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#1 August 30 2013

rtp
Member

Buying Land in Lebanon

I would appreciate it if somebody can guide me through buying a land in Lebanon.

Last edited by rtp (August 30 2013)

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#2 August 31 2013

Geoleb
Member

Re: Buying Land in Lebanon

- Choose the best combination of price/location that you can find and suits you.
- If you find a land ask the owner to see the property certificate and note down the serial number "raqm l iqar" and make sure he owns full 2400 shares of the land (to ease the process but not a big problem)
- Go to the urban department in the appropriate municipality (it may be a separate building) and see in what zone it is listed ( A, B, C....).
then look at the zone classification of this land according to the iqar's number. It may be an agriculture land, residential, tourism, industrial ... and check the % of investment allowed on this zone ... "istesmar sathi" w "istesmar 3am" .. Max height .. etc
- Go to real estate affairs ( aliqariyi ) and get the "ifede iqariyi" of this land. It will state who is the owner of the land and if there are others or if there were previous problems with it or maybe lawsuits against it and if it is in frozen state .... just to see if everything is legal.
- If you find everything suitable then go and register it. You will be asked for some papers as always.

Last edited by Geoleb (August 31 2013)

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#3 August 31 2013

rtp
Member

Re: Buying Land in Lebanon

Thanks a lot!

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#4 September 1 2013

Geoleb
Member

Re: Buying Land in Lebanon

Welcome ! Good luck :)

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#5 February 10 2021

tricky
Member

Re: Buying Land in Lebanon

how does the investment % work, its not making sense to me.
size: 435m^2
investment ration: 40/120
zone: 4m^2 of free space

To get how much am allowed to build am doing:
21m (width) - 8 (free space) = 13
20m( length) - 8 (free space) = 12

so horizontal area allowed to build is:
13 * 12 = 156m^2

is that correct? where does that investment ratio come into play?

And what do you guys things of the current situation and buying and building a small house? I was doing some research and the price to build a house seems to be $400->$700m^2

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#6 February 11 2021

Guitaret
Member

Re: Buying Land in Lebanon

@tricky, the first number (40) is the max percentage of horizontal investment, the second number (120) is the max percentage of vertical investment.
In your case, you are allowed to build on an area of maximum 174m2 (40%), and a maximum total area should be 522m2 vertically (120%) which means: You are allowed to build a max of 3-floor building with a max of 174m2 for each floor. But you need to attend to the shape of the land, if it is long & rectangular you might not be able to build the 174m2 especially with the required 3m proximity distancing.

Sadly for me, I have experience in this area in Lebanon, as I have built a house and purchase another house. What I am trying to say is that I did endure the hell of Lebanese bureaucracy and I wouldn't advise you to do it.

Buy the land? Yes, a good and long-term investment, in fact, it is the option with the least tax to pay, and selling it back is easy (no tax to pay either). Building on it, getting a permit, and going through all the hell of Lebanese BS? It highly depends on what do you need it for: why do you need 3 floors? or a villa? If you don't mind sharing details, I can target my advice better.
If you fancy a standalone house with a garden next to it, get a prefab house with a municipality permit. If you want to make a building with many apartments to sell later for a profit, a very bad idea since now you get can a complete apartment with as little as 50K so you won't make any profit.

I answered on two aspects, the technical & the sentimental one for a guy building up a life in Lebanon (as I have been there since many years ago). Ready to answer further concerns of yours.

Last edited by Guitaret (February 11 2021)

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#7 February 12 2021

tricky
Member

Re: Buying Land in Lebanon

@Guitaret Thank you very much for your input and explanation!

Current best case scenario would be that my work (canadian company) allows me to work full time remotely from Lebanon. If that doesn't happen buying land and retiring in Lebanon does sound like a decent plan too.  If i can find like small land for like 50k or 75k, I would be interested in buying and put it aside until things clear up...

I personally like to have my own house than an apartment. Not looking for anything big or fancy, just my own space and I don't have to tolerate other people bullshit. I was looking at prefab and they seem to cost $500/m2 which is similar to building a house($700m2). I would be fine with like 100m2 1 floor and if i want to expand, i can...

I was looking for apartment and they seem to go for like 100k, i rather pay 50k-75k now and buy a land and see how things go and build a house little by little if i want too, am not in a rush.... at the end i rather pay 150k-200k for my own house than 100k for apartment.

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#8 February 12 2021

Guitaret
Member

Re: Buying Land in Lebanon

@tricky, I see that you know what you are doing, and since you have this long term vision, I encourage you to go for it.
Even at similar cost, I am still 100% with the idea of a prefab house for the purpose to save myself from entering the ugly maze of Lebanese bureaucracy BS & hell (a permit is not a short-term process), plus to save myself from paying taxes. Yes, owning a property with a built-on house is subjected to tax (ضريبة الأملاك البنية), and more so if you are willing to sell it (15% tax on profit). Prefab house is a very straightforward process (if the municipality allows it), just first you need to build a concrete base for the house and you will be done in a month or two. As per law, you can subscribe to water, electricity & phone even if the property deed states that this is a land (أرض غير مبنية). Our government is one that preys on anyone who is ambitious and trying to build a life for themselves, don't enter their ugly system, you only need a small size house.

