Ultimate guide to renting an apartment in Dubai

[Bigjimbo]

Originally Posted by zin

Small mention. If you want to live close to the airport then there's Garhoud, Rashidiya and Festival City/Al Badia as alternatives to Mirdiff.

Bigjimbo any opinion on these areas?

Al Badia is very nice, well built, and well serviced in terms of near amenities, such as the mall and reatuarants of Festival city. The same goes for Marsa Plaza.

I don't know enough about garhoud, rashidiya to comment, although I did live in al Quasias myself and wouldn't recommend it!

[Felixtoo2]

If you want to be out in the Mirdiff area i`d recommend Al Mizar instead, it`s all villas and predominently locals but it is away from most of the aircraft noise.

[confused.dom]

Great posting Jimbo.
Just a quick write up of my first dealings in the Dubai rental market.
On thursday agreed a rental deal with agent (sole agent with keys) ,landlord accepted.Went through contracts over weekend and with help from your posting all seemed to make sense.
Ready to sign on dotted line and just been told by agent that another agent has promised to get a greater rent(50% more!!) ,so i've been sent to the sidelines.
Strange as i was the first to see it an offered full rental amount asked for.Perhaps i should have haggled and got it cheaper!.
Never mind back to dubizzle etc and sift through the duplicated listings ,i suppose until contracts are signed there are no ways to secure a property.
That aside not the sort of landlord i want to get tied to for my first year in Dubai.

[Bigjimbo]

Originally Posted by confused.dom

Great posting Jimbo.
Just a quick write up of my first dealings in the Dubai rental market.
On thursday agreed a rental deal with agent (sole agent with keys) ,landlord accepted.Went through contracts over weekend and with help from your posting all seemed to make sense.
Ready to sign on dotted line and just been told by agent that another agent has promised to get a greater rent(50% more!!) ,so i've been sent to the sidelines.
Strange as i was the first to see it an offered full rental amount asked for.Perhaps i should have haggled and got it cheaper!.
Never mind back to dubizzle etc and sift through the duplicated listings ,i suppose until contracts are signed there are no ways to secure a property.
That aside not the sort of landlord i want to get tied to for my first year in Dubai.

It happens unfortunately, and there are the occasional nutters who pay that kind of figure. Nothing is ever done till its signed, and I always try to get a contract finished as soon as I can after a deal is agreed.

[mavzor]

Originally Posted by Felixtoo2

I don`t feel recommending International City is a responsible thing to do.

gulfnews : International City: Squalor township

You're probably right.
In fact it may not be responsible to assist people in moving to Dubai at all. Shame on us all.

Here's just one of the many reviews of our town, there are many more like it.
Laid-Off Foreigners Flee as Dubai Spirals Down - NYTimes.com

Lurid rumors spread quickly: the Palm Jumeira, an artificial island that is one of this city’s trademark developments, is said to be sinking, and when you turn the faucets in the hotels built atop it, only cockroaches come out.

[KidRukkus]

Thanks for putting this all together. Great post.

[TallyHo]

International city is cheap and....cheap. Like Discovery Gardens it does vary from cluster to cluster. Some clusters are decent places to live, but other clusters have been colonised by bachelors and that is an entirely different environment and not one I would suggest to newcomers to Dubai, especially women or families.

If one wants to save money Silicon Oasis is a better place. Inexpensive rents, decent buildings and a better kept environment overall.

Originally Posted by mavzor

You're probably right.
In fact it may not be responsible to assist people in moving to Dubai at all. Shame on us all.

Here's just one of the many reviews of our town, there are many more like it.
Laid-Off Foreigners Flee as Dubai Spirals Down - NYTimes.com

[dizzyizzy]

Originally Posted by mavzor

You're probably right.
In fact it may not be responsible to assist people in moving to Dubai at all. Shame on us all.

Here's just one of the many reviews of our town, there are many more like it.
Laid-Off Foreigners Flee as Dubai Spirals Down - NYTimes.com

mavzor, the article you linked is two years old. No longer relevant.

the reality is that International City is cheap for a reason, and in all honesty if IC was the only place I could afford to live, I'd rather not live in Dubai at all. Good thing you are happy there though, each to their own.

[Evenstar]

Originally Posted by dizzyizzy

mavzor, the article you linked is two years old. No longer relevant.

the reality is that International City is cheap for a reason, and in all honesty if IC was the only place I could afford to live, I'd rather not live in Dubai at all. Good thing you are happy there though, each to their own.

Honestly, DizzyIzzy, International City seems to be a favoured whipping post of the news- and yes, it's true. it harbours a lot of the workers that built The Palm, JBR, and the Marina.
However I live here, I am a 21 year old woman, and have never even been looked at the wrong way. The people here are friendly and kind.
I brought home a desk for my apartment and was struggling to carry it- a few of the guys that live in my building helped me carry it up, and then left without waiting for a thankyou.

If anything I have received more negative attention in the malls than I have here.
Also, another misconception- talk to many of the men that live here, and they aren't bachelors- quite often they pull out wallet pictures of their wives and children.

Anyone who wants to know more about living here PM me.

And lastly, to all who have criticised international city- tell me, have you ever ventured beyond dragonmart? Ever spent more than half an hour here?
Ah of course not- yet you are all authorities on the subject.

Get Real.

[dizzyizzy]

Originally Posted by Evenstar

H

And lastly, to all who have criticised international city- tell me, have you ever ventured beyond dragonmart? Ever spent more than half an hour here?
Ah of course not- yet you are all authorities on the subject.

Get Real.

I have and I know somebody who has lived there for 7 months (single woman like yourself) and her opinions are exactly the opposite to yours but perhaps her expectations are different to yours too. I have been there a couple of times and I personally don't like it either.

Like I said, good to hear some of you like it and live happily there but that does not cancel out the problems the area has and some people just won't like it there, guaranteed. No point in painting a rosy picture and the same goes to any area of Dubai as most have their own share of problems or challenges, although some more than the others