Aero

Hi ,

Qu as above , going by photos on property finder , most look like they do.

I much prefer carpet. A lot also seem to have very open plan windows that neighbours could gawk into.

Are townhouses more like UK houses ? Most of the townhouses I have found on property Finder look just like the villas. But then I have mainly only looked at MBZ and KC.

Tramps_mate

Marble helps keep temperatures down, I'd be surprised if you found anywhere with carpet. Townhouses tend to be as per North American standards more like our terraced houses, usually with adjoining neighbours both sides in a single build complex type thing.. I'm pretty sure.

Aero

Ok so keeping temperatures down is sensible. Those rooms must echo a hell of a lot. I like listening to music and too much reverberation is not a good thing for that. Do people generally put big rugs down ?

dinger24

Furniture, sofas etc will disperse the sound.

Alexa

Lol...you do NOT want carpet. Remember, the desert is close. The dust and sand accumulating in houses is incredible. Carpet is obviously not a good idea.

OriginalSunshine

Buy top quality headphones if sound is your thing.

archie159

Yes, most have marble. In ours, the previous residents put (fake) wood flooring on top of the marble in some of the downstairs rooms, which is pretty good, quieter than the marble, and less cold when walking bare-footed. But I agree, you don't want carpets everywhere, too dusty/sandy. As already said, furniture, books etc will dampen the sound, and rugs will help also.

With regards open plan windows... they vary. Our compound has high walls around the villas, and it is not easy to look inside. The neighbouring compound is the complete opposite, with no walls and very easy to see what people are up to inside. I looked at dozens of villas all around town before selecting ours, and I don't think there is any general rule.

Aero

Thanks for the low down folks. And do almost all villas have swimming pools ? I wouldn't use it , we have v young kids and I'd be forever paranoid about their safety around it. No pool would be a plus !

Aero

I will be hopefully seeing a couple of villas in MBZ on Monday . I'm so curious to see what they look like in the flesh so to speak .

archie159

No, lots of villas do not have their own pool. If you end up getting on with a pool then you need to get someone to put up a child-safe fence around it. We have a friend who is a doctor on a children's ward in an AD hospital, and she routinely has to deal with drowned children from villa pools.

Tockalosh

You will also struggle to find one with a coal fire place and ducks on the wall however stone cladding is alive and kicking. Rock on Vera duckworth

Aero

Exactly and I'm not surprised. I would be looking for a villa in 200k - 220k range and many in this range do seem to have pools and it may be that we would have to deal with it in the way that you kindly posted. One other concern , a less mortal one , is rent increases going beyond the employee allowance as I like many would want to avoid contributing to paying rent out of my own income. I wonder if any non-newby expats have any personal experience to speak of in this regard ? Do rent allowances keep pace with rent increases to any extent ?

busybee2

yes either marble tilesor ceramic tiles.... carpets not very often

busybee2

hahahahah rent allowances and "rent increases" hahahaha you will find that since they have taken away the rent cap the prices have gone up.... stupid amounts... but this happens every few years! it was like this 6 or so years ago.. in fact its worse now as before you could get an 8 bedder for the price that we are paying now for half of that!

you will find houses around 200 mark without a pool, look at small compounds of around 6 villas with no pools etc.

Aero

How long had the rent cap been in place ? Was it a maximum of x% rise per year or an actual freeze ?

And are you almost forced to move every year to avoid paying rent through the nose ? And are these rises mostly attributable to unscrupulous landlords ? You would think market forces would help moderate rents , no ? So why the massive hikes ? Or is it that these rents ARE market value ? Or are landlords running a cartel ?

Can you also tell me where exactly Al Karamah is on Abu Dhabi island ? I don't clearly see it on google maps. If I search for it in google maps it pinpoints near the intersection of 13st and Al Karamah St. Is that the heart of Al Karamah ?

That pinpoint is not far from Sheikh Khalifa Medical City. Is this still considered to be in Al Karamah ?

And are there any other areas to consider on this half of Abu Dhabi island ?