the best real estate agents for Egypt in the CNBC Arabian Property Awards for 2006 & 2007. They work hard and do an outstanding job at making the process of purchasing a property seamless, enjoyable and potential to make a substantial profit. I suggest anyone that is reading this testimony should call City and Urban and invest in a property to make themselves a fortune."

Mr & Mrs. Wright, Plymouth, UK ""The purchase of our 3 apartments last year was trouble free and the deferred payment scheme suited our needs. It is reassuring to receive City & Urban's emails with updates and photos. More impressive is the help and assistance City & Urban gave us when we made our unscheduled trip to Egypt and managed to view the site. The site agent and engineer were also both helpful and gave us a guided tour of the building works and explained the finer points. Again City & Urban responded to all the questions we had on our return.""

Osman Warsi, London, UK "Re: Property Purchases in Egypt; El-Hayat and Marina I would like to take this opportunity in thanking you personally for the advice and professional guidance that you provided me with when I came to see you at your Hackney Offices. I came to your firm approximately three years ago with a complete negative attitude towards Egypt and the Egyptian property markets. These were my own personal views which had been escalated from the constant negative media coverage highlighting the vulnerability of the Western Tourists in the Middle East. Having met with you and obtained a better understanding of the security, political agendas associated to such events shown in the media I came to a conclusion that a trip to this Country was necessary prior to making any personal judgments. I purchased my first off-plan property in Egypt at the El Hayat complex in 2005 without even visiting the Country; this shows you how much of a significant impact you had on my understanding of Egypt. In 2007 I finally made my trip to Egypt, other than viewing the El Hayat residence and being very impressed with the excellence of the work on this property I also took the time to meet with many Egyptians and I must say that they are absolutely wonderful people. Since my trip we have been involved in two further purchases of properties in Marsa Alam and not to forget that throughout our business relationship you have also been involved in advising my family and friends on prospective purchases that they have also undertaken. Further trips to Egypt have been planned and we are due to re-visit the wonderful land in August 2008. I would like to take this opportunity to let you know that your integrity and Client relationship strives to maintain an environment in which all individuals are treated with dignity and respect and the business activities are all conducted in an atmosphere of good faith and respect, which is lacking with nearly all Estate Agents in the UK. Being involved in the property market in Egypt has resulted in a Capital appreciation of my assets there by 116% within three years. This is as a result of a good development purchase at a realistic price and also with the increase in Tourism that Sharm el Sheikh has had. I shall be forwarding this letter to the Egyptian Tourism Board also so that they too can acknowledge that not only have you assisted their Country with overseas buyers, but played a major part in the growth of their Tourism industry. Thanking you in advance for your assistance, I look forward to our continuing ongoing long term business relationship."

Sally Kavanagh, Kilkenney, Ireland "Prior to a visit to Sharm el Sheikh in February 2007 I had shown interest in a property in Zafarana Bay and had arranged to view this property with the agent (not City and Urban I may add) when I visited Egypt. I asked them various questions about the situation of it and all I was told was that it was a development in a new area on the Red Sea. I showed interest in the most expensive of the apartments – The Penthouse. I arranged a flight to view this property from Sharm to Cairo and then I was met by a taxi. We drove off into the Desert for about 2 hours plus. Eventually we turned into 2 gates and my driver said we were here!!! This site was in the full throws of being built – no problems with that, but no one had informed me that the penthouse backed onto the main road and viewed straight onto a wind farm – surprisingly it was very windy!! Had I been informed of this windfarm and the proximity of the apartment to the main Cairo – Hurghada road I would never have wasted the time viewing this. I may add all this was at my expense! Having returned to Sharm I was telling my story to a few local Egyptians who suggested that I should look at Marsa Alam – I thanked them and came back to Ireland. I started looking on the Internet and came up with The Marina view Residence in Marsa Alam. I rang you and you explained and answered all the questions I had. You kindly reserved apartment F8 for me. You extended my reservation since you realised I was waiting and hoping for a business to sale. I always felt the decision was entirely mine and I received no pressure. Thankfully the business was sold and I agreed to sign the Contract. You kindly sent out a preliminary copy for me to view and ask questions on – I did come up with various questions and these were all answered very satisfactorily. I signed the Contract. I was very happy to make this purchase – since I had been sent constant updates of the buildings progression and I had total faith in the agent I was dealing with. In November 2008 I decided it was time to view the project. I asked Sajjad to recommend accommodation – I needed somewhere with easy access to the sea which he kindly did since I was taking my mother who is 77 and I wanted her to enjoy her holiday as much as possible. Prior to leaving I had arranged a viewing of the property with Sajjad and he had an agent Abu organised to look after us and we arranged a time. Unfortunately for reasons beyond anyone’s control the ferry between Sharm and Hurghada did not run. Abu kindly caught a flight from Sharm via Cairo to Hurghada and then drove the 2 ˝ hours down to Marsa Alam in order to give us a viewing of the site. I thought this was a great effort of Abu’s and City and Urban – since I could have got a taxi and found the site myself – they would not hear of this. When Abu arrived he could not have been more helpful or patient as following the viewing of the site he showed us all of the development in Marsa Alam so we could get a real feel for the place. We asked could we stop at one shop for a few minutes – little did he know that this would end up being nearly an hour!! He could not have been more courteous towards my mother and myself. We were both very happy with what we found in every aspect. I cannot recommend Sajjad and City and Urban more highly. The Service has been exceptional – I keep on being up dated with photos, e.mails and all phone calls are always returned. My mother’s words when I left her back in England where “I think you are on a real winner there”. Thank you everyone I am sure this will be the case."

Simon Griffiths – Kent, UK "Our business and our associates have had dealings with Sajjad Aslam and City & Urban over the last 12 months. Specifically we have purchased two units in a new development in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt through City & Urban. Additionally, we have received considerable guidance on another similar purchase. In the latter respect where we have been very disappointed by other agents we have found City & Urban to be extremely knowledgeable, helpful and professional. This is all the more to City & Urban’s credit as they have nothing to gain financially for their time spent helping us here. We would not hesitate to recommend City & Urban to potential clients and enjoy working alongside them."

Steve Hillier, Northampton, UK "Hi Saj, just a quick line to thank you for your help with the purchase of our apartment in Marina-View, Marsa Alam. I have to say that you and your company have made it an absolute pleasure with your prompt response to any questions and regular updates from the site and i am very much looking forward to receiving the keys upon completion in September. "

Vicky Lever, Liverpool, UK "I would just like to say how impressed i was at the level of customer service i received from City and Urban, with regards to the purchase of my apartment in Marsa Alam. I purchased the property round about the end of September 2007. Saj, in particular was excellent. He dealt with all my queries promptly, always returned my calls and was most informative. A friend of mine had also purchased the same property and recommended City and Urban to me. I am most impressed as to how smooth the transaction went. I am always kept up to date with the developments of the property and photographs shown. Also, i visited Sharm in November and Saj arranged for his colleague in the Egypt office to come and collect us to see another development which my friend had bought. I would most definitely recommend City and Urban to anyone who is considering buying a property abroad."