A very sad story indeed, my heart goes out to those caught up in such situations.
I think that the low prices (from a European perspective) available in Egypt come with a higher risk than elsewhere. It is so attractive to buy a one bedroomed appt for, say, GBP 25,000 that it is easy to get caught up in a quick purchase without taking the kind of precautions you might otherwise consider normal. Think of the searches, surveys and so on done in the UK when buying a house and yet some just sign up when they have seen a well presented glossy brochure.
So good advice at the end of the article, getting a good lawyer, join forums and listen to what people say (and sometime what they don't say) - go out there and look at your potential purchase even if it's just the foundations.
Also, do not trust somebody just because they are fellow countrymen - we have all heard of the timeshare scams in Spain and other countries, it's quite possible some of these people move on to new territory when they get moved on or find the going a bit too hot. You do not automatically get protection because the agent or whatever is a Brit/German whatever.
In fact we have been lucky - touch wood - and have dealt only with Eyptians and whilst accepting that deadline promises are often (perhaps always!) optimistic, if you keep nudging gently you should get there in the end.
Allow contingency in your investment for at least a couple of trips out and probably a few unexpected costs. It will still be a great investment when finished.
Above all try to talk to as many people as you can, locally, on forums and so on - at least if all goes wrong they may be able to help you out a little, and its much better to be able to talk these problems over.
This forum was a fantastic source of info for us and gave us a little bit more confidence when going through the process - even then it was 50% luck and 50% good judgement in the end.
Iain
