Blue Cat

Meow

Interesting that news reports are saying that AD is now 'over-supplied' with property. With the amount of contruction in Dubai, won't that be the case here before too long?

I also received this article today - contruction hazards in UAE. Got to be another concern if buying here.

http://www.zawya.com/story/Revealed_...emailmarketing

The real estate protection law should come into effect soonish, but investors/owners still won't have anything like the levels of legal protection that they have in the UK. Same old thing; the UAE may appear quite Westernished but it really isn't anything like the West when it comes to so many things.

Blue Cat

I was listening to the radio yesterday, there was a guy who was from a snagging company. Can't remember the name of the company but basically the can be hired to snag one house or be employed by a developer to tag an entire development. He was saying that you have to bear in mind that the majority of kitchens and bathrooms are fitted by Asian workers who are not familiar with western standards. Common problems being related to plumbing, in particular shower trays and baths not draining etc.

StublueKPL

i fully understand where people are coming from here but im not in a situation where my company pay the rent.

I know that prices can go down as well as up. the apartment im in just now, the landlord paid 3million AED for it at the peak. they dropped to around 1.5 million 2 years ago and are now in the region of 2.1-2.4M.

its a risk but I have seriously had enough. at the end of the day, the boss (fiancée) will decide !!!

thanks for the info on springs 1,2,3. I had heard the higher ones were ok as well (13/14?)

if we do go down the buying route, it will more likely be AR or possibly Jumeirah Heights depending on construction progress though.

StublueKPL

now this I can see a mile away. some of the finishing in Dubai is truly awful

mikewot

In JVT Nakheel allow ONLY the owner to snag a building they buy and you ONLY have one hour!!

Blue Cat

That's shocking Mike! Stu just remember a property is only worth what someone is prepared to pay for it

StublueKPL

100% true. the problem is that no-one can predict what someone is willing to pay in 3/5/10 years time!!

Blue Cat

too risky mate, what happens if it all crashes again! when friends have asked me about buying here in the past I have always said the same thing, can you afford to lose the money you are investing? if so go right ahead.

Millhouse

not forgetting, if you invest in the UK housing market - and you lose half of it due to a property crash, it's not a big deal. Assuming you plan on buying another house in the UK then what you are buying suffered the same crash.

vs. say, buying in Dubai - it crashes and the UK grows or stays flat. You lost your purchasing power.

You can only look at rental yields.

StublueKPL

of course BC but I wish I had bought when I first moved to Dubai at 24 year old when the market was not long open to foreigners. (9 years ago!!) all ifs and buts unfortunately!!!

if it crashes again then I guess that will definitely be me finished with the UAE and I may end up going back to blighty in arrears. However, I am lucky that my job could sustain hits in property market but whether we want to live in Dubai for another 10 years to ride out any storms is another matter.

Blue Cat

if you can afford to leave here and rent the property out that might work, but in that case I would say get a villa not an apartment. Don't forget to look into the legal side of things. You can't put your wife's name onto the deeds unless the property is paid for. Worse case scenario anything happens to you and she may get nothing. Speak to Meow about it.

Jim Smith

Nakheel arn't the only one that does that, or at least they wern't in the past. I bought a flat overlooking a golf course and the master developer said we had 1-1/2 hours and a max 4 persons to check it. I hired one company to have a look at electricals and plumbing etc whilst I put millions of stickers on hollow flooring tiles. The kitchen fit out was appaling and looked to have been made from Balsa? wood! Made MFI look top notch. There was even a shovel and other junk in the false ceiling.

After 3 weeks I asked if it had been done? Of course Sir, it has been completed.

OK then when can we meet to recheck it? Oh! sorry you are only allowed one visit and you have had that!! Told him that didn't work with me and he had better call his boss quick. Finally got there to recheck but hardly any done. So reapplied all the tile stickers again etc.

Fortunately this was in 2008 and people were calling me daily to buy it! No one knew I had bought it except my wife and daughter so there were big leaks in the developers network!

One day I accepted an offer and he rushed to seal the deal. Doubled my money in 18 months and got out thank goodness.

commander

Don't do it mate. Not worth the hassle. Do you have a residence visa right now or do you enter on visit visa's?

StublueKPL

the hassle I am having through shit landlords is more annoying just now mate.

im on visit visas every other month at the moment which is no hassle because of my job.(28/28 rotation)

However, I am getting married in Sept and was going to apply for residence visa in October if we decide to go down the mortgage route.