Apartments for sale in El Omrane Supérieur

Buying an apartment in El Omrane Supérieur often means buying a floor. In this working-class neighbourhood in north-west Tunis, developer-built blocks are few, and many of the properties sold as "apartments" are levels of a house, with their own entrance, sold off separately by a family. Real apartments in proper buildings are concentrated in Cité Ibn Khaldoun and Cité El Intilaka.

Online listings are rare for this delegation, and most are posted by private sellers. Houni puts you in direct contact with them. For a wider choice, the page of apartments for sale in Tunis governorate lets you compare with neighbouring areas.

Ibn Khaldoun and El Intilaka: the apartment in a block

Cité Ibn Khaldoun was designed as a planned neighbourhood, with low-rise apartment blocks between the rows of houses. You will find S+2 and S+3 units of fair size, built several decades ago and often renovated by their owners. A well-placed apartment for sale in Ibn Khaldoun, near a light rail station and the shops, holds its resale value well.

Cité El Intilaka, at the end of line 5, has slightly newer buildings and a calmer setting. An apartment sale in Intilaka appeals to families who want an S+3 without leaving Tunis, on a budget well below El Menzah or Ennasr. In both estates, look at the stairwell, the roof and the shared areas: that is where you can tell how well the co-ownership is run.

A floor of a house, a purchase of its own

In old El Omrane Supérieur, a floor for sale is common. The price is attractive, but the legal status needs care. A floor can only be sold cleanly if the house is under co-ownership rules, with a divided land title or, failing that, a deed setting out the share of the land and the use of the roof and the staircase. Without that, you are buying a fragile right, hard to get a bank loan on and hard to resell.

Also check that the floor was built with a permit, that the meters are in your name or can be, and that no further floor can be added above without your consent. If the whole house tempts you, compare with houses for sale in El Omrane Supérieur: the price gap is sometimes smaller than you would think.

One last point specific to these floors: living alongside the other occupants of the house. You will often share the staircase, sometimes the water tank or the roof access, with a family who has lived there for years. Meet them before buying, and ask how upkeep costs are split and who is allowed to put an aerial, a solar water heater or a tank on the roof. A written agreement on these points heads off a lot of disputes after the sale, and also reassures the next buyer on the day you sell.

Live in or let out: the investor's sums

Rental demand is solid all year and peaks at the start of the university year, when students look for a place on the light rail. A small apartment bought here is therefore easy to let, at modest but steady rents. For a cheap apartment in Tunis to rent out, this is an area worth considering, as long as you stay realistic about the wear that comes with student lets.

Prices vary widely: an old S+2 to renovate in the upper part of the neighbourhood has nothing in common with a fully refurbished S+3 in Ibn Khaldoun. Take the time to compare several properties, and to estimate the rental income, look at apartments for rent in El Omrane Supérieur before making an offer. Have the preliminary sale agreement drawn up by a notary or a lawyer, and pay no deposit until the title has been checked.