Daisy May

OH and I have been looking for a flat in the marina and were shown two rather nice ones in Marina Tower, owned by Emaar, either of which we were happy with. We went back to the agent and told him so then waited 2 days for a response (don't think I'm allowed to say which agent although I'm tempted!) When he finally got back to us we were told that Emaar were withdrawing all their property from the market whilst they underwent a 'restructuring'. I have to admit I thought it sounded a bit suspect, withdrawing everything although OH says that for 'restructuring' read 'putting prices up'.

Does anyone know if this is true (restructuring) or were we just being fobbed off?

Thanks

Daisy

lionheart

You can always test the truth of the rumour by asking another agent, as there are presumably hundreds of Emaar properties on the market. What the restructuring may possibly relate to is their preference for selling their apartments rather than letting them out.

Desert Shaikh

Funny you should mention that. I was talking to someone who is still dabbling in the "dead" real estate market in Dubai and he told me that insiders are expecting rents to drop further by another 30% by end of the year. Hence it would make sense for Emaar to sell up.

I have also heard rumours that brand new villas in certain areas are being offered with 40% discounts after people have refused to pay list prices.

Blue Cat

we have just rented in Al Barsha and the LL refused to take any offers we made him, completely un negotiable

Hello.Kitty

I'd just call up another agent - you could enquire about the "original 6", Park Island or Marina Promenade - they are all Emaar properties and, if what your current chap says is true, would be subject to the same "restructuring".

Seems dubious though, but logic in these parts and in real estate in particular is decidedly lacking. We found one prize who preferred to miss out on 3 months' rental (so about 25-30k) rather than consider taking his furniture out - and it was only partially furnished at that.

MataHari

Although Emaar developed the properties, the apartments themselves are owned by individual landlords, so it's them who decide if they want to rent them out or not...I've been showing Emaar properties this week and never heard anything about this. And a agent that waits 2 days responding to an offer made by a prospective tenant is a shite agent.

The Dean

Hmmmmm................... surely there must be an agent that can show you better homes than that one............

Daisy May

Thanks for all your replies. We have found another apartment, actually a much nicer one, and we got the keys last night. Interestingly an agent we spoke to said that the property market, especially for so called 'executive properties' is very difficult at present as a large number of executives are coming to Dubai from other Gulf states at the moment. This is why owners are apparently hanging out for top prices. I don't know if this is true generally, but certainly in our very limited experience, we've struggled to find a nice 3 bed in the marina area with a budget of 160K. I suppose the key word here is 'nice'! We were shown a massive duplex for 160k which was actually too big. I don't think we could have afforded the furniture for it! Plus it was ground floor with a view of the pavement.

The Emaar flats we saw, by the way, were run by their management company arm and still therefore in the hands of Emaar. And yes, the agent was shite although from one of the biggest and best known agencies in Dubai. (Don't think I can say who sadly).

Again, many thanks

Daisy

The Dean

I already did.........

MataHari

I struggle to get properties at the moment, there's not a lot of good ones around so it's not a myth. There was a lot of movement last year when the prices dropped and most people are now staying put cause they are happy where they are for the price that they are paying. Just driving around in residential villa areas shows that there are far less for rent signs up then last year, although in another month, 2 months time there will be more properties coming up, specially villas.

I am going to have a look at Al Barari on Sunday, apparently it's stunning...

Blue Cat

will be interested to hear about that, images on net look good but no one believes them any more

Meow

If that's the place I think it is, then a friend of mine was the photographer's assistant on those internal shots. He said the places were very impressive.

Bet it's very pricey.

MataHari

been there today...love love love
beautiful villas, very nice landscaping...apparently they are 'flexible' on the price, but you'll be looking at around 450,000 and upwards...but you do get a lot of villa for that (compared to lets say the Palm or Jum Islands...) beautiful finished, wooden floors, state of the art kitchen, and the maidsroom is fit for a princes...

Blue Cat

where exactly are they?

MataHari

on Emirates Road, sort of opposite AR...took us 20 from there to get to the Marina, so really not bad at all.
They are finishing off the retail space which they will rent out to a supermarket, but of course they couldn't say when that would be ready.

The bathrooms were amazing, think luxury Thai holiday resort type...the maidsroom was like a self contained apartment with a kitchen that would be completely suitable to put visitors in, any maid would faint seeing that!

the kitchen was a proper kitchen, which loads of cupboards, drawers, those narrow full height pull out ones that you can access from both sides, NEFF aplliances, then next door another kitchen for frying, and then next to that another one as utility room.

All the doors are double height, dark wood, very modern, there are different type floor finishes in different areas, but a lot of wooden floors, some marble and some sandstone, it takes a while to get your head round all the different areas. Lots of storage space, massive walk in closets. Yeah, really impressed.
Garden all around the house, not big but big enough for a few seating areas, and there is a pool and a jacuzzi as well. On the roof there is a barbeque area with a counter with a sink etc. Doors in the living area fold back completely so you can open up to the garden/pool, which is nice, cause like in most houses you can only open a sliding door and that's it.