Who we are
A friend who
knows the area.
Istaqer helps students coming from another governorate or another country find a bed or a room near their campus, at 8 universities, know the typical rent, and see a place with their own eyes before paying a pound.
Why Istaqer?
Know the area first,
then look in it.
Every year many students leave home for their university’s city, weeks before term. Most don’t know the areas or the typical rent, and are afraid of paying a deposit on a room they’ve never seen.
Gate
- Bein El Sarayat5 min
- Giza14 min
- Boulaq El Dakrour17 min
- Faisal17 min
- Dokki21 min
- Mohandessin25 min
- Agouza27 min
- Manial28 min
- Omraniya30 min
- Saft El Laban32 min
- Haram35 min
- Ard El Lewa38 min
Most sites start with a search form. Istaqer starts with the place itself: the map, the minutes to the gate, and the typical rent in each area. Above is Cairo University; every university has its own line.
What we do, and don’t
We show you the way.
We never touch your money.
What we do
- Show you the area before the place: its minutes to the gate, its typical rent, what’s good and what to watch for.
- Tell you whether a price is typical, against the same kind of place in the same area.
- Work out what the first month costs, line by line, and flag what we can’t know, like bills, instead of guessing.
- Give you the viewing checklist, the scam signs, and what the contract must say.
What we don’t do
- We don’t take bookings, deposits or any money. And we will never ask for a transfer.
- We don’t inspect places. Every listing says who posted it and when they said it was free.
- We never write “verified” or “guaranteed”. The only guarantee is seeing it yourself.
- We don’t publish your number, and your calls with advertisers don’t go through us.
After the viewing
Your report protects
whoever comes next.
Went to a viewing and found the place taken, or the price not the one written? We can’t give you the day back, but these rules make the listing pay for it, not the next student.
- Confirmed again and again
- Advertisers confirm every 7 days that a place is still free, and every 3 days in August and September, when most students look. When that lapses, the listing says “Call first”; after 14 days it leaves the results.
- Before the trip
- Every listing has five questions to ask on the phone, including asking for a video of the room, so you don’t travel to a place that’s taken or looks nothing like its photos.
- Four questions after a viewing
- Was it free? Was the price as written? Did it match the photos and description? Did anyone ask for money before the viewing? Only someone who contacted the advertiser through Istaqer can answer, once per listing.
- What everyone sees
- Once there are at least 3 reports, the listing shows the result as numbers, like “4 of 5 visitors said the price was as written”. No stars, no open comments, and advertisers never see who reported.
- When a listing stops
- At once if a visitor says someone asked for money before the viewing, until a person on our team has looked at it. If two visitors say within a week that it’s not free, it stops until the advertiser confirms it again.
- The advertiser’s side
- They see a summary of the reports and can correct the price or photos, or reply. One report never stops a listing, unless it says money was asked for before the viewing.
- Safety reports
- Reviewed before other reports, and in women’s housing by a woman.
- One set of rules
- No one can pay to be shown first or to hide a report. Istaqer takes no money from students or advertisers.
- What we don’t promise
- We don’t pay for a wasted trip, because we never hold anyone’s money. And the result on a listing is what visitors said, not our certificate.
In this version reports aren’t sent yet: your scores and answers stay on your device, and no listing shows a report nobody wrote.
Where the numbers come from
Every number here
has a source.
- Minutes
- To the nearest gate of the campus, at 8 AM. Walking follows real OpenStreetMap routes at 4.8 km/h. Metro: the walk to the station, the wait, the ride and the walk to the gate. Microbus times are estimates that swing with traffic, and we show the range.
- “Typical”
- A rent within 10% below to 12% above the median for the same kind of place (bed or room, women’s or men’s) in the same area. Otherwise we say it’s above or below typical.
- “Usually”
- The two numbers bracket the middle half of listings: the cheapest quarter and the dearest quarter are left out.
- Transport
- The Cairo Metro student pass, and approximate microbus fares for a month of trips, at each governorate’s official rate.
- Maps
- From OpenStreetMap and Protomaps, drawn for this site. Area edges are approximate, and a listing’s exact spot is never on the map.
Something not right?
If a price, a distance or an area name doesn’t match what you find on the ground, tell us and we’ll fix it.
Got a question? Contact us