One more Riyadh compound thread
 

Hi everyone,

after a fair bit of umms and aahs I decided to pull the plug and move to Riyadh. The contract has been signed and I will be there in a few months.

I have been looking into compounds quite a bit so I will share my observations as well as ask some questions for those that may have real life experiences.

Background: I am moving with my spouse, we are arriving from the EU. We are looking into two bedrooms to be able to have occasional visitors from back home in reasonable comfort. Our budget is decent, i.e. we can afford all the compounds considered and mentioned below bar one, but we would of course be happier if we could save more rather than spend the money on accommodation. Since wife will not be working it's important for her to have something to do, i.e. a good social scene at wherever we end up. I am aware location matters considering the commute and if there is a toss-up between two places that can be the clincher. I am also well aware of advance payment requirements and have sorted the cash flow for that, so nothing to further worry about there.

Once we have settled we may consider the off-compound option, but we would prefer to spend at least the first year being pampered until we figure out what's what out there.

Compounds and observations so far:

- Al Bustan - too expensive
- Al Nakhla - expensive but within budget; nice looking apartments; appears to have best facilities, i.e. supermarket/shopping centre adjacent with direct access. Good social scene - but apparently American military staying there - which could be a con
- California - as Al Nakhla, minus direct shopping centre access and American soldiers
- Nakheel - slightly less expensive, difficult to see quality of apartments from the website/brochure, social scene seems fine, but overall not much information
- Cordoba - shabby looking apartments with tired fittings and wall-to-wall carpeting (why?) but good pricing and good reviews overall from what we have seen
- KASB - new, lovely looking apartments, very affordable, not sure about social scene though
- Ranco - waiting for reply, looks ok but nothing to say yet
- Seder - waiting for reply, budget option, apparently, but rather like the look of it as it does not have a council estate appearance - have read the bungalows are tinny and mixed reviews on social scene/tenant mix

Have also written to Antara, Andorra, Al Hamra, Ishbilia, Wadi Qurtoba and they haven't bothered responding even after reminders. Some of the ones that did respond needed a nudge via Whatsapp, but once they responded communication flow was fine.

Kingdom - did not like the look of it so have not put it on the list.

Questions:

- while it is nice having beautiful furnishings it is not something on its own that would make us pay 50% more. So the question is: what else do you get if you go for a place like Al Nakhla or California as opposed to e.g. Cordoba or KASB?
- tenant mix: we have no preference whether we live in a compound with Germans, Arabs, Americans, Indians or anyone else - there are people you get along with well and less well regardless of where they come from. However we would not want to live somewhere dominated by just one nationality - that misses the point of a compound - so can anyone say how things are at the moment in the compounds listed (or other ones, if there is a place someone would recommend that I have missed)?
- things to do/social scene: as mentioned, my wife will not be working so she will need to make friends and have stuff to do. If all a compound offers is a pool and a gym, that's not really going to work - the point is she will need opportunities to meed ladies from all over the world and go shopping/visiting cafes within or beyond the compound/participate in (for example) ballet classes, etc. Any particularly good places for that as well as those to avoid from the point of view of a tolerant Western middle-aged female?*
- noise insulation and noise in general - this one is my bugbear. I do not like hearing my neigbours through the walls, having them party until late or shout outside my window. Is this an issue anywhere?
- general quality issues - seems from my research some places have sewerage smell issues - anything to watch out for?
- management - if e.g. my aircon breaks or there is any other problem, how do they respond, do they bother and do so immediately or not?

It's a long list of questions I know - will be grateful for your responses!

Cheers
Djuro

*We think we understand and will try to respect the rules and customs of KSA; we have no problem with those or we would not be moving. However we will probably want some familiarity with what we are used to and hence socialise with people in a similar position at least some of the time.

Re: One more Riyadh compound thread
 

Considered Arabian Homes? https://arabian-homes.com/
Well run. Social, Great location

Re: One more Riyadh compound thread
 

Thank you flares, have not considered it yet. The webpage is slightly confusing and does not offer much information but will get in touch. Any personal experience? Where does it fall pricing wise?

Re: One more Riyadh compound thread
 

Do you honestly think you’ll have a lot / frequent guests? It’s KSA after all.

Re: One more Riyadh compound thread
 

Hi Millhouse,

yes. What do you mean by “KSA after all”?

