# Question Time



## zoglug (Oct 22, 2010)

Hello everyone,

In the New Year, i will be moving over to Dubai after accepting a job offer. My pay and package stack up nicely and i really can not turn down this opportunity of a life time! However, i have some questions im hoping i can get answered. These have probably been asked a million times before, but for some reason the search function doesnt seem to work whilst i am on my works pc's! 

1) Places to live:- My company are based on Oud Metha Road, Dubai. Where would be best for me to live? Im hoping to pick up a 1 or 2 bedroom apartment and have a budget of around AED 75,000. I have a travel budget too, so will hopefully be able to hire a car. I have been looking online and have come across Better Homes, are they a good letting agent?

2) Purchasing furniture in Dubai:- I am getting a relocation package of £5,000 for the move and am currently asking my company if it is purely to ship my items out there or if i can buy my own stuff too. Is there plenty of shops to purchase furniture from? Are the prices reasonable?

3) Getting my stuff to Dubai:- Im planning to store the bulk of stuff i have rather than bringing it all over to Dubai with me. What i really want to bring over is my electronic stuff (42" & 32" TV's, PS3, XBOX 360, PC, Stereo etc). Is it worthwhile me getting these shipped over, or should i just look to buy them whilst i am there? Is it risky? Is there a chance i could end up losing all my stuff along the way?

These are the main couple for now, but i will stick to asking more questions in this forum.

Many thanks in advance!


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## Elphaba (Jan 24, 2008)

zoglug said:


> Hello everyone,
> 
> In the New Year, i will be moving over to Dubai after accepting a job offer. My pay and package stack up nicely and i really can not turn down this opportunity of a life time! However, i have some questions im hoping i can get answered. These have probably been asked a million times before, but for some reason the search function doesnt seem to work whilst i am on my works pc's!
> 
> ...


Answers in blue above.
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## Mr Rossi (May 16, 2009)

zoglug said:


> Is there plenty of shops to purchase furniture from? Are the prices reasonable?


Due to the transient nature of Dubai you can pick up a lot of 2nd hand furniture cheap and in good condition, check out dubizzle website.


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## rsinner (Feb 3, 2009)

zoglug said:


> I have been looking online and have come across Better Homes, are they a good letting agent?


Just on better homes - I tried to set up a few viewings with them. (1) They gave me appointments which were 2-3 weeks down the line. I wasn't in a hurry so I accepted (2) On the day of the appointment they didn't bother to call. On calling turns out the agent was at home in the UK. I cancelled appointments for the other viewings (3) On the phone they quoted prices which were at least 25-30K higher than what my colleagues had paid for while renting the same month in the same building. According to them (this was in Sept-Oct 2009) the rents in the downtown area had gone up by 10-20% in the past 1-2 months (no they hadn't). Go figure


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## zoglug (Oct 22, 2010)

Cheers for the advice guys! Ill look to steer clear of BHomes for the time being!

Im currently querying the offer with my company as it appears i have to pay a lot of start up costs out of my own pocket, as my relocation package is AED 5,000, not £5,000 which i was advised. What i am curious of, is how much it is likely to cost me in the first instance to get an apartment and up and running. For example, lets say i got a 1 bed in Bur Dubai for AED 60,000. Below is what i understand is required:

If done over 4 cheques, first 3 months rent needed up front AED 15,000
Approx 5% of total in Agency Fee's (AED 3,000)
5% of total as refundable deposit (AED 3,000)
DEWA - I believe there is an initial charge of AED 1,000, is this correct? Also is AED 1,000 for utilities in a 1 bed apartment a decent amount to plan for?
Internet & Phoneline - How much is this likely to cost to have set up initially and also how much per month?
TV Package - Its something i will need, again how much is this likely to costs so i get to watch EPL games (Man City are my team!) 

Is there anything else i need to consider in the initial start up costs? Obviously im not including purchasing furniture if the place is unfurnished, or shipping out my essentials (big TV's, PC, PS3, xbox 360, Stereo).

