Who I am, and who I work for
My name is Youssef Tlemçani. I work with foreign buyers and with Moroccans living abroad who want to buy in Casablanca, Rabat or their surrounding areas, or in Marrakech, without being able to be there. I work for the buyer only, and I have no property to sell.
My background, and how it shapes the way I look at a property
I am a former tech executive (Amazon & Google). I spent twelve years in environments where a decision is made on figures you can trace back, not on an impression. It is the one thing I really brought back from those years, and it is the one that helps most here.
In practice, it gives me three habits. I start from the figures before looking at the photos. I go back to the source of every piece of data, because an advertised price per square metre and the price actually paid are two different things, just as the rent in a listing and the rent written into a signed lease are. And I write down in black and white what I don’t know, rather than filling the gap with an estimate that would later be treated as fact.
What it changes for you: when I tell you a property is profitable, you can ask me where every line comes from. And most of the time, what I tell you is that it isn’t. Between an advertised yield and what actually ends up in your pocket, the gap is measured in percentage points, not fractions of a point.
My first purchase in Morocco
A few years ago, I bought my first flat in Casablanca, to let it out on a long-term tenancy.
Everything was complicated, and not where I expected. Sorting through hundreds of listings to end up with a handful of credible properties. Trying to work out a yield without the real prices in the neighbourhood, the level of service charges, or what tax would take. Taking days off and paying for flights for viewings that led nowhere. Negotiating with no point of reference. Getting a mortgage approved from abroad. Then organising the signing at the notary’s.
None of these steps is insurmountable on its own. Taken together, from another country, with a job and a time difference, they turn an exciting project into a file you keep putting off from one month to the next.
What I took from it fits in one sentence: I was missing transparency, rigour, and a reliable person who had been through it and could guide me from start to finish. Those three things didn’t exist anywhere, so I built them.
Why this service exists
The Moroccan market puts the buyer at a disadvantage, and that is structural rather than malicious. The seller knows the neighbourhood. The agency is paid on the sale, often by both parties. The tax authorities have their own reference price grid. You, from London, Montreal or Dubai, decide on the basis of photos and a phone call.
My job is to close that information gap, not to sell you something. That is why I also publish what I know: my guides to buying property in Morocco are free to read, with no sign-up. A better-informed buyer is a better client, not a lost one.
What I do, and what I don’t
I do
- Searching for and sorting properties
- Filmed viewings of shortlisted properties
- A costed analysis of the rental yield
- Negotiating the price from real comparables
- Following the file through to the signing
I don’t
- I have no properties to sell
- I take no commission from the seller’s side
- I am not an estate agency
Nor do I take the place of your notary, whose role is to make sure the deed is legally sound. I prepare your file and give you the precise questions to ask them.
The decision and the signature always remain yours. I search on your behalf; I don’t decide on your behalf.
How I work
Figures before photos.
Every shortlisted property comes with its yield analysis: the real return, the charges, the tax. You compare figures, not impressions.
Flaws get mentioned.
A shortlisted property is one where I also show you what is wrong. Damp, being overlooked, the neighbours, the broken lift. That is precisely what a video viewing shows and a listing hides.
I reply personally, within 24 hours.
Not a switchboard or an assistant. You have a single point of contact from the first search to the handover of the keys.
I tell you when to walk away.
In this job, the most valuable advice is often not to buy that particular property.
Let’s talk about your project
If you have a project in Morocco, even a vague one, the first call is free and comes with no commitment. You tell me what you are looking for, and I tell you frankly whether I can be useful to you, and on what terms. If your project doesn’t fit what I do, I will tell you during that call.