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Is it true that renters are expected to pay an entire years' worth of rent UP FRONT? As in, "Here's your cheque for 60,000 DHR Mr. Landlord."

I have read on some sites that occasionally a landlord will take three or four post-dated cheques, but I'm still floored by the idea that in order to rent an an apartment in Dubai, you need some $20,000 (CAD) upon arrival. Is this for real?

Oh it gets better ...

Try getting cheques from a bank without work/residency permission!

... and don't forget that most companies only sort out work/residency permission about 3 months after you arrive in town ...

Dubai is always a source of fun

Of course you could always ask your employer to provide an apart-hotel accommodation for the first three months (about 7,000/month) until your visas are finalised - which would also give you time to save up the first half-year rent (two cheques are not uncommon, 3-4 cheques? If you're lucky)

Lots of people house-share for the first period in Dubai ... this also gives them time to decide exactly where they want to live.

The _advantage_ of not getting a work visa sorted out immediately is that if you don't like the employer you're free to get a different job.

60,000 for a flat? Are you _sure_ you want to live in Sharjah??

- Stuart

Wow. Good grief. How do people manage to live there?

Thanks for the infor -- I had just pulled the 60,000 DHR figure from other posts I saw that indicated that a two-bedroom apartment was generally around 60,000 to 65,000. Is this a fair approximation?

I imagine we'll be needing to show up, cash in hand, as neither my BF or I are coming to Dubai with jobs lined up; we thought we'd come and see the lie of the land and take it from there. I have always found it's much easier to find work when you are physically present rather than from a distance, anyway.

While it is true that you are probably more likely to find a job if you are 'locally available', it is also probably true that you would get a better package IF you can get yourself recruited from Canada.

So as long as your CV's are 'in good order' I would recommend that you start sending them to reputable recruitment agencies immediately. If nothing else you might get some interviews lined up before you arrive?

And I would NOT rent a property before;
a) you know where you're working, and
b) you get to know Dubai a little bit

Arrival budget?
- figure on spending 2000 Dirhams for a week - 10 days in an apart-hotel and use that time to find somebody who'll be willing to accept an unmarried couple as room-renters. Figure 4000 AED/month for a clean room with furniture & ensuite. Not everybody will accept an unmarried couple.

Check out Gulf News classifieds section for current market rental rates, which vary across town. You would only get a studio for 60k in Dubai Marina. Deira is relatively cheap.

Don't forget to budget 1500/month for car rental too. No car = no life in Dubai.

You should also budget a minimum of 3-4000 / month / person for minimum "comfortable Western expat living". If you want to eat & party budget more.

HTH - Stuart

Can you recommend some reputable recruiting agencies? I've seen the Jobs In Dubai website, but there seem to be conflicting opinions on whether or not they're legitimate/worth it. Some seem to swear by them, some rant and rave about the evils of the site.

That in mind, can anyone recommend a good jobs site for recruitment?

i've always advocated clarendon paker, and haven't had any complaints to date. they do a fair bit of advertising and have a decent reputation in the local market, they even do a "work related problems" column in the local paper.

www. clarendonparker.com

if you have a bad experience with them let me know and i'll take them off my xmas card list

Beresford Blake Thomas is good. Austcorp is good too. Google up their websites.

In fact most of the advertisers on www.monster.com are ok. Ask the group if you get an offer 'too good to be true'

HTH - Stuart

It would be better to just rent a hotel apartement in Bur Dubai, you can get decent long term rates for those apartments with more flexible payment options.. of course, depends on availability at the time you are arriving here...

I haven't heard of these. I assume it's a long-term rental of a hotel room? What does it tend to cost? Do you still get housekeeping services and all of that?

There is an area of Bur Dubai called Golden Sands, there are many hotel apartments in this area, I was paying AED ~1800/week to rent in Golden Sands a year ago while my residency/trade license was being sorted, i would guess it is a bit more now, that was for a serviced studio, including daily maid service.

Judging by your Avatar though I'm going to make the wild assumption you are a women, if so it is worth mentioning that you may not feel comfortable living in this area. There are a lot of "ladies of the evening" here.

Lethe wrote:Is it true that renters are expected to pay an entire years' worth of rent UP FRONT? As in, "Here's your cheque for 60,000 DHR Mr. Landlord."

I have read on some sites that occasionally a landlord will take three or four post-dated cheques, but I'm still floored by the idea that in order to rent an an apartment in Dubai, you need some $20,000 (CAD) upon arrival. Is this for real?

Yah, AED100k upfront... thanks very much.

Would have gone with post dated cheques if it was available for the rent. My car payments are all post-dated cheques... imagine having to sign 48 bloody cheques and handing it over to a stranger... its a wonder how a country so bent on being/having the biggest and best can't become familiar with the concept of Direct Debit.

It is not that they don't like direct debit. Here it is a criminal act to bounce a check and my understanding is the laws are not the same for direct withdrawal.

As such the company you just bought your car from has you by the short and curlies which finance companies will always prefer.

if you think 48 checks are bad try buying a house with a 20 year mortgage.

Criminal act? Ok, thats a first. I know when they tried to cash the first of my car payment cheques it bounced cause the bank the cheques were from had linked the cheques to the wrong account - and still charged me the penalties for the cheque bouncing due to insufficient funds in the incorrectly linked account. Lucky I din get procecuted then eh

20 year mortgage... here? Doubt I'd ever contemplate it.