Looking for a furnished 2-bed apartment in Dubai.... any suggestions where to look or how best to go about renting one

Cheers

Look on here:

http://www.dubizzle.com

Or: www.propertyfinder.ae

just a general announcement with regards to these property websites (and I am probably repeating myself but hey ho)...not every property on there will actually be available, as it is either already rented out (even when the updated date is current) or they never existed in the first place...please also realise that many agents are trying to rent out the same units, so a unit will be advertised many times, with slightly different description, price may vary, pic may vary, but it's all that same one unit, which gives tenants the idea there is a lot on the market, while in actual fact there isn't...

I think you'll have far less choice if you limit it to furnished. Ikea (and similar) and the second-hand market are fine for most people, although I appreciate that some people don't want the hassle, have the time or are willing to suffer the indignity.

Hi, do you think with around 1000pounds(month) is it hard to find a nice apartment (furnished with shared pool and stuff like that) in dubai with just a single bedroom?

yeah...I think that will be hard if you want something nice...you will need more in the region of 90,000 / 100,000 possibly even more

Is there any trusty site that has some real offers? Bcuz i've been searching on dubizzle and everything seems so "cheap" and great that it makes hard to belive. I've been searching for apartments for around 70k-80k and there were some really nice places over there but from what I've been reading it makes hard to belive.

Quite frankly no. Dubizzle & g4n have a lot of 'speculative' properties i.e. ones to attract you but when you call they've just gone, but I have one the same for 20k more.
Do not trust agents they fall mainly into two groups. Liars who will absolutely lie about any and everything just to get their 5% and F Wits who basically don't have a clue. Both sorts generally cannot be assed to actually show you around, the usual tactic being "the door is open, have a look around and let me know what you think".
There is the odd agent around with a proper work ethic and a moral code but few and far between.

Thanks alot for the advise, I'll try to be careful!

you need to just call when you see something you like and then you will find out if it's a genuine ad or not...there is no other way to find out
there are some good offers around, not every landlord is a greedy asshole, and not every agent falls into the categories that Mikewot talks about.

I often will drive from say Mirdif over to JLT to meet a client for a 80,000 dhs studio viewing which lasts 10 mins...but sometimes you have no time to do it, so then it can happen I will tell them the unit is open, go and have a look rather than to try and find another time that suits both, cause I know this client will then just call someone else to do the viewing. Thats just the way it works, but I know there are agents that always do that, or even when they are there, they have no idea about anything so they are useless even when they do turn up...

ok, just to follow up, im now in Dubai and have been looking round for apartments her in Marina, JLT etc etc (the usual places). The advice here is correct....

(a) there is much more choice for unfurnished properties
(b) There are a lot of properties coming onto both the sites above due to the time of the year
(c) Ive found it much easier to physically go into apartment blocks and ask the security/receptionist if there are any vacant units... in pretty much every case they have shown me round

hope that helps

I heard appartements were quite expensive in Dubai indeed

I used to leave in Dubai and still have a residency there and owned 1 bedroom apartment with lounge sofa bed ( with Italian sofa) located in Skycourts fully furnished if you're still looking around pm me will give you contact number so u can view. We only use the apartment for a night stay in Dubai because we have main residence in Rak. Once you close the door u wouldn't even think ur in Skycourts, Wd swimming pool and gym only 15 mins to the airport and to Shk Zayed rd.