Sorry it’s taken a while for me to update this. I spent a good portion of last week with a bit of a tummy bug that turned out to be a case of dehydration/getting use to the heat. Adam was always on my case about not drinking enough water in London, and I’ve apparently taken that habit with me to Dubai. Must remember to increase my intake as temperature gets hotter.
We’ve now entered into the stage of our time here where we need to look for apartments. Having only really found our Notting Hill place six months ago, I was sincerely hoping the nightmare that is apartment hunting was a good 2 years away. Of course, after leaving London for Dubai, I knew that day would soon once again arrive.
The non-returned phone calls. The time wasted showing us a one bedroom apartment that’s actually a newly converted broom closet. And, oh look, the broom is still in there. The obnoxious double-speak. The foul stench of too much cheap cologne and wrinkled pinstriped suits. The irritating attempts to be ‘buddy buddy’ with me. Please. Stop. I don’t actually want to hug you.
And so I began, once again, with that much despised, fruitless search. Only this time, it’s in a different country Where the agent may or may night speak fluent English. There are rules like post dated checks and jail time if they bounce. Questionable maintenance responsibilities and potential AC fees (in a country where it gets to 120/50 in the summer!).
My first encounter was with someone who barely spoke English and, to top it all off, was on a dodgy cell line:
‘I have 1 bedroom…..JLT…..Tower’
‘Sorry, can you repeat that?’
’1 check…6….’
‘Sorry, what?’
’60,000 AED A YEAR!!!’
‘Okay.’
‘Can you….Tuesday….Evening….’
‘Sorry, what was the building?’
‘*Mumbles something inexplicable*’
‘Look, can you just text me the information and we can say that we’ll meet at 2pm tomorrow?’
‘Fine. *Click*’
We never actually heard back from him.
The next several phone calls and emails to various agents were ignored. And then we found our first property worth viewing with someone who spoke fluent English (not that this actually made a difference). It was described to us as light, airy and spacious:
‘You’ll notice how much room you have in here. Great value for money.’
‘The kitchen is the size of the guest toilet….’
‘Yes, but the sun comes in and makes it ever so bright and really gives you that spacious feeling.’
‘But the owner has covered every wall in dark maroon and black wall paper and the furniture is dark black leather…’
‘Yes, but the location so sought after.’
‘We’re looking out onto a golf course and the desert…’
We decided not not to take that one.
Finally, yesterday, I managed to snag an appointment to view a property that was actually great value for money, spacious and in an excellent location (not to mention the decor didn’t make me feel as though Marilyn Manson had a go at it). Of course I had to go through the whole process of standing there, listening to them go on and on about how ‘fabulous’ this property is and how ‘incredibly wonderful’ the decor and furniture are. Not to mention how the landlord managed to put in a proper electrical strip. According to him, when he had it plugged into the wall, he was told by the owner of the building that ‘it would probably blow up the refrigerator’. And because of this he couldn’t possibly meet my requests to lower the rent by 2,000 AED a year. I didn’t realise that ensuring that one of your appliances doesn’t blow means that you have the right to charge more than necessary. But then again, I suppose I’m new to this game.
We’ll see how it all turns out. I’m not entirely sure if we’ll take the property, but it is lovely and I do sort of have my heart set on it at the moment.
I can’t seem to actually upload pictures at the moment of the apartment, so please check back in the next few hours or so. Thanks!
Wow this is weird but currently my fiance and I are also looking for properties here in Dubai. We started looking out for 1 bedroom apartments and soon realized the only difference between 1 and 2 bedroom apartments in that of five grand which seems rubbish.
Really! Isn’t just the most frustrating thing in the world? And then the loans and getting that sorted, if you actually can get one and your company is on ‘the list’? I wanted to put my fist through the wall (haha) a few times the other day out of sheer and utter frustration. What area are you looking at, at the moment?
That’s not the frustrating part, the frustrating part is when you are intimidated by the agents to lease it as ”this is the best property at best price, you cannot find it anywhere else”
My fiance and I both work around TECOM area so we were looking for apartments in the same area but I don’t think we’ll find anything decent. Recently my fiance ended up liking one in crown residence. I’d prefer JLT or Marina, but the traffic there is ridiculous in evening…what about you?
Yes! And it goes beyond just taking the apartment. The guy the other day said to me ‘You’ll take it on the 1st’ when we were trying to figure out what day my husband and I would move into the property. I got really irritated with him just right out said ‘do not TELL me what day we’re going to move in. We will figure it out and get back to you’. You can’t let them intimidate you.
And JLT/Marina, if you don’t work in the area, is ridiculous for traffic. Tecom seems like a good area to live in or around. What about the area close to the Mall of the Emirates? I have a friend who lives there and it seems decent enough.
We’re in the JLT area at the moment, but both work in Media City so we can get away with taking the metro. We’re looking to stay in the same JLT/Marian area (we were put up in an apartment for two months by the company we work for, which was a massive help).
”If your company is not on the list ya’ni you can ask them to get listed”
Really! We didn’t know that. Though there’s a chance they might be ‘black listed’ from some banks because so many workers absconded back in 2008/2009. I’ll have to inquire about that though, thanks
x
Yea it’s possible, I believe it’s just some paperwork or the company is required to open an account with the bank to get listed, ,something of that sort.
It’s a long walk from the station too though keeping in mind the crazy heat these days.
My fiance and I work in Dubai Internet City, I guess both of could do metro too
JLT in my opinion is a good area and even the traffic depends on the rush hour, I am trying to convince him for marina too. My fiance just doesn’t want traffic at all. We are also looking at barsha, the area behind mall of the emirates.. Let’s see how that turns out. Happy house hunting.
Thanks and you too. I’m sure you’ll find something fabulous
And yes, we’re talking into consideration those scorching days when we’re walking to work from the metro. Luckily, it’s only a 5-10 walk (which shouldn’t be all that bad). Let us know how you get on! x