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before i decided to post this topic, i made a little research. there r a lot more artificial islands that one might think. some have airports, others buildings, beaches on them, etc.
without any doubt the man-made islands from dubai r the most well known it the world. but for how long can they last?
everybody is so overwhelmed by what is going on there, including me. fake or not, its amazing. but i surely would not wanna be there in case of a natural disaster.
so i was wondering if anyone has read, heard or knows any of those "dirty" details that r kept away from the public. or just give ur opinion.

raidah wrote:before i decided to post this topic, i made a little research. there r a lot more artificial islands that one might think. some have airports, others buildings, beaches on them, etc.
without any doubt the man-made islands from dubai r the most well known it the world. but for how long can they last?
everybody is so overwhelmed by what is going on there, including me. fake or not, its amazing. but i surely would not wanna be there in case of a natural disaster.
so i was wondering if anyone has read, heard or knows any of those "dirty" details that r kept away from the public. or just give ur opinion.

Oh man those islands in Dubai
are really affecting the marine life
badly, yeah I've done a research
on that. HOW are they gonna manage
all that dunno, there gonna be bad
results in the future on the marine
life, including the coral reefs etc etc etc etc

I used to look at those islands as a WOW
thing, well they're, but after that research
you see its coOL to have 'em. But hey
look after the life under the sea, don't
hurt what's down there!!!!

Montreal has an artificial island about 10 minutes from the downtown core that was used from earth taken out during the building of its metro... Its been there since the mid-60s and shows no signs of sinking...

Then again, Canada doesn't hire unskilled Indians and pay them $0.10/hour, work them 24 hours a day, and expect the thing to be finished in 1/4 the normal time

the island projects in dubai r huge. and skilled or unskilled workers, there had to be a lot of mental work before starting the actual contructions. im only thinking that if u mess with nature, sooner or later it will hit back.
by now we have a lot of geological, geographical etc. knowledge but nature is still not predictible enough.

hmmm...what u think, "bud"?

Liban wrote:
Then again, Canada doesn't hire unskilled Indians

They're called Native Americans back home

fayz wrote:

Liban wrote:
Then again, Canada doesn't hire unskilled Indians

They're called Native Americans back home

There is a difference.... Indian migrants here work for peanuts and have to pay for everything including their residency visas!!!

In Canada its the opposite. The tax payers pay the natives to sit on their asses all day and do shitall while they get free housing, free electricity, discounted food, discounted gas, cigarrettes, etc... On top of that they are among the richest bums in Canada....

The artificial 'Islands' of Dubai have just about decimated the natural ecology of the area, changed the long shore drift pattern of the coastal strip and, according to some experts, will erode very quickly. The words 'shifting sands' come to mind.

Was recently lucky enough to visit the World and walk around on the 'reclaimed' land. It is already eroding and being cut into by the currents, so there will be a lot of stabilisation required.

The lack of water movement in the fingers of the Palm will mean that they will either stagnate or the sand will gradually reclaim the area. Without constant dredging, The Palm will lose its shape and become 'The Blob'



Knight

Dubai Knight wrote:The Palm will lose its shape and become 'The Blob'

Hmmm - not quite what will attract the tourists!

I can see the adverts now:

"Come to Dubai, stay on the world famous Jemeirah Blob; take a trip round the World - it might not be here next week!"

Dubai Knight wrote:The artificial 'Islands' of Dubai have just about decimated the natural ecology of the area, changed the long shore drift pattern of the coastal strip and, according to some experts, will erode very quickly. The words 'shifting sands' come to mind.

Was recently lucky enough to visit the World and walk around on the 'reclaimed' land. It is already eroding and being cut into by the currents, so there will be a lot of stabilisation required.

The lack of water movement in the fingers of the Palm will mean that they will either stagnate or the sand will gradually reclaim the area. Without constant dredging, The Palm will lose its shape and become 'The Blob'



Knight

agreed, i worked on JP about 4 years back, absolute hell on earth in summer. if you thought the humidity was bad in dubai in summer then surround yourself with water and see what happens. of course it also acts as the worlds largest sea water rubbish strainer, and the comment about the stagnating water is completly justified.

maybe arnie has some ideas of what the long term maintenance levies will look like...

i still know a few people working there, some of the horror stories reach legendary preportions!

The long term "management charges" seriously concern me. My prediction is give it a few years there will some bargins to be had on all the "palms"

arniegang wrote:The long term "management charges" seriously concern me. My prediction is give it a few years there will some bargins to be had on all the "palms"

You and your property bargains!!!

But will it be a bargain if there is nothing left of it?!?!

nah it will stay, but the bargins will be had, following the year they make all the residents pay for the remedial works. The cost will be massive.

arniegang wrote:nah it will stay, but the bargins will be had, following the year they make all the residents pay for the remedial works. The cost will be massive.

