Moving to dubai

Rough Guide:

Rent - 120,000 to 150,000 Dhs/year
Resident Tax (5% - No such thing, unless you pay maintenance fees if you own a property.
Power (gas/electric) - 1,200 Dhs/month
Water/sewerage - Included in above
Phone (landline) - See response below for TV.
Home Insurance - No idea, I'd be surprised if it was more than 3,000 Dhs/year
Car insurance & tax (presume petrol is peanuts) - Depends on value of the car, budget for 5% of price of car. There's no tax. Petrol is dirt cheap, cost me 100 Dhs to fill my SUV yesterday.
TV (Eqivalent of full Sky package) - I pay 432 Dhs/month for full Showtime Premier package, 1MB broadband internet and landline.

Hope that helps, in most cases, you'll be able to get cheaper, and more expensive, so some people may disagree, I'm just basing it on what my costs are.

Residency tax no; Municipality fee on rent, quite likely. This can be 5% of your annual rent although not everyone is paying it. There are anomalies that seem to have little logic, but best to factor it in as likely to be charged on a new apartment.

You haven't said what you want to rent. AED 100K will get you an apartment. For a villa in a nice area you are looking at AED 200K+.

Your water/electricity (DEWA) will start at around AED 300 a month in an apartment and increase significantly for a villa with a garden.

Please ensure you read the sticky thread for general information.

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Elphaba said:

Residency tax no; Municipality fee on rent, quite likely. This can be 5% of your annual rent although not everyone is paying it. There are anomalies that seem to have little logic, but best to factor it in as likely to be charged on a new apartment.

You haven't said what you want to rent. AED 100K will get you an apartment. For a villa in a nice area you are looking at AED 200K+.

Your water/electricity (DEWA) will start at around AED 300 a month in an apartment and increase significantly for a villa with a garden.

Please ensure you read the sticky thread for general information.

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Click to expand...

The 5% tax is really a puzzle to me. Two of my friends live in JBR , one gets a bill with 5% tax while the other does not apparently. I did not get billed for 7 months and then the last bill contained a 5% charge. Does any one know the rules?

I get charged a 'housing fee' on my DEWA bill, is that the same thing as this tax?

Gavtek said:

I get charged a 'housing fee' on my DEWA bill, is that the same thing as this tax?

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I believe so. It should be around 5% of your rent.

Everyone is supposed to pay it, but the systen hasn't caught up with everyone and rental contracts that predate the introduction of the charge are exempt. A few other anomalies too.

No one ever clamed life in Dubai was logical...

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it sounds like apartments are the real paycheck killers...

Can i get something decent for 100.000?

How much to lease a decent car?

Thanks!

define 'decent'

and as far as apartments go - how many bedrooms are you expecting? as with most places rents vary by where you are looking to settle in

decent -- clean and easy car for a big guy.

Appartment: 1BR for 2 people. What is better closer to work or cheaper apartment ?! hmm.

JohnCaine said:

decent -- clean and easy car for a big guy.

Appartment: 1BR for 2 people. What is better closer to work or cheaper apartment ?! hmm.

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Traffic can be a real pain, so best to let us know where you will be working and we can give you some idea.

For AED you can get a nice 1 bed place and in some areas, 2 bed. Do you want to be in a purely 'Western' expat area (surprises me that many people do!) or are you looking for something more cosmopolitan? Quiet or lively? Close to amenities?

Beware that rents are payable in advance, sometimes annually (for a discount), now more frequently every 6 months, sometimes even quarterly. Have a read of the sticky thread for more info.

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a) Do you have info on where your office will be located?

b) by a car for a big guy do you mean SUVs? General rule of thumb: Japanese cars are generally cheaper than Germans (but the opposite goes for the food, which is lame because i love sushi but I digress)

c) 100k will get you a pretty spiffy 1BR just about anywhere in the city - as Elphaba noted, western centric locales will run you more dough. If youre cool with living among a more mixed crowd - there are plenty of places where you can pay 60-70k for a 1BR - then pocket the difference and spend on a social life. or video games (dont judge me)



/I personally prefer closer to work. Traffic gets annoying around peak hours and I still havent mastered knitting sweaters while steering just yet

Elphaba said:

Traffic can be a real pain, so best to let us know where you will be working and we can give you some idea.

For AED you can get a nice 1 bed place and in some areas, 2 bed. Do you want to be in a purely 'Western' expat area (surprises me that many people do!) or are you looking for something more cosmopolitan? Quiet or lively? Close to amenities?

Beware that rents are payable in advance, sometimes annually (for a discount), now more frequently every 6 months, sometimes even quarterly. Have a read of the sticky thread for more info.

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I will be working at the medical center (near Grand Hyatt).

The company is paying the advance and will be monthly deducted.

It has to be furnished, nice and modern. Area , i don´t know. Haven´t seen much yet. But will visit again with my girl in 10 days...on the weekend.

Thanks.

JohnCaine said:

I will be working at the medical center (near Grand Hyatt).

The company is paying the advance and will be monthly deducted.

It has to be furnished, nice and modern. Area , i don´t know. Haven´t seen much yet. But will visit again with my girl in 10 days...on the weekend.

Thanks.

Click to expand...

I thought you'd be in Healthcare City. A furnished apartment will be much more expensive and severely limits your options.

If you don't want to be too far away consider Oldtown/Downtown, nr Burj Khalifa/Dubai Mall. Not cheap, but new and I am told some nice apartments around there.

I take it you know the laws about co-habiting?

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near the grand hyatt, directly at the pyramid

co-habiting?!

JohnCaine said:

co-habiting?!

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As I said earlier, please read the sticky thread....

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Elphaba said:

As I said earlier, please read the sticky thread....

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Click to expand...

sorry, i didn´t get that... whats the sticky thread? and what is co-habiting?

JohnCaine said:

sorry, i didn´t get that... whats the sticky thread? and what is co-habiting?

Click to expand...

On the list of threads at the top are a number that are 'stuck' at the top. One of them is entitled 'info about Dubai/UAE' and asks all posters to read the thread. It tells you gives of info about Dubai and will answer some of your questions.

Cohabiting is living together. It is illegal in the UAE.

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JohnCaine said:

I will be working at the medical center (near Grand Hyatt).

The company is paying the advance and will be monthly deducted.

It has to be furnished, nice and modern. Area , i don´t know. Haven´t seen much yet. But will visit again with my girl in 10 days...on the weekend.

Thanks.

Click to expand...

I live not too far from there - there are plenty of reasonably quiet pockets where you can stay around there BUT I cant tell you about availability - for that you'll have to hunt a bit on your own.

Once youre here look around the residential buildings near the Movenpick (near where you will be working) - very nice places, should be in your budget if still available


cohabiting is living in sin & you should be ashamed of yourself. :nono:

what are you guys talking about? I can´t move to Dubai if i can´t live with my future wife , even if we´re not married...
everybody knew when i was there that i have a girlfriend. She was the major talk about...nobody told me .