Yet another noob thread

[w_man]

Hello all,

As others, I have been offered a position in Dubai by my current employer. I found this forum about a week ago and found it extremely helpful. I have been searching for different topics and have been able to get a fairly decent idea of living standards in Dubai - Thanks everyone!!

I do have a specific question in regards to where my office is and trying to figure out where to live (without having to spend too much time in traffic). My office will be in the Al Shatha Tower (TECOM). I have been searching online to find apartment rentals and came across bhomes(.)com, they seem to have some decent apartments on the site. On this site I found a 2 bedroom/2bath in Jumeirah Village (Le Grand Chateau Apartment?!). The price is fairly decent (80k) and reading most posts on this forum, I keep hearing a spacious 2 bed/2bath should be over 100-110k.

So here are some questions:

1. Is bhomes a reliable source for finding an apartment in Dubai?
2. Is the low price simply because the housing prices have dropped in Dubai or because this building or neighborhood is not worth living in?
3. How is the commute from this area to where my office is? on google maps it didn't seem very far but I have no idea how the traffic flows. I consider 20-30 mins driving reasonable so I'm hoping during rush hour it's not more than this.
4. Would I be able to take public transportation from this location to work easily? How is public transportation in Dubai? I have heard good and bad things. Is it like europe (very good) or like north america (poor to decent).
5. We (my wife and I) will be visiting Dubai in Oct and then probably be making our official move in January 2011 - if during our visit in Oct, we find a property we like, would we be able to sign a lease or put a hold on the apartment? Would this be too early? Would the laws not allow us to do this anyways? Or should I be considering a couple of weeks in January to find a place and make it livable (furniture & basics etc)?

Thanks in advance for your help - hope to see some of you in Dubai soon.

Cheers - WM

[Maz25]

Originally Posted by w_man

Hello all,

As others, I have been offered a position in Dubai by my current employer. I found this forum about a week ago and found it extremely helpful. I have been searching for different topics and have been able to get a fairly decent idea of living standards in Dubai - Thanks everyone!!

I do have a specific question in regards to where my office is and trying to figure out where to live (without having to spend too much time in traffic). My office will be in the Al Shatha Tower (TECOM). I have been searching online to find apartment rentals and came across bhomes(.)com, they seem to have some decent apartments on the site. On this site I found a 2 bedroom/2bath in Jumeirah Village (Le Grand Chateau Apartment?!). The price is fairly decent (80k) and reading most posts on this forum, I keep hearing a spacious 2 bed/2bath should be over 100-110k.
Jumeirah Village is a bit far out from your typical expat area like the Marina, hence prices are cheaper. If you have a car though, I don't believe that it makes any difference where you live as long as you find something to your liking, within your budget.

So here are some questions:

1. Is bhomes a reliable source for finding an apartment in Dubai? It's a hit and miss. Depends on the agent that you deal with. As with every real estate company, you have the agents that are very proactive and really want to make some money and then you have the others who are still lucky enough to get a basic salary, hence their level of motivation is somewhat a tad lower. Better Homes are well represented here though. I don't think that they are any better or worse than other estate agents.
2. Is the low price simply because the housing prices have dropped in Dubai or because this building or neighborhood is not worth living in? Prices have fallen considerably in Dubai but you also have the 'less desirable' areas where prices would typically be even lower. Apart from the drop in prices, a particular area or building could command lower rental prices due to any number of factors that could range from lack of facilities, traffic problems, construction sites next door, etc - more or less the same factors that affect prices everywhere.
3. How is the commute from this area to where my office is? on google maps it didn't seem very far but I have no idea how the traffic flows. I consider 20-30 mins driving reasonable so I'm hoping during rush hour it's not more than this. I don't really know that area that well so can't really comment. It depends on the traffic and the road links to TECOM from Jumeirah Village. If you are traveling against traffic and have minimal road works and diversion to deal with, it shouldn't take you that long to get anywhere.
4. Would I be able to take public transportation from this location to work easily? How is public transportation in Dubai? I have heard good and bad things. Is it like europe (very good) or like north america (poor to decent). Public transport is a relatively new concept here and whilst the RTA are working to improve the service and have made significant improvements, the service is still very poor and fall far below the standard that you are accustomed to in the West. I would advise you get a car. Buses are a hit and miss and means that you waste a lot of time. There is also no metro station there, hence you will not be able to avail those. Your only option would be to call a taxi and it would almost certainly work out cheaper just to drive yourself, particularly in the morning when you want to be at work on time - taxis are a hit and miss; even if you book one, it's not a given that it will turn up.
5. We (my wife and I) will be visiting Dubai in Oct and then probably be making our official move in January 2011 - if during our visit in Oct, we find a property we like, would we be able to sign a lease or put a hold on the apartment? Would this be too early? Would the laws not allow us to do this anyways? Or should I be considering a couple of weeks in January to find a place and make it livable (furniture & basics etc)? That's a very long gap. I would hazard a guess that even if the landlord agrees to this, he would still try to rent out the property and if someone else likes it, then you will lose the property. A property lying empty brings in no income, hence the reason why landlord, especially in this climate where it is difficult to find tenants, would not necessarily honour your agreement if a tenant comes along. It's better to just look for a property when you arrive. There are loads of new properties coming on the market all the time, so you won't find any trouble finding something that you like. By all means, look around when you are here in October so that you have an idea of what's on offer and what you can get for your money but I would leave till january to actually start the house hunting.

