# Living in Dubai



## Sun80 (Feb 11, 2017)

We are a family of four with two children aged 9 and 13. We have moved recently to UAE after living for four years in the UK.i have a few questions regarding living in Dubai. I would appreciate it if someone could answer me in detail or pm me with the reply. Thank you in advance.
My queries are:
1. What is the amount of money that would allow us to live a comfortable (not too lavish but eating out once every other week kind of) life?
2. What kind of expenses am I looking at monthly besides rent and schooling?please give a list with costs and any hidden costs which we need to keep in mind.
3.what expenses can we reduce and by how much, by living in a 3bed apartment instead of a villa? Or they would cost the same?
4.what costs do tenants have to pay besides the rent when renting a property?Any fees/deposits etc?
4.I am currently completing my Level 3 Supporting teaching and learning diploma from UK and would like to start working when I finish my course in September.When should I start applying? Which schools would be the best choice salary wise? I have some 2-3 years volunteering experience as a parent plus 2 months work experience as a TA that I completed for my course.What kind of starting salary/benefits can I expect working in a British school?will working in my child's school be beneficial for her?
Thank you once again. Apologies for the long post.


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## twowheelsgood (Feb 21, 2013)

Try reading the Stickies at the top of the Forum - most of the answers you are looking for are repeatedly answered there.

Except Items 1 as your definition may be markedly different to mine or the next person.


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## Bekhruz (Feb 13, 2017)

Hi there.. 

I may mark some points on 3rd and 4th questions:
3.what expenses can we reduce and by how much, by living in a 3bed apartment instead of a villa? Or they would cost the same?

- well, it completely depends on the location that you are comparing with. A 3 bedroom villa normally costs higher rather than such apartment (in the same area). But if you compare villa in e.g. DubaiLand community, and 3 bed apartment in JBR - villa might look even cheaper. 
You can find a nice (big) 3bedroom apartment in Dubai marina for 185-190K dirhams, however with the same amount or for even less, you can get a separate villa in Al Furjan area, or Springs (that is roughly 15 minutes driving distance from Marina.

4.what costs do tenants have to pay besides the rent when renting a property?Any fees/deposits etc?

- Rental amount (normally by PDC cheques)
- brokers normally charge 5% fee on rental amount (some even try to get a 10% for furnished ones, but you can always negotiate)
- home owners normally get 5% deposit for unfurnished (and sometimes 10% for furnished) apartments: this is the security deposit (refundable upon vacating the premises if everything in the property is at the same condition as was given)
- there is ejari registration - make sure that landlord will pay this fee (although it is not much)
- you will be paying for DEWA bills (for water and electricity)
- there is also A/C (cooling) - some buildings are with chiller free and some without. so if chiller is separate, than you have to pay depending on your usage


Once you have a 3 months salary certificate + bank statements accordingly, you can even get a house at your own, you will not have to pay the full amount, as you can apply for mortgage (home loan). As per UAE Central Bank, you can get up to 75% loan of the property value as an international purchaser.

Hope above info finds you well...

Cheers! 

Bekhruz


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## ThunderCat (Oct 28, 2015)

The word comfortable differs greatly from one family to another.

We are a family of 4 and we spend 40K monthly (including schooling & housing). I hope that helps you.


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## QOFE (Apr 28, 2013)

Bekhruz said:


> Hi there..
> 
> 
> Once you have a 3 months salary certificate + bank statements accordingly, you can even get a house at your own, you will not have to pay the full amount, as you can apply for mortgage (home loan). As per UAE Central Bank, you can get up to 75% loan of the property value as an international purchaser.
> ...


This so stinks of estate agent talk. Who else on earth would encourage people to buy property and take out a mortgage after only three months in the country?? Some jobs have a six month probation and even after six months, how could one be sure how long they will stay in the country. The markets are pretty volatile at the moment so one should be careful to dish out advise like that. Buying property here can be risky as it is, especially if nothing to fall back on.


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## Sun80 (Feb 11, 2017)

Thank you. I totally get what you are trying to say regarding rents. I am looking at renting an apartment in business bay or a villa in barsha south and it's literally costing me the same except the villa is bigger and on a newer development.


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## Tropicana (Apr 29, 2010)

Just double-check that the villa is on a development that can be legally rented out to expats


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## TallyHo (Aug 21, 2011)

There are so many variables in a family's lifestyle and of course, great variations between different nationalities in what makes an acceptable lifestyle (quality of housing, quality of schooling).

If you want a standard middle class British lifestyle as a family with two children, then you will most likely need to spend between 35,000-40,000 AED/month. This covers housing, schooling, groceries, entertainment, operating two cars and the usual misc that we can't live without. Housing and schooling are the two most expensive items in your budget. 

Then on top of that you need to have your savings for the inevitable rainy day. Among my peers, 50,000 a month is considered a solid all-in package for a family because it allows up to 40,000 for the living expenses plus 10,000 for savings. 

Other nationalities, such as Pakistanis or Indians, will find a budget of 30,000 very doable but that's because their children will go to cheaper schools and they will live in cheaper areas in Dubai, usually in modest apartments and/or in unpopular locations (they're still perfectly safe and fine, just not desirable among Brits/Australians/etc). Of course, there are plenty of affluent South Asian families who have much higher incomes and live lavishly. End of the day - different nationalities have, as a group, different expectations and tolerance for certain lifestyles that affects their budget and expenditures. 

