Skai | ExpatWoman.com
 

Skai

Skai
11
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 13 September 2013 - 17:02
From the experience we have recently had looking for accommodation I would say keep an eye on prices on these websites, but don't expect to be shown the house that you see a picture of online. Most are quite general adverts. Do your research on areas and prices, bear in mind that the price advertised online may be less than what the actual cost of renting a house in that area may be. Also factor in 5% agent fees and 5% deposit approx. The best course of action is to wait until you arrive, so that you can physically see the houses. From what we have experienced the fact that lots of people have moved back from Dubai to AD recently means that house prices have gone up and availability has gone down, but there are still nice places out there depending on your budget and requirements. Hope it all goes well for you.
Skai
11
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 30 August 2013 - 14:19
Thank you busybee2 I have received it!
Skai
11
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 30 August 2013 - 10:45
Ideally we wanted a villa in Khalifa A or al raha gardens, but from what hubby is saying there aren't many nice ones around in our budget. Something about prices going up due to people moving back from Dubai. The price is tempting in al reef but it seems quite far out with very few amenities. He has tried to have a look around for other areas but every time he goes to look at a new compound or area he gets lost lol!!
Skai
11
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 30 August 2013 - 10:31
Thanks for that Busybee2, and am I right in thinking that applications for a school year ie fs2 need to be in by January?
Skai
11
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 30 August 2013 - 01:54
Hi, I am moving to AD in 3 weeks and am a bit confused about the schooling system. Our son turned 3 in May and we thought that he would be going to preschool for the 2013/2014 academic year like in England. However, having looked at the British curriculum schools in AD I can see they take children from the age of 3, so should I be looking for a school place for him instead of preschool? Would I be breaking the law if I enrolled him in a preschool for a year and then tried to get him a place for fs2 next year? Please help!!
Skai
11
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 28 June 2013 - 00:45
I have resent....it appears my windows mail just likes to keep mails in the outbox. Thanks for that, it is very interesting, so does this mean where I have seen properties advertised cheaper on certain websites the properties are not actually available and a bit of a marketing ploy?? I'm starting to get an idea of how different things are out there!
Skai
11
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 25 June 2013 - 01:38
I think we may give renting directly from a landlord a miss for our first year at least, seems too complicated! Regardless of whether you are renting direct or through an agent, you still need to do the due diligence and it's no more complicated than dealing with an agent. However, the difficulty of trying to rent directly from a landlord is that you won't find many out there because 99% of landlords won't bother to advertise since they are not the ones paying the agents' fees (I fall into the 1% :D). As busybee pointed out, unless you know the lay of the land and how things work here, it's probably easier to deal with agent for the time being. I believe Al Raha Gardens also go through the developer's leasing office as well. Give them a call at 02-8107500 for available listing. They should have a list of the available villas because most landlords would authorize them to re-lease their villas on their behalf in addition to listing them with outside agents. yep aldar do raha gardens, but if you get through an agency you pay double unless you haggle. landlords if they advertise on the house etc will not be direct usually its an agent number anyways. if the property has a mortgage on it which most of them do, its usually all done via the bank/propery agent anyways and then you still have to pay commission. the way it works here is so very different from the uk. if landlords had to find tenants and pay commission it would be much better but thats not the way it is so you have to go with the flow. So if we went to Aldar directly would we pay less commission/ security deposit?
Skai
11
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 23 June 2013 - 23:16
Thanks for the info. We have had some quite blunt messages from estate agents who insist they have no more information to give us than what is in the advert, it's so frustrating! We were really interested in Al raha gardens but from what i gather from a few different forums the bills vary drastically from villa to villa and it may be a lucky dip based on the villa you get? On average I think bills in ARG are 1500aed per month for a 3 bed, is that normal? It would be really useful to know how much you all are paying per month on bills, the size of your villa and location?? Also, how much is a security deposit usually, and do you realistically get it back? I think we may give renting directly from a landlord a miss for our first year at least, seems too complicated!
Skai
11
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 18 June 2013 - 00:32
Hi, We went to Rome a couple of years ago also for just 3 days, we didn't get a tour guide except at the colosseum. Most of the big attractions have tour guides hanging around outside, but its worth talking to a few before agreeing to go in with one as the prices vary greatly...we tended to go with the one that had the most tourists with them lol. Off the top of my head I would say visit Vatican City (St Peters Basilica and the Sistine Chapel), the Colloseum, Trevi Fountain, Forro Romano and the Spanish Steps are the main attractions I think. We walked everywhere because we didn't really have a clue about transport, and we stayed closer to the Vatican City than central Rome, but both of us agree that next time we would stay more centrally. Hope this helps xx
Skai
11
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 07 June 2013 - 01:47
Thanks for the replies. I'm sure I will be back to ask for advice again and will def try to come to the coffee mornings too.
Skai
11
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 05 June 2013 - 20:06
Thank you for the reply busybee2 that's very useful, as far as you know have the utility bills gone down in Al Raha Gardens? Also how negotiable are rents and estate agent commissions?
 
 
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