How to find an apt in Cairo.

There are a few ways to begin:
1a) Find a friend who "knows" somebody and can give you a lead;
1b) Start walking around the desired neighborhood and ask the bowabs (doorman/maintenence man) if there are any open apts;
1c) Pay a simsar ("realistate agent") a ridiculous fee to show you around a desired neighborhood;

2) Find a friend who speaks Arabic and can go hunting with you;
3) Learn Arabic numbers so you can locate specific buildings;
4) Walk up many flights of stairs looking for an office that one would not normally assume to find in an apt builiding, such as "Mecca Electric" (a good way to see how the building is maintained, but be careful not to pass judgement too quickly);
5) Awkwardly introduce yourself to random man who works in random office and ask if he knows of any extra apartments;
6) Of course he does so he takes you down/up the rickety elevator and opens the door to an available apt.
7) Language barriers and accents greatly diminish any confidence of the real price which changes between 2500 and 1500 every 5 minutes;
8) Ask friend to read through the contract in Arabic;
9) Tell random man that you will call him later with your decision as you walk out the door asking if yourself a million questions of what you got yourself into but proud that you got yourself safely in and out of the experience.