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Ok guys, I really need your help.

I am moving to Dubai on the 22nd of September and I am clueless about how to immerse myself in this new country. I have heard horror stories about the traffic and the housing situation but i have made up my mind and so some help would be great.

a) I will be making around 30K DHS per month. Is this good money considering the fact that my company is not paying for any housing, utilities as well as relocation expenses.

b) I am looking for a decent fully furnished 2 bedroom apartment near Media City with a verandah if possible as my canine companion needs her space. How much per month should I expect to pay? Also i have heard that i need to pay an advance in rent for nearly 6 months and I dont have enuf to cover that. Is this negotiable? How much can I expect to pay for utilities?

I am having sleepless nights, so if I can have some of your thoughts, I would be very grateful.

Thanks in advance..

The Practical Poet

On 30K DHS a month you be fine. The average wage is about 8-9k.

30k is a pretty good start

thepracticalpoet wrote:Ok guys, I really need your help.

I am moving to Dubai on the 22nd of September and I am clueless about how to immerse myself in this new country. I have heard horror stories about the traffic and the housing situation but i have made up my mind and so some help would be great.

a) I will be making around 30K DHS per month. Is this good money considering the fact that my company is not paying for any housing, utilities as well as relocation expenses.

b) I am looking for a decent fully furnished 2 bedroom apartment near Media City with a verandah if possible as my canine companion needs her space.

many places don't accept animals, no matter how small, cute or house-trained they are

How much per month should I expect to pay?
I'll leave the rental issues to those in the know

Also i have heard that i need to pay an advance in rent for nearly 6 months and I dont have enuf to cover that. Is this negotiable?

rental is normaly paid through a series of post-dated cheques, your first task is to get a salary certificate from your employer and head down to a bank. you need to set aside each month from your budget the rental amount, that way when the cheque is due there are sufficient funds. banks will normally charge you about 200dhs if you bounce the cheque, the payee can then re-submit it - if it bounces again they would normally institute criminal charges against you for fraud - and yes, the cops do come around to your office and collect you!

How much can I expect to pay for utilities?

on the basis of the specifications you gave in the region of 1,200 per month (electic, water and lights). if your small companion accompanies you, you will have to keep the a/c on all day during summer to keep the appartment cool. word of warning, don't take a place on the top floor, the view may be good, the rent may be marginally cheaper, but will be as hot as hell!

I am having sleepless nights, so if I can have some of your thoughts, I would be very grateful.

Thanks in advance..

The Practical Poet

u dont need to have sleepless nights.. 30K is more than enuf ..

the rent around that area cld be 100K+ ...but ur co. will offer u 6 months housing adv. if reqd. so that'll take care of ur 1st installment...if possible check with the landlord if the payment can be split into 4 instead of 2...

i just made a similar move as i work in dic. the 2 bedrooms near that area are in the 120-160 range. or all the apts i looked at in the marina area are that much. most usually come with a veranda or balcony, but you'd have to check for pets as most seemed to say no to that. as far as traffic if you live near the marina it won't take you more than 10 min to get to media/internet city.

good luck

Moneys fine - you'll immerse yourself soon enough - but you should be looking for a villa - try barsha or springs. It's not really fair to keep a dog in an apartment - they need a yard - and Concord will report you to feline friends.

hey, i thought i'd contribute because i'm in a similar position in that my salary covers for the extras like accommodation etc.

with regard to the rent, you should check out Better Homes' website for an idea of cost, it also has a map which might help you figure the geography of dubai.

http://bhomes.com

one thing which you should look into with your employer is what actually happens with accommodation, i'll explain my situation. my accommodation costs come out of my salary but it's actually my employer who pays for that kind of stuff direct, then it's deducted from my salary and the rest of my salary is pro-rata'd for the rest of the year. this affects my rental agreement for apartment too, because it's actually my employer who pays the rent on my behalf so i'm really a sub-tenant.

this has various benefits for me and my employer, but most notable for me in the short term is that it means i can move straight into a place once i find one because (a) i don't need to save up for 6 months rent, and (b) i don't need to wait around until my visa is processed to move into the apartment i like.

the reason i mention it is because that was taken as red by my employer and it wasn't until recently when i queried the practicalities that the grand scheme was explained to me. you might be in the same boat, so it might be worth checking out.

hope that helps!