Thanks in advance for your help - hope to see some of you in Dubai soon.

Cheers - WM

Hope this helps

[oh!]

Originally Posted by w_man

Hello all,

As others, I have been offered a position in Dubai by my current employer. I found this forum about a week ago and found it extremely helpful. I have been searching for different topics and have been able to get a fairly decent idea of living standards in Dubai - Thanks everyone!!

I do have a specific question in regards to where my office is and trying to figure out where to live (without having to spend too much time in traffic). My office will be in the Al Shatha Tower (TECOM). I have been searching online to find apartment rentals and came across bhomes(.)com, they seem to have some decent apartments on the site. On this site I found a 2 bedroom/2bath in Jumeirah Village (Le Grand Chateau Apartment?!). The price is fairly decent (80k) and reading most posts on this forum, I keep hearing a spacious 2 bed/2bath should be over 100-110k.

So here are some questions:

1. Is bhomes a reliable source for finding an apartment in Dubai?
2. Is the low price simply because the housing prices have dropped in Dubai or because this building or neighborhood is not worth living in?
3. How is the commute from this area to where my office is? on google maps it didn't seem very far but I have no idea how the traffic flows. I consider 20-30 mins driving reasonable so I'm hoping during rush hour it's not more than this.
4. Would I be able to take public transportation from this location to work easily? How is public transportation in Dubai? I have heard good and bad things. Is it like europe (very good) or like north america (poor to decent).
5. We (my wife and I) will be visiting Dubai in Oct and then probably be making our official move in January 2011 - if during our visit in Oct, we find a property we like, would we be able to sign a lease or put a hold on the apartment? Would this be too early? Would the laws not allow us to do this anyways? Or should I be considering a couple of weeks in January to find a place and make it livable (furniture & basics etc)?

Thanks in advance for your help - hope to see some of you in Dubai soon.

Cheers - WM

1. Bhomes is one of the oldest and largest, but some have had good experiences with them while others haven't. The best home hunting is done on ground, my advice would be to narrow down on the areas, research on the going rates (check dubbizzle) and then once you are here then see who gives you the best price.

2. JV is actually slightly more expensive becuase in the same price you'll get:
a. 2 bed apartment in TECOM itself
b. Al-Barsha (which is next to TECOM)
c. A villa in Springs (which again is next to TECOM)

JV is an area being developed and is relatively far from TECOM and from any other PUBLIC attraction such as Malls etc. Plus a lot of construction going on, so you get a lot of sand and dust.

3. Why drive 20-30 minutes when you can make it to office in under 5 minutes.

4. Don't know about public buses but to catch the metro...you'll have to hop all the way over to TECOM Calling a cab will take more time and ofcourse the added charge of AED 6 everytime.

5.The rent starts the day you sign the contract and pay the cheque...so you can't hold unless its a project is incomplete and has some time before handing over.

Hope this helps

[SBP]

You can get a villa in Springs for 80K???

[oh!]

Originally Posted by SBP

You can get a villa in Springs for 80K???

The two bed ones - type 4m...I even spotted one for 75K with one cheque on Dubbizzle end of Feb.

[Jynxgirl]

SBP needs a pool though.. cuz Andy is taking too long.

Most important ? - How far is springs from DG???

[Maz25]

Originally Posted by Jynxgirl

SBP needs a pool though.. cuz Andy is taking too long.

Most important ? - How far is springs from DG???

Probably about 15 - 20 mins. It's just behind the Greens.

[oh!]

Originally Posted by Jynxgirl

SBP needs a pool though.. cuz Andy is taking too long.

Most important ? - How far is springs from DG???

Springs is actually on the belt behind JLT, and Jumeriah Islands...10 minutes from DG (depending on which community of springs you are in) and pretty soon even lesser because they are taking out a huge road from the heart of springs which will come out near Ibn batuta

[Jynxgirl]

Wondeful.. SBP, I think Springs is great for you... I dont know about our noob but if is open to lending his pool to expaters then good choice!!

[SBP]

Originally Posted by Jynxgirl

SBP needs a pool though.. cuz Andy is taking too long.

Most important ? - How far is springs from DG???

SBP needs a pool as part of his get fit campaign!!!

You moving in?