Dommare

What we do

We keep our own directory of Sharm's areas and compounds, we publish a listing only after we have seen its documents, and we run the transaction from the first viewing to the handover of the keys. After the purchase we look after the property, if that is wanted.

The directory is researched, not copied from other people's descriptions. Where sources disagree — and about Sharm they disagree often — we publish the disagreement rather than picking the prettier version. It makes our pages duller than advertising, and it means there is not one figure on them with nothing behind it.

We work in the market's two languages and in Italian: the Russian site and the international one are run separately, because their buyers and their questions are different.

Why the site is built this way

An ordinary property site sells you a listing. Its card carries a 'verified' tick, a five-star rating and a promised yield, and none of it can be checked. We decided that was a dead end and did the opposite.

Every listing has a Passport: the list of checks and the state of each one. Not 'good' or 'bad', but 'documents not provided', 'under review', 'verified'. A tick appears only when a listing meets every check of an active criteria set — and while no such set is approved, nothing carries a tick. That is not a fault; that is the honest state.

The rules we hold ourselves to

• A number is shown together with its source. No source means we write that there is no data, rather than filling in something plausible.
• A verification mark appears only where the check has actually been passed.
• An estimate is marked as an estimate and is never presented as a fact.
• We have no ratings, stars or 'investment scores': instead of someone's opinion we show the state of the documents and the costs.
• We do not promise returns and we do not give legal opinions — a legal question goes to a lawyer.

Where we work

Sharm El Sheikh: Naama Bay, Hadaba, Ras Um Sid, Nabq, El Montazah and Sharks Bay. It is one city, and we are deliberately not widening the map until this city is properly described: a directory of six areas and twenty-five compounds is not work that can be done quickly across ten cities at once.

The team

The team's experience and the number of transactions it has handled are shown on the home page, with a source and a date, like every other number on the site. We do not publish a page of invented agents: people will appear here when they are real people with real photographs.

We work in Russian, English and Italian. The site exists in all three; the conversation, the viewing and the paperwork happen in whichever suits you.

What people usually ask

Are you an agency or a marketplace?

Both, deliberately. A marketplace shows listings on equal terms, other people's included. An agency runs the transaction. Splitting them makes no sense: a buyer needs both to see the market and to have someone answerable for the deal.

Why do listings carry no 'verified' tick?

Because the tick means every check of an active criteria set has been met, and no such set has yet been approved by a lawyer. Showing it now would be a lie. Once a set is approved, ticks will appear on the listings that meet it — and only on those.

Why do you not publish yields?

A yield is a forecast, and a forecast printed next to a price reads as a promise. Naming one needs corroborated data on rents and occupancy; we do not have that in a checkable form. When we do, it will be shown as an estimate, with its assumptions and its date.

Who owns the properties on the site?

Owners and developers. We publish a listing after we have seen its documents, and some we handle exclusively — but an exclusive is a written agreement, not a label on an advertisement. A buyer's enquiry always goes through our advisor rather than straight to the owner.