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Hi - A few questions please;
Backround: Am moving to Dubai end Dec from UK. Wife and 3 kids will move in Aug 2008 but will come to Dubai every few weeks during UK school breaks.

Work will be between Exchange 2 & 3 on Sheikh Zayed Rd (right side heading to Dubai).

1. What schools would you recommend? We're considering Wellington and Repton....although a few people have already advised us against Repton (not good private school in UK + too expensive + middle of nowhere + school is a construction site for at least next 2 years)

2. Where to live? If Wellington, we're considering Meadows (needs to be a 4 bed villa).

3. Rent or buy? Our timeframe of living in Dubai is 3-5 years. But have read the Hermes report which says property prices will fall about 10-20% by 2008/2009 as supply increases? Am leaning towards renting for first year and maybe buying 2nd year. What are rental costs?

4. Given the family will come only a 10 days max a time every 6 weeks or so, I have to keep expenses low. Am considering renting a studio or sharing a room in an apt / flat from Dec to Aug 2008. How much would this cost? Any suggestions?

5. Car: Rent or buy? Is the used car market active? Am leaning towards renting a cheap small car until Aug 2008 when the family moves and then buy..appreciate your thoughts.

Thanks...much appreciated.

I think you'd definitely be best off renting to begin with and then seeing how the property market develops (not sure that prices for villas will fall that much - it's mainly apartements that are going to be coming onto the market).

Right now for a 4br place in Meadows or Lakes you're looking at about AED255K- 270K/year (about GBP34-36K), but who knows what prices will be by the time your family arrives August 2008? The rental market for villas could easily rise by 30% or more in the next year.

You might also want to consider Umm Suqeim, i.e. right around where you're working. It's a good neighbourhood and you could get a 4BR place for about the same price as in the Meadows. It really depends what you're looking for - Meadows/Lakes are much more suburban and may be suitable for teenage kids, but Umm Suq is also quiet and family-friendly.

Before your family arrives, you might be best off looking at a villa-share in Umm Suqeim or perhaps renting a one-bed place or sharing a two-bed place in the Greens. Not quite sure about costs for all that. You can get cheaper places down in Bur Dubai and similar areas, but then you'll face nasty traffic problems getting to/from work.

Car - there's a very active used car market here and cars are cheap. To rent a small cheap car would cost about AED2,000 a month, but you're probably better off buying a small second-hand car, and then buying a second, larger car when the family arrives - you'll need two cars anyway.

Can't comment on schools, I'm afraid.

could you please post the link or URL or where the hermes report can be found please

thanks

Here is the link

http://cm2.zawya.com/researchreports/ef ... 054844.pdf

Many thanks, it ties in with experienced property developers own thoughts on the dxb market. I was predicting 2008 and so were Hermes

Its gonna leave a lot of people in tears when it does happen, i think the drop will be more around 25/30% personally. The market prices are well over inflated @ the mo and the correction will be bigger than people think

thanks chosenone, i read through the whole report and its quite interesting and gives me good perspective as im in the process of moving to dubai myself by the end of the year.