Surely they can't make people pay for the remedial works?? That's crazy. Couldn't they claim that the land isn't fit for purpose or something??
I hope that most of the remedial work is required around the Beckhams place!!

Of course they can Zooter, thats why i dumped off last year

Well I guess it was waste of money making those islands but Dubai did gain publicity. The mantainence cost for maintaining those islands must be huge. Now I heard Dubai is making Las Vegas style casinos and world's largest hotel. I guess some sectors of Dubai economy really needs to be looked up on b4 wasting these dollars on tourism sector.

hashman wrote:Well I guess it was waste of money making those islands but Dubai did gain publicity. The mantainence cost for maintaining those islands must be huge. Now I heard Dubai is making Las Vegas style casinos and world's largest hotel. I guess some sectors of Dubai economy really needs to be looked up on b4 wasting these dollars on tourism sector.

Casinos?? In Dubai?? Surely not? Goes against the grain really I'd have thought?

mmmm .. i've heard about this one before as well. floating casino's that can be taken out into international waters before bandits can have thier arms pulled. then again look that the "richest horse race in the world", where do you think that happens... although there are no cash prizes i would guess that plenty of bets are placed internationally

arniegang wrote:The long term "management charges" seriously concern me. My prediction is give it a few years there will some bargins to be had on all the "palms"

i think this is the case with all of the new developments, buildings in the region are not designed to last a 1000 years. just have a look at some of the state of some of the older buildings (10 years+) in karama, deira and along shk zayed road; construction techknowledgy may have improved, but the environment will still be as agressive in the future.

imagine buying in the marina, planning to live out your retirement years there, then after 5 or 10 years the elevators have to be replaced, the coping on the building keeps falling off and has to be redone..... the list goes on...

arniegang wrote:The long term "management charges" seriously concern me. My prediction is give it a few years there will some bargins to be had on all the "palms"

If you can afford to buy there, I don't think maintenance charges are going to worry you.

Benj

Wrong, the launch prices in 2002 were so cheap thats why the bandwagon started.

In the case og Palm J, no-one has completed yet. Like in other recent dvelopments, because of resales, there is a major difference between someone putting down a deposit, and then having to find the balance.

Wannabe investors/developers who have little experience in a established property market, are starting to get their "fingers burnt" because thay cant raise the finance to complete.

This is evident in the new developments on the Marina that are completing right now. Developers are holding onto empty properties because the purchasers cannot complete the final payments.

The situation will continue to worsten as more developments come to completion.

Furthermore, if people have to borrow money to purchase, it doesnt mean they have the means to pay the Annual Maint Charges. For example my charge is 14k Dhs per year. I estimate the maintenance charges for the Palms to be wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy in excess of that.

Watch this space my friend.

So bargains soon to be had in the Marina you think too?? Will all these "corrections" have any effect on rental prices??
Arnie - will you be jumping in to grab a few bargains in the Marina and JBR then, along with maybe the Palms?

You got it zoots

Its gonna soon be a case of have "i have the cash take it or leave it", i'm sooooooo happy

Sold my Palms at an embarassing profit Zoots, my sights are clearly set on JBR.

If only I knew anything about buying properties - I'm going to have to pick your brains sometime Arnie and get a crash course on buying property!
I think JBR is going to look and be really good when its finished, but if and when I move to Dubai, I still think I'd prefer to get a place in the Marina - maybe its because JBR is just a huge building site at the moment, so I can't fully picture what its going to be like (thats what you get for having a number crunching mind, rather than a creative one!)

If and when I move to Dubai you can be sure I'll be renting!! I know a few people who've recently sold up and they are sooo pleased to have got out of that market!!

G

My sights are clearly set on the holiday rental market. It hardly exists at the moment. My appartment when i'm not there is bringing me in after deductions 600 Dhs a Day (about £90).

arniegang wrote:G

My sights are clearly set on the holiday rental market. It hardly exists at the moment. My appartment when i'm not there is bringing me in after deductions 600 Dhs a Day (about £90).

Its a big market in much of Europe and places like Florida, so no reason why it shouldn't eventually be the case in Dubai!

Interesting and valid point Arnie!! You say the market hardly exists yet...on average what % of the time are you managing to rent out your pl;ace when your not there?

Around 2 weeks in 4 mate. But the market is so new, companies in the UK havent really got into DXB as a rental market, because there is none.

But in comparrison to £140k properties i have in UK producing taxable net returns of 6/7%, i and well happy with 20% tax free

Arnie,

You seem to know alot about property in Dubai so I was wondering if you could tell me who the most reputable developers in the region are? Only reason Im asking is I have a second interview with a developer in the coming weeks.

Zooter if you are serious about wanting to know more about property investing Id suggest the first step is to buy some books on the topic and see what type of investing grabs your attention - personally I would recommend reading some of John Burley's material www.johnburley.com his work is not onyl about investing but he spends a good deal of time on the principles of moeny & wealth.

best of luck