Originally Posted by slytrellis

Hi Everyone,

I am currently about to start the interview process for an engineers position in Al Ain. Should everything go ok then we I would be looking to bring my wife and dog out with me to live.

I have never been to Al Ain, however I have been looking around at the real estate pages and the villas seem to start at about AED120k per year. They all seem to be huge 4 bedroom+ places. Ideally I would want something like a house/villa with outside space. Are there cheaper rentals available? (2 bed)
If there are no cheaper options it seems like it would take up too much of my proposed salary to make it worthwhile.

On talking about salary, I have been told that the salary range is between £4k - £5k per month. The role is as a skilled engineer. What should I really expect as part of the package. What is the norm ( if there is such a thing). The lady at the agency seemed to think that the salary already included an allowance for housing.

Thanks in advance for any info you can give.

Simon.

Originally Posted by slytrellis

Hi Everyone,

I am currently about to start the interview process for an engineers position in Al Ain. Should everything go ok then we I would be looking to bring my wife and dog out with me to live.

I have never been to Al Ain, however I have been looking around at the real estate pages and the villas seem to start at about AED120k per year. They all seem to be huge 4 bedroom+ places. Ideally I would want something like a house/villa with outside space. Are there cheaper rentals available? (2 bed)
If there are no cheaper options it seems like it would take up too much of my proposed salary to make it worthwhile.

On talking about salary, I have been told that the salary range is between £4k - £5k per month. The role is as a skilled engineer. What should I really expect as part of the package. What is the norm ( if there is such a thing). The lady at the agency seemed to think that the salary already included an allowance for housing.

Thanks in advance for any info you can give.

Simon.

Originally Posted by tlh

First, if your employer is not paying for your accomodation, stay away. Rentals are very high in the entire UAE and, as of today, Al Ain is the most expensive. A small 2 bedroom flat that would be worth at most $750 a month in the US rents for around $2500 a month here. Also, you have to pay once a year in advance. That means the 120,000 AED villa you were looking at will require a lump sum payment of around 140,000 AED before you can move in. You also have to pay a broker fee of 6,000 AED and make deposits for your utilities and buy furniture and all appliances. In fact, for a 4 bedroom villa, you will probably need more like 200,000 to move in and get ready to live there. If your employer is not paying the rent, you cannot afford to take the job.

Originally Posted by made in manchester

I'm afraid I have to disagree, don't be to negative here. i don't earn what is being offered here including my living allowance, and I keep myself and wife ok, don't get me wrong it wont make me millions but we can live ok, go out eat out and still find the cash to visit Dubai and Abu Dhabi, not every weekend admittedly but it is possible.

Originally Posted by Bluelionesse

Agree with you, the commission fee is 5% of the rent, this is pretty standard. I've said it before - if you use a good agent he or she will give you lots of information to help you get settled in your new city.
Some real estate companies have a tie up with companies which rent furniture too, so that cuts down on the initial cost. We set up home with a lot less than 200k, as have most of our friends. If you want to spend 200k then there are huge villas and expensive furniture available, but you can get settled quite comfortably in a small villa for just over half of that.

Incidentally, small (not tiny) brand new 2 bedroom flats are going for approximately 60,000aed per year (that's $1350 per month), still expensive compared to the UK, but about a third of the price of similar apartments "on island" in Abu Dhabi.
The deposit for water and electricity is 1000aed, and there is no municipality charge (like a council tax) in Al Ain (unlike Dubai).

Originally Posted by tlh

The small 2 bedroom flat that we have in Al Ain costs 90,000 AED per year. If it is now possible to find one for 60,000 AED, that would indicate that the price of flats in Al Ain have decreased by 1/3 in the past year. They have certainly reduced, but 90k seems very high- we pay less for a 3 bed villa in good condition in the south of the city - when your rental is coming up for renewal it may be possible to negotiate a lower rent, or else shop around and get somewhere cheaper. That is possible since the prices in Dubai have come down 50% in the last year. However, as mentioned, the cost of housing in the UAE is very high. Thus, the employer's housing allowance is at least as important as the salary. Not everybody has a separate allowance - we don't - so providing the basic salary is enough you can live comfortably and send some cash "home". Anyone coming here from a western country has an expectation of rental housing cost that simply does not apply here. Agree with you here!

Originally Posted by JB22

Any advice from anyone that has experience in this field? Would like to costs, process and obviously pitt falls.

Originally Posted by Bluelionesse

You may be better posting this on the general forum - the process is the same throughout the UAE and you will reach so many more forum readers.

Who wants to learn to drive? Uk licences are directly transferrable and you don't need to retake the driving test - so long as your passport is also Uk (not Ireland).

Good Luck

Originally Posted by JB22

Thanks.

Originally Posted by tlh

You will not get many messages via Skype from this part of the world. Skype is banned here. In fact all VOIP services, such Skype and Apple FaceTime, are blocked.

Originally Posted by JB22

yes I have been told about this but can't find anyway currently to remove this from my contacts

Originally Posted by Bluelionesse

See comments above - agree with you that doing your homework and having a realistic expectation of cost of living is so important when relocating!

Originally Posted by dnje1955

My wife is not too keen about moving to the UAE and she keeps getting, what I consider folklore information from people who have never been to that part of the world.

The latest 'tale' she has heard is that all expats residing in the UAE have to surrender their passports to the Company for which the bread-winner works and that the passports are subsequently held by the Company to restrict movement of expats from the UAE ..

Can anyone substantiate/comment on this claim?

Thanks

David