Cairo mortgage quote: comparing 3.63% fixed for 3 years after a 94-day process

R

RealMoss

First-time buyer
Established
The headline rate is not giving me a clean comparison. My concern is whether a large certain fee is worth paying for flexible overpayments that I may or may not use.

After a 94-day process, I have a 3.63% three-year fixed quote for a Cairo purchase of about EGP 23,280,000. The fee and LTV band make it less attractive than the initial advertisement suggested. Should I compare the cash paid and balance remaining after year three, rather than rely mainly on APR? I am also checking monthly affordability, portability, early-repayment terms and the rate that applies after the fixed period. Which loan amount, term or LTV detail would be needed to judge it properly?
 
For a three-year decision, I would compare cash paid during those three years plus the outstanding balance at the end. Include arrangement fees and any compulsory charges in the cash side. APR can help, but it may obscure your likely outcome if it assumes you keep the loan much longer than the fixed period.
 
The missing figures are the actual loan amount, repayment term and LTV for each quote. Without those, even identical monthly payments can leave different balances after year three. Also, are you genuinely likely to overpay? Better overpayment terms have little value if the arrangement fee is certain but the overpayments are only hypothetical.
 
I partly disagree about limiting the comparison to three years. That works only if refinancing after the fix is realistically available and affordable. I would run at least two cases: refinance at year three, and remain with the existing lender at whatever reset mechanism the offer specifies. The second case exposes the rate-reset risk rather than assuming it away.
 
Monthly affordability deserves its own test, separate from which quote is cheapest. Work out the payment during the fixed period, then test a meaningfully higher payment after it. A deal can have the lowest three-year cost and still be uncomfortable if the reset arrives before savings or income can absorb it.
 
What does “portable” mean in the wording you received? It could sound attractive without guaranteeing that the same rate, loan amount or approval carries to another property. Since this is Cairo-specific and the process already took 94 days, I would ask the lender to explain portability and early repayment using a simple example with dates and amounts.
 
Thanks. I had been focusing too much on the headline rate. I’m going to put each offer into the same three-year table: upfront fees, monthly payments, planned overpayments and balance remaining at the end. I’ll add a second scenario with no overpayments and another where refinancing is not available. I’ll also ask for the portability wording to be clarified rather than assigning it value automatically.
 
That should make the trade-off visible. One final point: after a 94-day process, confirm that every number in the table still belongs to the current offer, especially the rate, fee and LTV tier. Otherwise you could produce a precise comparison of terms that are no longer available. Keep the lender’s reset terms separate from your own assumed refinance rate.
 
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