# Some questions about moving to dubai



## sanb1234 (Feb 16, 2009)

Hi,

I'm looking for a 1-bd apt in Dubai for just myself and have the following questions after speaking to a few agents. I'd be very grateful if someone could answer some or all of them

Location: I will be working in Al Ghurair City in Deira but would like to live on the newer side. I had initially not planned on living any further than Barsha but now ppl (agents) are telling me that the Marina is just an extra 7-8 mins on SZ Rd and Discovery Gardens is just another 5-7 mins from the Marina and I should look in those areas as well. I think Discovery Gardens would be too far for me but would the Marina be alright? I'm ok for a 45 min commute for and the Marina sounds nicer than Barsha and cheaper than Downtown/Old Town. But if its more than 45 mins then I'll stick to Barsha or Downtown/Old town.

I have taken a cab from Marina to Al-Ghurair, and it wasn't bad, but I didn;t get a chance to do it at peak time in the morning.

Marina: I think I read somewhere- though I haven't been able to find it again- that it can take a while to get out of Marina from SZ Rd. How long would it generally take in the morning around 8 am?
Is there a lot of construction going on? More, less, abt the same as Barsha?

DEWA: From what I've been able to tell from checking online, DEWA should be abt 500 aed for one person in a 1 bd apt. Is this more or less correct? And is this incl or excl municipality fees? 
Also, some agents say that airconditioning/chiller is free the first yr and you only pay water and electricity. Does this mean that airconditioning is separate from DEWA? In this case, how much extra does it cost? Or is it that your first yrs DEWA bills will be lower than 500 aed a mth?

Maintenance: Agents dealing with Barsha say that its better to rent in Barsha bc the entire building is owned and maintained by one person whereas the Marina is freehold property so different ppl own different units and maintenance is a problem and depends on the owner. Is this true? I would have thought there would be a central building management taking care of maintenance even though apts are owned individually?

Petrol: How much should I budget for fuel per mth? It's supposed to be cheap int he UAE, but how cheap?

Thanks a lot! And if anyone has any extra advice to add, I would love to hear it.

Thanks!


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