Re: One more Riyadh compound thread
 

Never used to be able to get visas for visitors/extended family...but times are dramatically changing

but he probably means as an attractive place to visit when compared to Dubai

Re: One more Riyadh compound thread
 

From what I see visas for visitors are not an issue now. In terms of things to do I have been to Slovakia which must be the dullest place in Europe and still found things to do. Besides my visitors will never have been outside of Europe so even if there is not much to do they will still find it interesting and they will also be visiting to see us and not just to sightsee.

Re: One more Riyadh compound thread
 

Out of your list, and purely based on social scene I'd go for Ranco. Anyone familiar with the compound will know why that is. Good mix of people too.

Re: One more Riyadh compound thread
 

Middlebeast coming up.

Re: One more Riyadh compound thread
 

Hi Djuro, I have pm-ed you. We should link up and our wives could hang.

Re: One more Riyadh compound thread
 

Thanks nonthaburi - I see a lot of people say Ranco has a good social scene - sounds promising as they are not too expensive. Have you spent time there? Will check it out and hopefully have time to post live reviews.

Re: One more Riyadh compound thread
 

There is a wide variety of housing choices there so I'd imagine a fair price range.
Never lived there, but visited many times for either house parties, or events in the centre etc.

Re: One more Riyadh compound thread
 

Update: flares thank you for the Arabian Homes tip - looks very good in terms of price/quality + social life balance.

Antara - got a reply - same comments as California - also almost brand new so very shiny and pretty but on the expensive side.

Ranco - looks older and cheaper, but great prices and everyone on the forum says it's great for social life.

Looks like it will be tough to choose (subject to availability).

Re: One more Riyadh compound thread
 

Dear Djuro,

Riyadh is not the GCC its Big and relatively low density development and growing at a massive rate with a lot of traffic. I think you need to give this some consideration in choosing accommodation other wise you might face a long commute avoid the Eastern ring road if you can help it. Also discount compounds with schools since you will be paying for a facility you will not avail yourself of. If your looking for a younger crowed try the cheeper compounds Ranco,,Sedar and Riyadh Village. Antara is only 50% finished so not mush of a crowed just yet. Nonthabury's suggestion of Arabian Homes is probably the best location wise it's a different format to the others your looking at which all have one central swimming pool Arabian Homes has 20. tell them your social and let them decide the best one for you.
Your wife will want to be near the Aruba and Olaya Streets which is the center of the cafe culture. The season events take place near the KFFD in the north West of the city. You have not mentioned where you will work so I cant be more help but you will need to factor the commute time in

Re: One more Riyadh compound thread
 

Thanks HiHo,

I'll be working close to the airport, the "riyadh front" area, according to google maps.

So what would you estimate as the commute time difference from e.g. Ranco which is furthest away from there and from e.g. Al Nakhla? On the map it doesn't look like much of a distance but I have no idea how bad the traffic is, of course.

Re: One more Riyadh compound thread
 

Google maps says 32 mins but its 11:50 in rush hour double it plus you have to get through security at the compound you choose. FAL compound is about the same quality wise as Ranco but nearer. Kingdom Compound is better quality and close too.

Re: One more Riyadh compound thread
 

An hour's commute is not great but not disastrous; where I am now I have a 40 minute commute.

What are the rush hour times - or is it always crazy?

Re: One more Riyadh compound thread
 

If you're going to be working near Riyadh Front I'd suggest one of the compound behind Granada Mall. There are about 5 close together behind there: Najd, Nakheel Village, Eid, Granada Village and another one I can't remember the name of.

It would mean negotiating the Eastern ring road but at that point you're far enough North that traffic wouldn't be such an issue.

Riyadh Front is quite a good place to be close to. I was there tonight as it goes. Loads of options for food etc, and it's clean and modern. The new Saudi in fact.

Re: One more Riyadh compound thread
 

Thanks for the compound suggestions, everyone - not hijacking the thread, but watching it closely as we're about to move in two months as well, and I'm running into the same problem of trying to figure out what and where. There are some great suggestions here, so I hope to mooch off some of them :)

[edit] btw. anyone know if you can bring a BBQ grill (propane), are there any rules against it? I have a huge Weber grill that I can't bring myself to sell, or store, so I'm kind of thinking of just throwing it into the container and bringing it.

Re: One more Riyadh compound thread
 

Do hijack - the more people sharing their experience the better.

