17 July, 2007

Real Estate? Boom? Who?

Officially on 10 September, I shall be homeless! My brother already is - well he's just taken up residence in my spare room and his furniture is all over my courtyard. So I'm back to house hunting again.

I still rent because I cannot afford the house I would like and don't want the ones on offer now. Officially - there is a real estate boom in the region; definitely in Dubai but who for? Not for us expatriates, especially those like me who have been here a long time. And by all accounts, not for the Emiratis either, if the media reports and conversations with some Emirati friends are anything to go by.

My main reason (and it could well be those of others) is that experience (I think 18 years in Dubai qualifies me) of this region tells us that anything and everything is liable to change - at a moments' notice. Which would explain why I don't have a house to my name or a flat or even a shack. Its also my perverse nature that shies away from buying into expensive council estates!! Ever looked at the buildings on Palm from the old Barasti bar or from the window of a high rise in DMC - thats what the buildings on Palm look like. But I digress.

So after living here in Dubai - it spoils you in some ways I have to say - I am seriously contemplating a move to Sharjah for two (in my opinion) very valid reasons.

Moving to Sharjah means I can still live in a villa and have a bit of a garden within my budget and hopefully even some money to spare for some more gadgets that means I am connected to my office and everyone else.

Moving to Sharjah means that I don't have to opt for living in a claustrophic flat with central AC because landlords of villas don't want to rent to single people! (Discrimination!)

Now I know that the Dubai Sharjah highway poses some problems (ok, so I'm downplaying this a bit; alright more than a bit) but as an entrepreneur - I can work from home thanks to Etisalat and its very capable broadband service (and I am serious about that - but that is another story).

So I've resigned myself to moving to Sharjah or Dhaid even. Anyone know any reliable landlords I can talk to?
Posted by Mita at 12:44 pm
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11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey, Cheer Up. Nothing looks so bleak, after all one is just talking about shifting.BTW, I am aware of people who are residing at Mussafah(Abu Dhabi)who travel to work at Jebel Ali.Now thats what I call looking at the bright side.Who knows one day you may have to shift to RAK with the present day scenario at Sharjah.

17 July, 2007 14:40
hemlock said...

musaffah isnt that bad an idea. in fact, you could try looking up villas in shahama... it's about 35 minutes from Defence roundabout... but it's against traffic, and villas there are dirt cheap.

17 July, 2007 14:52
Anonymous said...

hemlock, how cheap?

17 July, 2007 16:20
secretdubai said...

If you are seriously considering this, why not move to Ajman? I have met people who have rented even seafront villas there at a fraction of the cost of Dubai.

Also Ajman doesn't have those "decency" laws, meaning that you if you had a dinner party, your guests wouldn't be arrested for bringing a bottle of wine, etc etc.

17 July, 2007 17:06
hemlock said...

I was looking for a place in march, and it was 36k for a 3-bed villa.

17 July, 2007 17:18
rosh said...

shhhhh keep it quite on AJ people -before you know sneaky/greedy/manipulative rental agents shall sky rocket the rents in AJ as well :)

Sorry to hear about your predicament mita - since you've been here in the UAE for a while, I guess you would, most things "somehow" work out for the better, eventually - chin up :)

17 July, 2007 17:46
Luke Hinds said...

Please let me know your secret to working from home with Etisalat.

I also work from home with a 1mb connection and I find the service is dire.

Normal ping time to google.com is 300-350 ms.

Typing this from a shared hotel connecition in Germany I am getting a pingtime of 77ms.

Also its lovely here - 29 degrees and I got hayfever today from all of the green abundance doing its summer bloom :)

Back to sandlands at the end of the week though and I am going to miss it.

That's off-topic for now though :)

18 July, 2007 01:39
Mita said...

Thank you all for your very encouraging suggestions - I shall explore every one of them.

I am an eternal optimist but I must admit I was a bit miffed when I wrote the story. So thank you all.

Luke - the secret to working from home is resignation - and that Etisalat is the lesser of the now two evils!!

18 July, 2007 09:51
Farrukh Ahmed said...

Also try the Abu Hail Area.

I know some people living in villas with 3 bed and HUGE courtyard. They're not that cheap, but certainly around the same price you'd get a single bed apartment in Bur Dubai area.

18 July, 2007 10:19
B.D. said...

If you've already spent 18 years in the UAE then just plan on another 18, which would leave you time to pay off a loan for a two or three bedroom flat or villa in new Dubai. In some countries it's the norm to spend 20 or 30 years to pay for a home.

18 July, 2007 20:34
Bhetti said...

Sharjah was my childhood home, so I'd say it's a great place to raise a family... should be easy to get to the private schools from the residential areas. All nice cheap stores are around.

24 July, 2007 17:34

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