Cheers

Andy


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## rsinner (Feb 3, 2009)

zoglug said:


> Cheers for the advice guys! Ill look to steer clear of BHomes for the time being!
> 
> Im currently querying the offer with my company as it appears i have to pay a lot of start up costs out of my own pocket, as my relocation package is AED 5,000, not £5,000 which i was advised. What i am curious of, is how much it is likely to cost me in the first instance to get an apartment and up and running. For example, lets say i got a 1 bed in Bur Dubai for AED 60,000. Below is what i understand is required:
> 
> ...


AS you have estimated 15K + 3K + 3K is right
Dewa initial deposit is indeed 1K for an apartment. Monthly bill (based on my experience in living in a 1-bed and a 2-bed) will be likely 200-300 Dhs per month tops
Internet & phone: 199 Dhs for an 8 Mbps connection (less for lower speeds) - upfront I think i paid 200 dhs (which was reimbursed). If you have a pay as you go mobile, just check out the Du or Etisalat websites for tariffs. But upfront costs will be less than 100 Dhs 

TV: We have Showtime + EPL package and pay c. 260 Dhs per month. Upfron I think was two months of rentals when we took the package through Showtime themselves (you can also get these packages through Du/Etisalat)

Cant think of any other start up costs apart from a car - car rentals would start at c. 1800 Dhs per month


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## zoglug (Oct 22, 2010)

Excellent, so right out of the bag i need AED 22,000 start up costs before i start thinking about furniture, food, living etc. Whilst i appreciate things such as internet, tv etc are luxurys, by moving out to Dubai, for the initial first few months i am putting myself in worse position than i am in now! Ok, ill have one months wages (my company are putting me up in a hotel for 3 weeks whilst i search for a place to live) but that means ill be living for a month or two on the breadline, and for a Country who doesnt like debt, that really isnt a good situation for me to be in.

I have questioned whether i get paid my accomodation allowance, or whether the company provide it straight to my landlord/agency. Hopefully they will advise me sooner rather than later because i cant wait for this opportunity to begin.


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## Anwaruddin (Oct 15, 2010)

Your company should give you your housing allowance in advance. If your rent is payable monthly, they will advance only for 1 month housing allowance... if yearly, 1 year's allowance is advanced so on and so forth.

Also, ask for your company to arrange for a temporary accommodation for you. A hotel is nice. A week or two in a temporary hotel accommodation is not bad. The company should also pay for this.

Likewise, advance transportation allowance would be a plus. 

As for DEWA thing, just ask an agent to do the service. I paid 100 DH for mine to save me trouble of waiting for 2 hours for 5 times just to have a DEWA thing (my friend warned me so, now consider yourself warned.)  Peace


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## zoglug (Oct 22, 2010)

I am being put up in a hotel for 3 weeks, which can possibly be extended to 4! I have raised my concerns with my company and will hopefully have some answers from them sooner rather than later!

A lot of my questions are slowly being answered via searching this forum from home, regarding TV packages, internet, groceries etc, im starting to form a clearer picture in my head.

One thing which i am unsure of is the area to live in. I have ordered Dubai Explorer, which should be with me in a day or two so i can read about. My company is based on Oud Metha Road, so Mirdfi and Oud Metha have been suggested above. Both have plenty of apartments within my budget. What are the areas like? Are there other expats living there? Plenty to do? I notice a lot of nights arranged around the Marina etc and wondered if the same things happen around Oud Metha/Mirdif. Reason being, i am coming out alone and i would hate to live like a hermet never leaving my apartment!


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## Mr Rossi (May 16, 2009)

Loads of expats in the Mirdiff area, good value for money with property. The downside is parts are under a flightpath, there are no pubs or bars in the area and being mostly villas it's quite family orientated. As a single guy, looking to make friends you'll struggle a bit and be spending a lot on taxi's over to the other side of Dubai socialising.

Oud Metha is a bit more of a traditional area, though it does have Chi nightclub (awful), the bar in the Movenpick and near the pubs of Bur Dubai. You are in a more central area for socialising but if you are looking to get chatting to random folk in the street, coffee houses etc it might be tougher.

JLT, the Marina, JBR especially and even The Greens and Tecom are generally where young single expats head to when they first come to Dubai.