Going over the core of things, excuse me for making things complex, but you need to trust me on this, things are complex.
As someone who has gone out from living in an apartment to having my own place, I can tell you the price I paid for this (not talking money here) is well worth it (absolutely loving the freedom I now have, and the space to do whatever I want) but here’s what you should have in mind first, most of the below are serious concerns in any country, this is from my experience:

- After a while from moving into your own property, you realize that you are not 100% capable of not having to "tolerate other people's bullshit", 80% at best. You will still have some shithead neighbors nearby who are loud (for instance) or have a very loud dog. Or, you never know when a building starts construction right in the property next to you. Even Hollywood millionaires suffer from this and so I must share my sentiment with you: Though I love people (not an introvert), I hate neighbors wherever they are: upstairs, downstairs, next to me, 200 yards from me.

- Study the state of the property, and please do not take anyone's word for it, not the middleman or the owner. Estate legality and how easy it is to register it to your name. Road access rights (this one can be tough). Water & electricity access (they can take a while to get there). How much drilling does it need to make the building area flat?

- How easy is it to get there? Roads in Lebanon are very bad and so you don't want to feel like you are descending to hell every time you are driving from & to your house. This is much more critical in bad weather; this is why I got my house on a main and easy road.

- Have a look in the area around the property (don't be shy to ask the neighbors):
   .Nearby amenities? Nearest hospital? Nearest pharmacy? Nearest school?
   .Friendly neighbors? Good neighbors?
   .Transportation: Nearest bus stop (walking distance that is)? You will need that as your car will break more often than you think. Where is the nearest mechanic? Where is the nearest car parts shop?
   .Nearest shop/supermarket? Nearest restaurant? Nearest quick bite places? Who can deliver food to your place? This one was tough for me, not so many quick bite places deliver to my place and so, I had to count on myself, learn to cook, I am getting a freezer soon and expanding my cooking menu (you might enjoy this journey)
   .Are there any industries/factories nearby? Once was about to close a deal on a place, but when I decided to show it to my parents, I noticed an annoying cutting noise coming from factories I did not know they were nearby, all because my previous visit was on a Saturday where the factories were closed. Imagine the hell I would be in if I bought the place, the poor noise-sensitive creature that I am.
   .Any landfills nearby? Sometimes a beautiful green property gets attacked by a stench at only some hours of the day. (Yeah, you need to make multiple test visits to detect that)

- Maintaining a property is at least 5 times more demanding than an apartment:
   .It is only on you (not neighbors) to solve mold problem, water leaks, insects & snake repellent, maintaining the state of the private road that gets to your house.
   .Safety & security issues (those you wouldn't worry much about in an apartment): Cameras, alarm system, and plenty of lights for the outside (I got a ton of those and I am getting more). It gets a bit scary at night and you need to feel safe falling asleep in your bed. You might need to have a backup generator and a backup APS system, perhaps a solar backup system if you can afford it. In this scope, electricity is a security issue.

Those are the things I can think about right now; building a house from scratch gives you the opportunity to set the standards of everything. Let me know if you have any questions or need any help.

Last edited by Guitaret (February 12 2021)

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#9 February 12 2021

tricky
Member

Re: Buying Land in Lebanon

@Guitaret

thank you so much for the detailed well thought perspective... will keep them in mind!

Around how much is the property tax?

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#10 February 13 2021

beezer
Member

Re: Buying Land in Lebanon

There is a lot of good information here, please be sure of your contractors. I've built 3 buildings in Lebanon, the 3rd one had the best contractors from the previous buildings. But the first buildings, urgh the headache to fix shit once it's built. Take your sweet time and don't always think you pay more so you get more. I've been in a battle with a big shitty Aluminum company called Alucon, they still owe me around $9K from the 1,500 days and keep saying they have no money. And they're more expensive than others.


Also this point is very important
- Go to real estate affairs ( aliqariyi ) and get the "ifede iqariyi" of this land. It will state who is the owner of the land and if there are others or if there were previous problems with it or maybe lawsuits against it and if it is in frozen state .... just to see if everything is legal.

Do NOT buy land if you don't own all the shares. If a single ant owns 1 share they can stop your building, it doesn't matter what the size, what the agreement. Buy every single share. I purchased land that had other owners, I started building a property, then one fucker complained that I was building more than what I was allowed. We went to court, he turned out to have built more than he was allowed and was on my portion. Two years of this shit, in the end I sold him the land which is what he wanted originally. Even though I was within my rights this shitty court system is fucked like the country. Be careful and take your sweet sweet time.

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#11 February 13 2021

tricky
Member

Re: Buying Land in Lebanon

@beezer

Thank you very much for the advise, specially the legal stuff... will make sure the seller has all the shares and will verify with the government.

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#12 February 13 2021

Guitaret
Member

Re: Buying Land in Lebanon

tricky wrote:

@Guitaret

thank you so much for the detailed well thought perspective... will keep them in mind!

