Mo89

So I finally fulfilled a childhood ambition of securing a job in Saudi with a major company.

I will be given 74k SAR for housing, I did a quick google search (in Arabic) to see if this would get me a decent accommodation (outside a compound) in both Riyadh and Eastern Province (main areas for my work), and I was amazed by how really good accommodation I can rent with my housing allowance, i.e. a luxury furnished duplex, 6 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms, 2 big lounges etc etc for under 100k, is this normal? I even found a couple of 5 bedroom properties on smaller compounds (6-15 villas) for 100k SAR!!

I have never been to Saudi before, so can someone give me their views on this please? is this too good to be true, am I going to be offered something completely different to what I would see online?

al dente

try asking this on the Middle East bit for more traffic?

nottmbantam

Yes, you can get fairly sizeable accommodation outside a compound for that money. However, Westerners largely tend to stick to compound life for the lifestyle it offers but then the cost increases dramatically. For example, the compound I live on ( Company provided ) , that budget would only secure a small one bed studio. Having said that it, the compound offers a good social life, all the amenities ( pool, shop, restaurant, gym etc ) that a compounds tends to.Compounds occasionally offer a 6 month lease, but most of them are 12 months, and payment up front.

Many people start off living on a compound, but then make the move to outside accommodation once they become more familiar with the country and make more friends. It also works out cheaper.

Tockalosh

Given that the OP speaks Arabic, has always wanted to go Saudi since being a kid and is called Mo, I think it would be fair to assume that he will be fine from day one off compound and living the magic kingdom dream