# Studio Total Renting Fees + Utilities



## Palto (Jan 20, 2017)

Dear All,

Please I need your help in calculating the total renting fees including the *hidden fees* for a studio around 70,000 AED:


Agency Fees: 5000 AED
Security Deposit: 5000 AED
Ejari	: 160 + 35 = 195 AED 
DEWA: 2000 + 100 + 10 = 2110 AED (2000 AED refundable)
Housing Fees (5% of annual rent): 3500 AED for the 12 months
Installation TV/Wifi: 200 AED 
TV/Wifi (basic package =335 AED): 4020 AED for the 12 months
Studio:	70000 annual rent
Chiller&DEWA (1000 AED Monthly) = 12000 AED for 12 months
AED Annual:	102025


I need more info about the Securiy Deposit for the Landlord. Is it really refundable?
Moreover, please verify my estimates and please let me know whether I missed any hidden fees!

Appreciated!


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## svgeorge (Jul 9, 2016)

Agency fees and security deposit is usually 5% of annual rent, so you can negotiate it down from 5k to 3.5k each.
Housing fees of 5% is included as part of your DEWA bill and billed monthly.
Chiller fees of 1k sounds like a lot for a studio apartment.
If the studio has an electric cooking range, then it comes under DEWA. However, if you're using gas, then you'll get a Lootah/similar bill as well.
TV/wifi is sometimes a 2-year contract, so account for that as well if you only intend to rent for a year.
Some contracts specify a painting and cleaning bill while vacating the property.
Apartment maintenance fees is usually paid for by the owner. This should be mentioned in the contract.
Any repairs less than AED500 is usually borne by the tenant.

I guess this pretty much covers everything. Please add if anything is missed.


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## Palto (Jan 20, 2017)

svgeorge said:


> Agency fees and security deposit is usually 5% of annual rent, so you can negotiate it down from 5k to 3.5k each.
> Housing fees of 5% is included as part of your DEWA bill and billed monthly.
> Chiller fees of 1k sounds like a lot for a studio apartment.
> If the studio has an electric cooking range, then it comes under DEWA. However, if you're using gas, then you'll get a Lootah/similar bill as well.
> ...


Thank you very much for your tips svgeorge ! I want to ask you how much approximate is the Lootah gas bill?


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## TallyHo (Aug 21, 2011)

There are a lot of variables to rental expenses but this is the regulation (mandated by law):

Agent's fee is 5% of the rent and deposit is 5% of the rent. The agent can always ask for more, but legally you are not required to pay more. It depends on how badly you want the apartment, I suppose.

Most apartments, especially the newer ones, do not have gas stoves, so you will be cooking on electric stoves. There's a recent law banning gas in all new buildings.

Chiller fees are only applicable in some buildings in some areas. In other buildings the a/c is included as part of the rent. Be careful about this as a cheaper studio in one area (such ans JLT) will require chiller charges while a more expensive studio in a nearby area (like Dubai Marina) will have free a/c and when you calculate the cost of chiller, the cheaper studio is suddenly not so cheaper. 

My friends with chiller charges average 500 a month across the year for a 1-bedroom apartment, so that's 6,000 on average for the year. A studio is probably similar.


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## svgeorge (Jul 9, 2016)

Palto said:


> Thank you very much for your tips svgeorge ! I want to ask you how much approximate is the Lootah gas bill?


The gas bill at my place comes to around AED150 for a quarter.. we have very minimal usage so could be less compared to usual..


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## svgeorge (Jul 9, 2016)

Your security deposit seems have gone up from 5k (already high) to 7k (based on your post in the other thread)... if I were you, i would move on and look for some other property where the landlord is more reasonable.. lesser headaches in the long run


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## Palto (Jan 20, 2017)

Yes I see but the I asked several agencies and they said that it should be 10% because it is furnished. Same thing I heard in JLT and Dubai Marina.


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