Around how much is the property tax?

I moved into my property only 1 year ago, currently waiting for the end of lockdown to finish up some papers. Will keep you posted.

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#13 February 14 2021

tricky
Member

Re: Buying Land in Lebanon

@Guitaret

Congrats! Thank you, best of luck!

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#14 February 14 2021

Toufic
Member

Re: Buying Land in Lebanon

This kind of thread/information is why i love this forum along with the minds/brains of people here.

My 2 cent though, given Lebanon's weather, you could integrate many echo systems around you and with 1 basic tent for growing veggie and 1 or 2 basic farm animals, you'd be gaining back a lot on the long run.
I don't think it was mentioned but do think about what you want the house/building/villa without discarding too much any potential agricultural opportunities (land fertility, water resources, placement of the house for optimal usage of green energy; how to use your roof , etc.)

And on a side note, for security, although they could be loud at times BUT you can never go wrong with a dog (or two) and they do keep annoying neighbors away.

Good luck

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#15 February 16 2021

tricky
Member

Re: Buying Land in Lebanon

@Toufic, Thank you for your input!


2021-02-16-16-14-49-Window.png

Anybody knows if a residential house can be built on Zone E "emtidad thany"

In general how hard is it to get electricity/water/waste in case they are not available, is it a couple of thousands of dollars + bureaucracy shit?

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#16 February 27 2021

Geoleb
Member

Re: Buying Land in Lebanon

tricky wrote:

@Toufic, Thank you for your input!


https://i.ibb.co/2K1YCLz/2021-02-16-16-14-49-Window.png

Anybody knows if a residential house can be built on Zone E "emtidad thany"

In general how hard is it to get electricity/water/waste in case they are not available, is it a couple of thousands of dollars + bureaucracy shit?


Hello I am an architect here in Lebanon and I can give you my input regarding this subject. The E zone as per the the paper here allows you to build a house of 2 stories with a total height of 10 meters +1 so 11 meters from ground level to the roof slab level. Since you won't need 11 meters for 2 stories you can make an extra story on the ground which consists of only Columns and the staircase that we call "tabeq a3midi" that you can use as a covered garage or if you want to gain a View for the upper levels. The area of each of Floor is to be 20% of land's area (excluding 20% balconies) and the total built up area should be 40% of the land's area. (N.B: the Ground floor level in case of only columns it doesn't get calculated in the built up area, only the staircase will, and it won't be counted as a floor, only its height will be added to the total height of the building.

You have to ask as well if there are any extra conditions for this Zone E not mentioned here like if it requires stone cladding or a tiled roof "armid" covering the house.

You can definitely go for a prefab house but I wouldn't recommend it cause building it is cheaper and you won't have to pay fees later for the house to be legal. In case you go for a prefab without a permit the house won't be listed on the "ifede 3iqariyi" of the land it will stay stated as a vacant land until you pay higher fees later.

Regarding the electricity and water subject it depends if there's a road passing near the land or not.

If you have more questions or need any help with this subject or about land's purchase you're welcome to send me a message,

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#17 March 1 2021

tricky
Member

Re: Buying Land in Lebanon

@Geoleb thank you very much for the detailed explanation, really appreciate it!

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#18 March 6 2021

tricky
Member

Re: Buying Land in Lebanon

i would have swore the info was here but cant find it.  For prefab can i use 100% of the land or do i have to adhere to the rules of keeping space and what not?

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#19 March 6 2021

beezer
Member

Re: Buying Land in Lebanon

Anything with non moveable roof and walls are considered part of the %.

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#20 March 7 2021

tricky
Member

Re: Buying Land in Lebanon

@beezer, i see, thank you!

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#21 July 3 2021

scorz
Member

Re: Buying Land in Lebanon

Hello guys, this question is not related to land per see, but to an apartment/studio.
Any idea what "tanazoulet mish sanad" means ?

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#22 July 7 2021

Guitaret
Member

Re: Buying Land in Lebanon

scorz wrote:

Hello guys, this question is not related to land per see, but to an apartment/studio.
Any idea what "tanazoulet mish sanad" means ?

We sort of did something similar of the land inherited from our great grandfather, since it is extremely troublesome to do the inheritance papers and split the land in two, dad and uncle signed a paper at the notary and each made a tanezoul for the other party about their half of the land.

But may I ask why would do such a thing? What is the process you will go to to have a clean deed of the real estate?

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#23 July 9 2021

scorz
Member

Re: Buying Land in Lebanon

Thanks for sharing!

But may I ask why would do such a thing? What is the process you will go to to have a clean deed of the real estate?

I am not, I actually saw it in ads on Olx, so I had no idea what was that.

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#24 July 13 2021

Guitaret
Member

Re: Buying Land in Lebanon

scorz wrote:

I am not, I actually saw it in ads on Olx, so I had no idea what was that.

For the record, any real estate property without a clean deed loses 50% of its value. So it is not just about risking to lose the property moving forward, it is an investment issue. The ones that will accept to buy an "illegal" property from your hands are sharks with very cheap offers.

Last edited by Guitaret (July 13 2021)

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