Btw have you thought about sharing?


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## zoglug (Oct 22, 2010)

Thanks for the advice Mr. Rossi,

how far away from Oud Mertha Road are the likes of JLT, the Marina, JBR especially and even The Greens and Tecom? Are they within easy travelling distance for me to get to work? I have to provide my own transport, the allowance given to me is for getting to and from client meetings! Mis-read their intention with that one! 

Sharing is something i am now giving consideration to, however, with my company providing an accomodation allowance, i am not quite sure if they would allow it!


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## Mr Rossi (May 16, 2009)

zoglug said:


> how far away from Oud Mertha Road are the likes of JLT, the Marina, JBR especially and even The Greens and Tecom? Are they within easy travelling distance for me to get to work?


It's the length of SZR, about 30-45 mins in a car depending on the traffic. On the metro, there is ment to be an Oud Metha station but I don't think it is open yet. 

Chances are your company will just give you the money for your accomodation allowance for you to sort out yourself. The reason companies seperate this from your salary is because it's exempt from any severance payments. If not they will probably still be ok with you sharing, fact of life here due to high rents.


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## zoglug (Oct 22, 2010)

Ahhhh, thats not to bad at all! Hmm certainly has given me something to think about. However, i am guessing with these areas being popular, the rents there are a lot higher.

They have advised me now that they will apply for a loan to provide me the rent up front, but take it out of my monthly salary. For that though, i am presuming it will be paid into my salary in the first place for them to be able to take it out of! Sharing is something i am certainly considering now!

Also, is it cheeky of me to ask them to help with costs of shipping my personal effects to Dubai? I dont want to bring a lot, just essentials such as TV, PS3, XBOX, PC. Stuff i know i could buy over in Dubai, but at a premium.


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## Mr Rossi (May 16, 2009)

zoglug said:


> However, i am guessing with these areas being popular, the rents there are a lot higher.


Search the forum, loads of talk on these areas. Prices are falling everywhere in Dubai, and predictions are they will continue to fall. However there is more stability in popular areas eg JBR and the Marina. I've heard some rents in JLT are less than 50% of what they were a year ago though. Best thing is to just put in the leg work and hunt for a good deal when you get here. 



zoglug said:


> They have advised me now that they will apply for a loan to provide me the rent up front, but take it out of my monthly salary.


In boomtime Dubai, everybody had to pay a years rent upfront, for this they took a loan. Though it was always a personal loan, not via their employer. In fact I've never heard of a company taking out a loan on an employees behalf and sounds a bit fishy to me. Maybe someone else can tell you if this is normal practise or not.

This aside the less cheques you can pay yearly, the more bargaining power you have with the rent.



zoglug said:


> Also, is it cheeky of me to ask them to help with costs of shipping my personal effects to Dubai? I dont want to bring a lot, just essentials such as TV, PS3, XBOX, PC. Stuff i know i could buy over in Dubai, but at a premium.


You don't ask, you don't get but maybe wait until you are here and find your feet, suss out your employer and so on. You'd get one of the consoles in your suitcase and the hotel you are in will have a telly, surely that will do short time? Adjusting to life in Dubai, the bureaucracy etc can all be a bit of a whirlwind, shipping over your telly will probably be the last of your worries when you get here.

Out of curiousity what is the job?


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## zoglug (Oct 22, 2010)

Ill most certainly search this evening once i get home! For some reason, in work it allows me to view the forum but not use the search function! Weird! ha ha!!!

I have just re-read the mail and it says 

"An annual House Rent Allowance is allocated to you and is paid monthly in arrears along with your salary every month. Conversely, on approval we could organise your annual house rent entitlement as a loan from the company to enable you pay off your cheque. The loan amount will be deducted form your salary every month in equal installments."

So i am sure they would have to increase my annual salary by the loan amount, otherwise i would be out of pocket!

The plan is to stick my PS3 in my suit case when i travel over, so i at least have something to get me going. Then once i am settled and have my probation period out of the way i can then look into shipping the rest of my stuff out.

