Property management in Sharm El Sheikh: what it really covers

If you do not live in Sharm El Sheikh all year, somebody has to open the flat, air it, pay the bills and deal with a leak at three in the morning. That is what property management means — but the one word sells anything from 'we pop in once a month' to the full cycle of short-term letting with linen, reports and repairs. This article is about the management formats in Sharm, what each includes and excludes, how it is paid for, what must be put in writing, and how to choose a manager you will meet once in your life — at the signing.

Three formats under one word

Caretaking

The minimum, for a flat that is not let. Regular visits: checking the water and electrics, airing, running the taps so the traps do not dry out, starting the air-conditioning, paying the utilities and the service charge with your money, letting in tradesmen. One job — that the flat does not deteriorate without you in a seaside climate where mould appears in a closed room within one humid month. Usually a fixed fee, monthly or yearly.

Arrival preparation

The middle format for people who come several times a year and sometimes lend the flat to friends or let it by word of mouth: caretaking plus cleaning before arrival, groceries, airport pick-up, handing keys to guests, cleaning after. A fixed caretaking fee plus one-off charges per service.

Full letting management

The whole cycle: listings on the platforms, replies to guests, seasonal pricing, check-in and check-out, cleaning and linen, small repairs, consumables, a report and a transfer to you. This is an operation and is priced like one — usually as a share of the takings rather than a flat fee; the share depends on who pays for cleaning, linen and platform commissions. For long-term letting the same, but less often: finding a tenant, the contract, collecting rent, checking the flat, the move-out.

Who offers management in Sharm

• The compound's management company — the one that runs the grounds. Plus: already on site, knows the services, has keys and security. Minus: letting is a side business for it, and quality varies.
• The developer's or operator's programme — in resort compounds with a hotel part: the flat is let through their desk, you receive a share or a fixed sum, sometimes with limits on your own stays. A separate product with its own contract.
• Independent managers — agencies and individual managers, often Russian- or English-speaking, running dozens of flats across compounds. Plus: flexibility and reporting tailored to you. Minus: dependence on one person.
• A friend who 'keeps an eye on it' — the most common and the least documented format. It works exactly until the first leak.

What to put in writing

1. Visit frequency and a visit checklist: what exactly is checked and how it is confirmed — a dated photo in the chat once a month is cheaper than any dispute.
2. Who pays the utilities and the service charge, with whose money, and when you see the receipts.
3. The repair threshold without your approval: the sum below which the manager fixes things alone and the approval procedure above it.
4. How and when the report and the money arrive: format, date, currency, transfer method, who bears the fee.
5. Keys and access: how many sets, who holds them, how they are handed to tradesmen and guests, what happens when a staff member leaves.
6. Liability: what the manager answers for — missing items, guest damage, a compound fine for noise — and how it is covered.
7. Term and exit: how to terminate, notice period, how keys, listings and remaining money are handed over.
8. For letting: who runs the listings and whose accounts they sit in — if the manager leaves with the account, the reviews leave too.

Without a written boundary, 'small repairs' and 'regularly' mean whatever is convenient today rather than what was agreed.

How to choose a manager

Ask for the contacts of two or three owners whose flats they have run for at least a year, and talk to them — about a leak, about guests, about money that arrived late. Look at a flat they run, unannounced if the owner allows. Ask how many flats are in their care and how many people are on the team: one person for forty flats will not be first at your leak. Check how they report already — a sample monthly report says more than a presentation. And read the contract to the end: the space for the list of services should be longer than the space for the signature.

What stays with the owner in every format

Decisions on major repairs and replacing appliances. The compound's service charge and its increases. The compound's letting rules — if the compound forbids short-term letting, no manager can override that. Taxes and registration, whatever your status and type of letting require — a question for a lawyer, not a manager. And the state of the flat in five years: management slows ageing in a seaside climate but does not cancel it.