How to rent out your holiday home without a broker
A practical guide for owners of chalets and apartments in Egypt: pricing, house rules, guest checks and getting paid, without handing a broker a cut of every booking.
· 4 min read
Many owners of holiday homes in Egypt rent through a broker, a WhatsApp group or a friend of a friend. It works, but it has a price: a cut of every booking, guests you know nothing about, cash handovers, and arguments about deposits and cancellations with nothing in writing.
Renting directly through a booking platform puts you back in control. This guide covers what you need to decide before your first guest arrives.
1. Know what you're offering
Write down the facts guests ask about first, so your listing answers them before anyone has to message you:
- Capacity: how many guests, bedrooms, beds and bathrooms.
- Location: the compound or area, distance to the beach, the nearest supermarket and restaurants.
- What's included: air conditioning in which rooms, wifi (and roughly how fast), kitchen equipment, towels and bed linen, beach or pool access, parking.
- What isn't: if guests pay for the pool, beach entry or electricity on top, say so clearly.
A complete listing gets fewer repeated questions and attracts guests who are a good fit.
2. Take photos that show the real place
Photos are the first thing every guest looks at. You don't need a photographer: read our phone-only photo guide before you start.
3. Set a price you can defend
Look at similar places in your area for the dates you want to fill, and price for what you offer: a sea view, a private pool, or a newly renovated kitchen are worth more. Then use the tools to fine-tune:
- a weekend price for Friday and Saturday nights,
- custom prices for specific dates like Eid, New Year and summer holidays,
- weekly and monthly discounts for longer stays,
- early-bird and last-minute discounts to fill your calendar.
Our guide to pricing by season goes into this in detail.
4. Decide how guests book
- Instant book: guests book straight away. You get more bookings and less back-and-forth.
- Request to book: you review each request and accept or decline within 24 hours. The amount is only reserved on the guest's card until you accept, and released if you decline.
Many hosts start with requests to get a feel for their guests, then switch to instant book once they're comfortable.
5. Write house rules and pick a cancellation policy
House rules prevent most problems before they start. Be specific: the number of guests allowed, whether visitors may stay over, smoking, pets, parties, quiet hours, check-in and check-out times.
Then choose a cancellation policy: flexible, moderate or strict. A flexible policy attracts more bookings; a strict one protects you during peak weeks when a late cancellation is hard to fill. Guests see the exact rules before they book, and refunds are calculated automatically, so you never have to negotiate. Our guide to cancellation policies explains each one.
6. Know who's staying
On Guestify every host and every guest verifies their identity with a passport or national ID before they can publish a listing or make a booking. You can read a guest's profile and reviews from other hosts, and message them through Guestify. Until a booking is confirmed you see the guest's first name only, so both sides share personal details only when the stay is certain.
7. Get paid without handling cash
Guests pay online with a card when they book. You add your Egyptian bank account once, and each payout is sent to it automatically after your guest checks in, without cash handovers, deposits to chase or transfers to follow up. Your earnings page shows what's coming and what's already been paid.
8. Prepare the arrival
- Choose a check-in method (meeting the guest, a key box, or a building reception) and describe it step by step.
- Share the wifi name and password, and how the air conditioning and water heater work.
- Leave basics for the first night: toilet paper, soap, drinking water, a few coffee and tea bags.
- Arrange cleaning between stays, and add a cleaning fee to the listing if you pay a cleaner.
What it costs
Creating a listing on Guestify is free, and there are no host fees for now: we take no service fee from your payouts. If that changes, we'll tell you in advance, and bookings made before then keep the old terms.
Ready? Create your listing. It takes about fifteen minutes, and you can save it as a draft and come back to it later.