Its working in Engineering and Construction Insurance for RSA. Massive pay rise, accomodation paid for and the chance for me to work abroad for a few years before settling down which is what i have always wanted to do!


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## Spadge (May 27, 2009)

I live in JBR and work in Media city, but certainly feel that most of the single life is down this end of Dubai. As someone already said Mirdiff area is very family focused. I am lucky that for me work is this part of town but I know people who commute it and its about 30 - 40 mins each way, and there is a metro, not sure if the station is over.

Re-housing allowance the norm is if you are paying a year in advance the company pays you the full amount and in your payslip it provides your salary and the monthly pro-rata amount from the annual housing, and then deducts the months housing allowance (hope that makes sense).

There is a lot of shared housing here, which you would pay on a month basis, certainly worth considering, I didn't want to as moved over with my then girlfriend, but am single now but have stayed renting on my own.

Re your stuff, I shipped tvs, consoles, and some furniture, used halfords and kitted out most of a 1 bedroom and the cost was about 800 GBP, including insurance. I would suggest sorting that I understand what Mr Rossi said but it takes about 4-6 weeks to get your stuff over. I certainly would push to get a good re-location amount.

If you want to ask anything else feel free to private message me and I would be happy to give you my email and meet up for a beer when you are over hear.

Have you been here for a visit, things will make more sense when you see how things are on the ground.


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## zoglug (Oct 22, 2010)

Hey everyone, i have another question, this time about mobile phones!

I am looking to bring my mobile phone with me, hopefully a Blackberry. Will i be able to just put in a sim card from one of the 2 companies in Dubai, or will i need to specifically purchase a phone in Dubai?

The reason i ask is if i get a phone on Orange here i cant usually put a rival company sim card in it.

Cheers

Andy


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## AndreaMarshall (Nov 22, 2010)

you can purchase a sim card and a pay as you go phone plan out here. some phones arent compatible such as the american blackerry curve (thanks but no thanks old phone)

we have a 2 bedroom in The Greens that was listed at 90,000 with a giant porch/dancefloor (its huge) and we talked the landlord down to 75,000

Its obviously the only place i've lived here since i've only been here less than a month (Besides 4 days at JBR) but i LOVE it here (both in Dubai and The Greens)


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## Laowei (Nov 29, 2009)

zoglug said:


> Hey everyone, i have another question, this time about mobile phones!
> 
> I am looking to bring my mobile phone with me, hopefully a Blackberry. Will i be able to just put in a sim card from one of the 2 companies in Dubai, or will i need to specifically purchase a phone in Dubai?
> 
> ...


Dont think that will be an issue Andy pleanty of places around that unlock phones, blackberries are usually fairly cheap bought a curve 9300 recently for 1300DHS with 6 months free data. 

As previous poster if you want to meet for a beer when you get here drop me a pm.


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## zoglug (Oct 22, 2010)

Cheers guys! Thanks for the help! Im after a Blackberry so i can use the messenger service to keep in contact with my girlfriend a bit easier!

Cheers Laowei! I will most certainly drop you a pm once my start date comes and i am heading over to Dubai to begin my new life!!!


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## Nightshadow (Sep 21, 2010)

zoglug said:


> Hey everyone, i have another question, this time about mobile phones!
> 
> I am looking to bring my mobile phone with me, hopefully a Blackberry. Will i be able to just put in a sim card from one of the 2 companies in Dubai, or will i need to specifically purchase a phone in Dubai?
> 
> ...


All phones can be unlocked. Not sure about the UK but in the US its illegal for your mobile provide NOT to unlock your phone or provide you with the option to do so. I had both a blackberry and a samsung galaxy and had to call my carrier back there, TMOBILE and have them send me the unlock codes. 

Assuming things in the UK dont work the same way, you can find shops in Dubai that can unlock your phone for you or you can even do it via the internet, look on youtube or find reputable websites that can do this for you. All you need is the IMEI #. Again, its important to remember the handset, the mobile itself is your property and you have a right to unlock it and use whichever provider you desire. Most providers try not to mention this so that you will think twice about switching and spending on a whole new phone.


