Ultimate guide to renting an apartment in Dubai

[M3red]

Originally Posted by wandabug

When paying with multiple cheques you hand over all the cheques, post dated. It is illegal to bounce a cheque here - you have to honour them.
Regardless of how many cheques you pay with, it is a 1 year contract - you sign to pay rent for a year and the landlord cannot ask you to leave.
A foreign cheque can take 6 weeks to clear - no landlord will want a UK cheque. (would you accept a UAE cheque in the UK?)

What sort of deposit do landlords in the UAE want?

[Felixtoo2]

When you rent for the year you give the full amount in cheques/cash Plus 5% of the rental value as a deposit and also 5% of the rental value as the agents fee.

[Tusk]

How is the area around Mall of the Emirates for housing?

We're a young family of 4 trying to stick to a tight budget. I'm seeing a lot of new(er) apartments in that area that appear to be within budget. We're considering JLT, Al Barsha and TECOM--need something metro accessible as we'll be a 1 car family. Seeking something safe and family-friendly. Any areas/buildings within those parameters that we should avoid?

[M3red]

Originally Posted by Felixtoo2

When you rent for the year you give the full amount in cheques/cash Plus 5% of the rental value as a deposit and also 5% of the rental value as the agents fee.

5% agents fees, anyway to avoid this?

[Felixtoo2]

The only way to avoid it is to deal directly with the landlord.

[M3red]

Originally Posted by Felixtoo2

The only way to avoid it is to deal directly with the landlord.

is this recommended?!

I assume that there is zero protection for your deposit?

[caetanomi]

With an avarage of 44 degrees, my wife and i have just terminated a seven day flat hunt for a 3 br appartment in dubai marina and here are hopefully some interesting information about the situation right now.

Basic info:

There are mainly one and two bedroom flats available in the marina and for them you can negotioate the most about price and checks. Three beds are less as most people tend to stay in villas so not as easy to find as smaller appartments.

How to save time:
Check out the available flats on dubizzle but filter to your number of beds, budget plus choose to see only ads from last two weeks maximum. Then see where the flats are located and go visit them even without an agent, most of the time the security guy in the tower you visit will give you a key or come and show you the appartment. Once you are in the the tower, you will know if this is for you and can start contacting the agencies and many times you will discover that ten agents want to show the same flat so remember the flat number.

Tower reviews:

Mag 218 - good choice and value for money, have friends living there and are happy

Marina Heights - same as mag 218 but bigger sized rooms. Great gym, pool and upkeep is better than avarage. If it wasnt for the missing maid room, we would have signed here.

Riviera tower - Good layout, upkeep is ok but only flats facing marina and not shk zayed rd are worth considering. Some finishing is not good quality.

Emaar six towers - best choice if you have the money, not the most modern but good quality.

Silverene - amazing finishing, best design and superb location. If you are a young couple in the media/design industry you should live here. Space and no dishwasher are limits but safe bet as i have friends living there. Gym in A building is not ready however.

Botanica - avoid. As gavtek said in another post, select group sucks and upkeep is a risk.

ARY tower - Total crap option. Bad finishing and people leaving their smelly shoes in hall plus it feels like 30% of the apprtments are occupied by hookers or happy ending massage studios.

Marina Mansions Tower - huge apprtments but felt like somthing was missing and for same price there are better options like above mentioned towers.

Time Place tower - top location and well planned appartments with great view. To consider if not too expensive. Bathrooms are not too sexy however and not sure about upkeep but looks good.

Diamond towers and pinnacle - avoid as without quality, many serious agents dont work with those buildings

Marina 23 and torch - newer saw them but if you are looking for a two bedroom, go see them as i heard only good things.

Orra tower - signed a flat here as finishing is great and easy for me to commute daily to abu dhabi. Not sure about upkeep however so taking a risk plus pool sucks.

