OriginalSunshine

lol - no-one answers emails here

you need to call the estate agents and they are crap

most places are rented unfurnished, occasionally white goods thrown in - if you find a place you'll want to do a quick IKEA run to Dubai

self contained studios dont exist - at that level you are house sharing

bottom line is you should sort yourself some cheap accommodation for a month in advance (think Beach Hotel in Shatti - ask for long stay rates) and get your backside on the ground and start looking. you need to physically be there and in their face for estate agents. alternatively you can find a private let cheaper than estate agents will get you on various notice boards, but remember most landlords want postdated cheques for up to a year in advance. however you can negotiate 6 month contracts.
depending on where you work, and how much of a social life you want, it could end up nicer getting a tatty small villa in a great area with pubs & licenced restaurants (Shatti, Qurm, MSQ), rather than a cheap bedsit in Ruwi...

haloola

Hi OriginalSunshine,

I'm also looking at a possible move to Muscat from the UAE.

When you talk about older villas in better areas are they easy to find and how much would they cost? Would they have a garden? I'm currently in a spacious 2 bed apartment with a roof terrace and would really like to have some outside space. I've seen some apartments in Muscat and from the few rentals I can see on the internet they were all seem quite small and featureless.

Also I've come across the following guides for living costs - do they look realistic to you for a single person?

Electricity/water/internet - 25 omr/month
Petrol - 25 omr/month
Food - 150 omr/month
Mobile - 25 omr/month

I'd be very grateful for any info!

OriginalSunshine

petrol food mobile costs look about right for a singleton, depending on how far you want to / have to drive to work each week (I spend about 10 for an 8 minute commute each way); and which supermarket you shop in and how nice a gourmet meal you cook for yourself; also where you live has an impact as in some parts of town it is cheaper to eat out (1-2 OMR/meal) than cook for yourself.
internet is rubbish here - 25 per month for a decent connection with limited downloads (google Omantel & Nawras - but note that coverage for the decent services (ADSL, 4G etc ) is patchy)
no idea on electricity & water as my company sorts that out directly
appartments here are for the most part pretty dire with little balcony space
housing here is much much older than dubai - also it is all built on rock so the roads are wiggly, and the housing plots are odd shaped - very few "standard" McD houses like in Dubai
older villas have gardens, but they are being knocked down to build fill-the-plot-6-bedroom-mansions with no gardens...

scot47

In similar temperatures in KSA lots of people - locals and foreigners - go out running and take part in outdoor sports.

marooned5

[QUOTE=pepi1;10668964]Kia Ora folks.

I am a New Zealand teacher and have been offered a job in Muscat Oman, which I am really keen to take up. The idea of living in this part of the world is really exciting for me, however, I have some questions about what it is like to live and work there. Any help and advice would be much appreciated.

Kia Ora, Pepi - just wondering if you made the move (yet), and if so, how you are finding it compared to NZ? May make a similar myself at some point,so interested in your experience.

katemaher

I'm just moving to Muscat next week to start a teaching job. I'm from Ireland and have travelled Australia for the last two years, just wondering what the standard of life is like in Muscat?? Bit nervous but hoping it'll be a good experience. Any advice on clubs to join/sports/social activities would be great. Thanks!!!!!!

pc108

A lot of good advice on this thread, so I thought I'd try my luck too. I'm pretty new to Muscat myself and here with my wife. Most things - house, car, visa etc - pretty much sorted, so it's time to start thinking about developing some kind of social life, which as of now is non-existent. Not many people at work I can hang out with, which is not too much of a problem for me as I'm being kept fairly busy during the working week. My wife however is a bit isolated as she's not working, although she is looking. I just wondered if anyone had any suggestions about places to go, things to do etc. Especially interested to know how any non-working wives out there spend time during week days. Thanks for any info. Feel free to PM me.

mikewot

Not possible until you have a few more posts under your belt Good luck with making friends, it can be tough until you do.

OriginalSunshine

Where do you live? Has she joined the WGO? (google WGO Oman)

pc108

Thanks OriginalSunshine for the pointer. Just found out about the WGO and it looks really good.

pc108

Hi,
I've got a question about lease agreements, and wonder if anyone has experience of this question. I want to give notice to my landlord and move out. It seems the standard notice period is 3 months, but it seems people interpret this two different ways:

a) give notice of 3 months, any time you want, and you can move out. I've got a real estate agent telling me this right now, and don't know if I should believe him.

b) you have to signal your intention not to renew 3 months in advance of the end of the contract.

Can anyone cast any light on this? I'd be really grateful.

OriginalSunshine

depends on what the contract says

you do have a contract, don't you?

pc108

Hi,
Nothing specifically in the contract itself, but Royal Decree No. (6/89) has this:

"This agreement can be renewed for a further period or more unless one of the parties advise the other's of his wish to evacuate the property before the expiry of the valid period by at least three months or half the period if it is less."

It seems to me this is more to do with non-renewal than with actually breaking the lease agreement. If, as others seem to think, this can be used to allow me to move out after three months, then great, but it seems a bit of a murky area to me and I'm reluctant to believe anything real estate agents tell me