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## Nightshadow (Sep 21, 2010)

zoglug said:


> Cheers guys! Thanks for the help! Im after a Blackberry so i can use the messenger service to keep in contact with my girlfriend a bit easier!
> 
> Cheers Laowei! I will most certainly drop you a pm once my start date comes and i am heading over to Dubai to begin my new life!!!


I believe the BB messenger function is currently blocked in UAE. Anyone else know about this / remember this issue? No idea if RIM got it sorted finally.


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## Spadge (May 27, 2009)

Nightshadow said:


> I believe the BB messenger function is currently blocked in UAE. Anyone else know about this / remember this issue? No idea if RIM got it sorted finally.


The blackberry issue got resolved, it was to do with the way the encrypted data was sent out of country, I can't remember how they resolved it, but I think there is now a local holding space.

You UK phone will be locked as always is the case if you get a free phone with a talk plan, or you can buy unlocked phones in the UK.

If you wait and get one over here, once you have your bank account you can get blackberrys relatively cheaply with a data bundle that will basically give you free data use, and BBM.

As everyone else, always happy to meet for a beer or 6 whenever you land.


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## zoglug (Oct 22, 2010)

I like to keep things in one thread, so as my departure approaches, i thought i would ask the couple of questions i now have here.

Shipping - When my contract was being negotiated, i was given no allowance for shipping items, however, i pushed for it and secured funds for a 20 foot container. However, as i am now approaching my move (highly likely to be the first week of Jan) i am now wondering whether i should bother shipping stuff out to Dubai! What i am shipping is:

Double bed, 3 door wardobe, desk, bedside cabinet, pc with 24" monitor, 42" TV plus stand, xbox 360 plus games and that amounts to about everything!

Now is it really worthwhile going through the hassle of shipping that small amount of stuff over, or should i just use dubizzle to replace the stuff as and when i get paid?

Secondly, i have been learning to play the guitar for the last 6 weeks, and wanted to bring my guitar with me, would i be able to bring it on the flight with me as a carry on? Has anybody done this with Emirates before? I thought it best to ask than turn up to the airport with a guitar and not be allowed to get it on the flight! 

Cheers

Zog


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## Moe78 (Oct 29, 2010)

My friend has brought his guitar with him BUT I recall him saying it was a hassle trying to haggle with them every time he got on or off the plane.

As for your stuff, well they have given you your shipping allowance so you might as well ship your things and as long as it's free then why not? You can find second hand things here and many things are cheaper here than the UK but you're saving a bit by shipping the things you own over so no point buying new stuff when you get here if that's the case!


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## cami (Aug 11, 2010)

Spadge said:


> The blackberry issue got resolved, it was to do with the way the encrypted data was sent out of country, I can't remember how they resolved it, but I think there is now a local holding space.
> 
> You UK phone will be locked as always is the case if you get a free phone with a talk plan, or you can buy unlocked phones in the UK.
> 
> ...


when you have got your visa on the passport, you can buy an unlocked BB in carrefour or any other shop that sells BBs without a plan, and a sim card. you will have to pay a little more for the device (it's not exactly a phone ) if you want to avoid giving the retailer the bank account details and all the stuff they want. 

next, you have to wait for two hours for etisalat to activate your sim. after that, make sure you have enough money in your account to pay for one of the etisalat BB internet service packages. activation takes around five minutes if they are busy. i set mine up in two hours without paperwork, and it took that long because i got a new sim card.


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## Elphaba (Jan 24, 2008)

zoglug said:


> I like to keep things in one thread, so as my departure approaches, i thought i would ask the couple of questions i now have here.
> 
> Shipping - When my contract was being negotiated, i was given no allowance for shipping items, however, i pushed for it and secured funds for a 20 foot container. However, as i am now approaching my move (highly likely to be the first week of Jan) i am now wondering whether i should bother shipping stuff out to Dubai! What i am shipping is:
> 
> ...



It's worth bringing all your own things if you are planning to stay here for some time. If you leave then behind do you have somewhere to store them?

Pick up the phone and call Emirates and ask them about policy. Always best to get the info direct. Provided you are polite I doubt there'd be a problem.
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