Regarding apartments versus villas - apartments have much lower utilities costs and most include a/c as part of the rent (some areas you need to pay for the a/c separately and it can add quite a bit, but even then it's not as much as a villa). Villas always require you to pay for the a/c separately or as part of your utilities bill. As such, a 3-bedroom family apartment can have dewa bills as low as 500 a month (not including the housing tax) while a 3-bedroom villa can be as much as 1500-2000 a month (or even more!).


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## rsinner (Feb 3, 2009)

Tropicana said:


> Just double-check that the villa is on a development that can be legally rented out to expats


Oh! I didn't know that there were restrictions on even renting out to expats in some areas! Is this for govt. provided housing (e.g. in Al Barsha?)


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## sghkdub (Aug 5, 2016)

Surely as you have already arrived in UAE, your questions are a little redundant?


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## Bekhruz (Feb 13, 2017)

*this so stinks riskaverse talk*



QOFE said:


> This so stinks of estate agent talk. Who else on earth would encourage people to buy property and take out a mortgage after only three months in the country?? Some jobs have a six month probation and even after six months, how could one be sure how long they will stay in the country. The markets are pretty volatile at the moment so one should be careful to dish out advise like that. Buying property here can be risky as it is, especially if nothing to fall back on.



What is your problem? Nobody is encouraging, it is a POSSIBILITY! To buy a property, whether it is with or without mortgage is as well risky! Any type of investment has certain risk. Do you want to debate on this? I am ready..! Give definition for "volatile" and specify "risk" that you are talking about - I will give you solution how to mitigate such risk or reduce effects of such volatilities. 

Check this out: type mortgagefinder dot ae in your browser..
you can also visit e.g. DIB, ABDIB, Noor Bank, and some more banks 

And by the way, regarding probation period and all this stuff, I can say based on my own experience

Instead of paying 72K for a studio in JLT per annum for rent (Gold crest views 2, unit 315 - be my guest), I bought this apartment from the owner. I spent AED217K for D.p. + registration fees of mortgage in DLD and transfer fees all this stuff, spent roughly 280K and it is costing me AED27K per YEAR to pay to the bank. Since mid of 2014 with the difference in rent and loan payments I covered roughly 70% of the money I spent for purchase (considering service charges I'm paying per annum). And that is my opportunity cost. I hate paying rent and I hate paying loan as well  But the second is much feasible in my situation. Well if I decide to go abroad or shift out, I will simply rent the aprt. out... Imagine, for not less than 65K ...Lol...

Overall if you do proper calculations, you can find whether you would be better off or worse off. The biggest problem is d.p.+all other fees for transfer and registrations, commissions to agent (if involved), etc. Important is to know the exact amount you spend in case of mortgage loan and minimum v.s. maxumum rent in the same building (preferably index for the past few years) for the backup plan.

Cheers!


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## Sun80 (Feb 11, 2017)

Well.. I have arrived but it's never too late to take advice and be prepared for the future.. also because I have ONLY ARRIVED and still not rented/purchased property nor have I got my kids in school yet so I'm still in control of my situation depending on what I choose and where I spend.. just looking for people to share their advice and experiences so my choice and decisions are wise..


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## TallyHo (Aug 21, 2011)

Well, property prices have been declining (slowly but still declining) for a while now. And you obviously didn't live through the great Dubai property crash of '09-'10 where prices halved. As did rents. For a region heavily dependent on oil revenues the current low oil price situation has resulted on severe budget cuts that's made the labour market very volatile as well. 

I know many people who bought in Dubai. Some lost a lot of money. Others did ok. There's been plenty of foreclosures, including from owners who couldn't rent to cover the mortgage. The ones who really did well bought 10 years ago and never lost jobs or needed to sell quickly. 

Then there are those who had their interest rates changed by the banks without warning, despite nothing about the power to do so in their mortgage contracts with the banks.

Or fights over maintenance fees (here's a nice article: Water disconnections final straw for community in Ras Al Khaimah who plan to take developer to court | The National) 

It's one thing to buy a crappy studio. For a family needing more space, a lot more money is at stake. And if you default, it's not like you can walk away without legal recriminations. 

Real estate in the UAE is shark infested waters. Far more so than in a mature, settled country. Caveat emptor. And yes, it's somewhat irresponsible to suggest to a newcomer to jump into buying property. 



Bekhruz said:


> What is your problem? Nobody is encouraging, it is a POSSIBILITY! To buy a property, whether it is with or without mortgage is as well risky! Any type of investment has certain risk. Do you want to debate on this? I am ready..! Give definition for "volatile" and specify "risk" that you are talking about - I will give you solution how to mitigate such risk or reduce effects of such volatilities.
> 
> Check this out: type mortgagefinder dot ae in your browser..
> you can also visit e.g. DIB, ABDIB, Noor Bank, and some more banks
> ...


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## Roxtec Blue (Jan 14, 2013)

TallyHo said:


> Well, property prices have been declining (slowly but still declining) for a while now. And you obviously didn't live through the great Dubai property crash of '09-'10 where prices halved. As did rents. For a region heavily dependent on oil revenues the current low oil price situation has resulted on severe budget cuts that's made the labour market very volatile as well.
> 
> I know many people who bought in Dubai. Some lost a lot of money. Others did ok. There's been plenty of foreclosures, including from owners who couldn't rent to cover the mortgage. The ones who really did well bought 10 years ago and never lost jobs or needed to sell quickly.
> 
> ...


The Latin scholars wrote on this very subject.

Sicut sapiens dixit, "Dubai plateis stratae sunt, aurum, in omnibus agit, et domum prices semper incres Porsche".

Happy days.:rockon:


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## Mambo21 (Mar 19, 2016)

Best check employment contract as well. Mine states that I received housing allowance as long as I do not own a house here.


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