JBR - not for us, wrong location and too much council housing feel to it. Great for deals and

As mentioned before on this forum, the are loads of crap estate agents with no clue about anything or Foxton's styled british expats trying to get you to sign asap. Of all the agents i met, i can recommend two companies based on my experience. Shameel at open source at 971 555139446, he is a young guy so not an experienced oldtimer but active and no ********ter. Other is hussain ali at trump real estate at 971 509255664, a serious guy and only agent who actually bothered to send some additional photos for a duplex that i requested.

Good luck!
Mr Peter

[mariog99]

Originally Posted by caetanomi

With an avarage of 44 degrees, my wife and i have just terminated a seven day flat hunt for a 3 br appartment in dubai marina and here are hopefully some interesting information about the situation right now.

Basic info:

There are mainly one and two bedroom flats available in the marina and for them you can negotioate the most about price and checks. Three beds are less as most people tend to stay in villas so not as easy to find as smaller appartments.

How to save time:
Check out the available flats on dubizzle but filter to your number of beds, budget plus choose to see only ads from last two weeks maximum. Then see where the flats are located and go visit them even without an agent, most of the time the security guy in the tower you visit will give you a key or come and show you the appartment. Once you are in the the tower, you will know if this is for you and can start contacting the agencies and many times you will discover that ten agents want to show the same flat so remember the flat number.

Tower reviews:

Mag 218 - good choice and value for money, have friends living there and are happy

Marina Heights - same as mag 218 but bigger sized rooms. Great gym, pool and upkeep is better than avarage. If it wasnt for the missing maid room, we would have signed here.

Riviera tower - Good layout, upkeep is ok but only flats facing marina and not shk zayed rd are worth considering. Some finishing is not good quality.

Emaar six towers - best choice if you have the money, not the most modern but good quality.

Silverene - amazing finishing, best design and superb location. If you are a young couple in the media/design industry you should live here. Space and no dishwasher are limits but safe bet as i have friends living there. Gym in A building is not ready however.

Botanica - avoid. As gavtek said in another post, select group sucks and upkeep is a risk.

ARY tower - Total crap option. Bad finishing and people leaving their smelly shoes in hall plus it feels like 30% of the apprtments are occupied by hookers or happy ending massage studios.

Marina Mansions Tower - huge apprtments but felt like somthing was missing and for same price there are better options like above mentioned towers.

Time Place tower - top location and well planned appartments with great view. To consider if not too expensive. Bathrooms are not too sexy however and not sure about upkeep but looks good.

Diamond towers and pinnacle - avoid as without quality, many serious agents dont work with those buildings

Marina 23 and torch - newer saw them but if you are looking for a two bedroom, go see them as i heard only good things.

Orra tower - signed a flat here as finishing is great and easy for me to commute daily to abu dhabi. Not sure about upkeep however so taking a risk plus pool sucks.

JBR - not for us, wrong location and too much council housing feel to it. Great for deals and

As mentioned before on this forum, the are loads of crap estate agents with no clue about anything or Foxton's styled british expats trying to get you to sign asap. Of all the agents i met, i can recommend two companies based on my experience. Shameel at open source at 971 555139446, he is a young guy so not an experienced oldtimer but active and no ********ter. Other is hussain ali at trump real estate at 971 509255664, a serious guy and only agent who actually bothered to send some additional photos for a duplex that i requested.

Good luck!
Mr Peter

thank you so much for takeing the time to do this is so help full i will be doing the same in 2 months

[de Mexicaan]

@Mr Peter, thanks for your input on this.
We are also looking for a 3-bed, but probably will choose JBR anyway because of the pedestrian area around it and the proximity of the beach.
We also saw Marina Heights. It was not bad but in my opinion the living room is very narrow.
Were you able to negotiate the price? I have the impression that many apartments are empty (at least in JBR), even 3-beds.

[caetanomi]

@ da mexicaan

Three beds are less of compared to other categories, especially with maid room. I did not had time to haggle which would probably saved me 5-10 K but got 4 cheques which is what i wanted. Regarding JBR, be aware that traffic is terrible (except for in august) while getting in and out and from there and you might get stuck forever.