Advice Required - Potential Move to Dubai
 

Hi

I am potentially moving to Dubai after being offered a role paying UAE 35,000 a month.

My first question would be, do you think that is adequate for a single person to live comfortably and save a lot of money in Dubai? (I know this is dependent on the lifestyle).

My main concern is finding accommodation. I want to stay centrally (Business Bay etc), and I have visited property websites which are advertising studios for UAE 6,000 to 8,000 (monthly), although they look like hotel rooms. Now I've heard that paying monthly is very rare (I want to pay monthly) and you'd normally need to pay in a lump sum (which I don't have the funds for and my employer wouldn't be paying it as part of the package). I'm finding it quite difficult to find flat shares or ads whereby I'd be able to share a villa by renting a room for a cheaper amount.

Any advise or your personal experiences on the above would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Re: Advice Required - Potential Move to Dubai
 

35k is adequate for a single person to live comfortably and save a lot of money. If you are sensible and pragmatic and don't get caught up in the flash lifestyle, there's no reason why you can't cap your outgoings to 15k a month (for everything) and save 20k a month without even breaking a sweat.

Paying monthly is very rare in Dubai although it's feasible if you look hard enough. The problem is that landlords raise the rent if you want to pay monthly. If you're willing to flatshare, which is the most economical way to go, it used to be the most popular site for flatsharing was Dubizzle (most of the listings are for shared rooms but for proper western flatshares put the filter to 4000 AED/month and that should weed out the cheap rooms for Filipinos and labourers). I now live in Qatar and a popular flatshare advertising site is Justlanded and this is their Dubai site: https://housing.justlanded.com/en/Un...ubai/Flatshare

Also join facebook groups for Downtown, Business Bay, Marina, etc and post a message saying you're looking for flatsharing. That seems to be how many are finding flatshares these days. But have no fear, many if not most singles in Dubai are actually flatsharing.

Re: Advice Required - Potential Move to Dubai
 

35k is plenty and yes you can save
Most of the flat shares i see are advertised via FB ( Each area tends to have its own group) the only downside with sharing is that the tenancy agreeement will be in one name only and if anything went wrong you have zero come back plus you cannot get an alcohol licence without a tenancy agreement in your name, also make sure the landlord isnt subletting There are many hotel apartments which come fully furnished and can be paid for on a monthly basis.

Re: Advice Required - Potential Move to Dubai
 

Just to point out that while all the above is true, for most people it rarely turns into a problem. I never had a alcohol license nor did most of my friends. And it was never a problem. It only comes into play if something happens involving alcohol (such as at a bar) and you're arrested and don't have the license, it makes a bad situation slightly worse.

Most flatshares pay monthly to the holder of the lease, so in general the worst outcome is you may not see your deposit back. The real legal issue to be aware of with flatsharing is that it's illegal for opposite genders to share if not family or married. But for westerners this is rarely ever an issue unless something else happens (see comment above about the alcohol license).

I don't intent to make light of the situation. The reality is that 99% of expats never have issues with not having the alcohol license or flatsharing with the opposite gender. But that 1% can and it can turn nasty, quickly, and you end up on the cover of the Daily Mail. But in those case it's always because of something else prompting the police to look more closely into your situation, and they only do this because they're forced to, not because they want to or are specifically hunting for people in such situations.

Re: Advice Required - Potential Move to Dubai
 

Thank you all for your advice, it's been very helpful :)

Re: Advice Required - Potential Move to Dubai
 

My mate rents a room in a two bed AirBnB. 60% of the time the other room is vacant. He pays monthly, I think.

Re: Advice Required - Potential Move to Dubai
 

Statistically (if he only swings one way) he could get lucky roughly 50% of 40% of the time too. It's big money odds for some slap and tickle.

Re: Advice Required - Potential Move to Dubai
 

It only happened once.