How easy is it to rent furnished villas in Dubai long term?

No, that's not my actual rental allowance. That's what I think I need. I have not included [i'>any [/i'>of their allowances in that spreadsheet. The spreadsheet depicts the [i'>estimated true value[/i'> of those costs in Duabi. Their rental allowance is substantially less than the one identified in the spreadsheet.

Agree, Guinness. We will probably ask for a bit of fat to built in to cover the things that are not immediately apparent. DH had a good job, didn't have to come. They asked him to apply for this one, gave it to him and said not to worry about the package because they "would look after us". Someone else has now been recruited into his old job, so there is no going back to that. Maybe it's timely to put a link in to the costs that have already been identified as needing to be met to get someone to Dubai and live in Dubai on an ongoing basis. I would be grateful if you do do a "sanity check" and have any comments to drop back and make a quick note in the costings thread here: http://www.expatwoman.com/forum/addpost.aspx?TopicID=135373 Hopefully the above list will help some other newbies along the way...

Claire and Sanddy, I agree completely. But first I have to prove that we [i'>will [/i'>indeed be out of pocket. Back to Excel I go... I hate this. It is so much "white noise" and defocusing us from what we really should be doing. SouthernStar - yes, DH and I talked about Falcon City etc in the early days. It sounds good to me - a viable way of getting round the problem, but he wants to be really close to work. I think when we get there for our Look-See we need to do a drive to some of the communities he considers "further out" and see how far it really is time-wise. Cornish Pixie (I was hoping you would throw your 2 bob's worth in :)). Yes, I was worried about the quality of the furniture too. I think I've seen one set of photo's for a furnished villa in the last 3 months and it looked like student accommodation. Spongemonkey - I hear what you're saying and no insult taken. I understand the allowances will make up the shortfall between what I might pay for similar expenses when living at home and what I will be charged in Dubai, so no worries there. But (to give you another example) ...example deleted due to personal details... Advice Seeker - no, I've found nothing :-( and I've looked across Dubizzle and 2 other real estate sites. That's when I realised the rental allowance was not going to stretch. BBCB: I think if we cannot find a furnished villa within their allowance budget, we will be bouncing back and arguing we now need our stuff shipped or a furniture allowance. Thanks everyone, I can't tell you how much I appreciate the value of your "sanity checks". I had dreams of eventually meeting you all in person and shouting you a coffee to say thanks, but now I'm really starting to doubt whether I will get there. There's a fair bit of personal info in here, so I think I'll come back and delete some details a bit later. Just worried someone reading this might recognise him from work or something... <em>edited by Buy me a Pony on 03/05/2011</em>

I could rent a palace but not furnish it. LOL It has to be wrong. Having that amount per month just does not make sense. I am certain they have given us an annual figure which whoever drew up the letter has neglected to pro-rata. The problem is the annual figure would not stretch to 4 bedrooms and furnished. We have a dog - we have to take a villa. And I need an extra bedroom whether it be for our 75 year old parents or guests to stay comfortably with us for a month or so at a time, a home office that DH and I can do our work in without cluttering up public spaces or whatever. Am I sounding precious? LOL <em>edited by Buy me a Pony on 01/05/2011</em>