At the moment we’re leaning towards Ranco or Cordoba as cheper options or Nakhla as more expensive. Of course this may change by..tomorrow :rofl:

Re: One more Riyadh compound thread
 

Cordoba is a better option from the point of view of a commute. Rush hour is from 7an to 9am and 5pm till 9pm. Fuel is cheap and the locals "cruise" all night which is basically driving around aimlessly. The rush hour is bad not just because of the number of people but their driving skill level which is extremely low. Collisions are common place and that makes the traffic crawl. They only have to operate a steering wheel, brake and accelerator and cant mange that. If they had a clutch and gear stick to contend with the streets would be carnage.

Re: One more Riyadh compound thread
 

Are they agressive or just generally incompetent? I am used to dreadful, agressive driving of cars equipped with clutches - people cutting in, swerving, driving too fast, not indicating etc.

Re: One more Riyadh compound thread
 

None of the drivers appear capable of anticipation (I intend to turn Left thus will get in the left hand lane to facilitate this). None of them understand the process of filtering in traffic. Most of them attempt (unsuccessfully) to drive whilst texting. Lots of children drive. The standard of driver training is next to none existent other than the use of simulators such as Grand theft Auto. The chaos is exasperated through the introduction of external influences. Europeans confuse the indigenous population through the use of exotic practices such as allowing sufficient breaking distance, indication the intention to make a turn and allowing other road users to enter the flow of traffic. Lane discipline is not commonly understood, 30% believe in driving between the lines, 20% believe one is to follow the line, 20% believe in alternating randomly between the two options and the remainder have no appreciation of lane discipline what so ever. The understanding of technology posses another problem. The appreciation that a Camaro behaves differently to a Poarch in terms of road holding and deceleration a step beyond believe for many. These factors and others beside to make Riyadh the most dangerous driving environment imaginable. 14 People are dead at the seen in traffic collisions in Riyadh alone, many more die later from injuries sustained.

Re: One more Riyadh compound thread
 

:rofl: sounds like a mix of Italy and Bosnia-Herzegovina. Fingers crossed I'll survive!

Waay off topic but my thread..is it complicated to buy a used car? I don't want to shell out on a new one - I have no idea how long I'll want to stay there so buying new seems like a potential waste of money in depreciation. I'd buy a second hand Corolla or something similar (i.e. Japanese, European cars break and I don't want a car that breaks over there). Are there any manuals on the market? I have an irrational but deep seated dislike of autos.

Re: One more Riyadh compound thread
 

So as a car guy I’m going to jump in on this one. It looks like it’s pretty simple to buy a car; the widest choice of used cars seems to be on haraj.com.sa - but you need to haggle for everything, so having local help would be a godsend here. I think they don’t have manuals for reasons like the post above - it appears to be just one variable too many to process. Prices seem somewhat similar to the West, so it’s not necessarily terrible. I’d maybe recommend getting an SUV, though … if only for better visibility and the occasional opportunity to go out for some light dune bashing. Unless you’re planning on drifting your Corolla through evening traffic. :D

Re: One more Riyadh compound thread
 

Won't bother with SUVs, I am a diesel manual compact scrooge type of a car guy. Real shame there's no Dacia in KSA :lol:

Re: One more Riyadh compound thread
 

Good news! The Dacia Sandero is delayed another year!

… sorry. every time Dacia is mentioned, that comes out.

Re: One more Riyadh compound thread
 

It's bad news! There is no Dacia Sandero in KSA!

Laugh we may but I recently drove the newest model of the Sandero and GOOD NEWS! there is honestly no reason at all to choose e.g. a Golf over the Sandero unless you're into more expensive looking plastic. Not just acceptable but a fine car to drive.

Re: One more Riyadh compound thread
 

Huh really. So they’re not the running joke they used to be. How the world changes. 🤔

Re: One more Riyadh compound thread
 

Hello Djuro and everyone,

I have already signed a contract and will start working at KSA before Christmas.
I am looking for a compound for myself and the information I found in this thread was excellent! Thanks Djuro and all the others!!
My housing allowance is SR 120K/year (with the possibility of going up to 135K/year), do you think that with this amount I can rent a two bedroom apartment in a modern compound with all the usual facilities? Ideally I would like a two bedroom villa, but I don't know if this budget is enough. Eventually I might supplement my housing allowance with money of my own. What do you think abour this?

I also have a car allowance of 3,500 SR/month. With this amount what kind of car can I have?

Re: One more Riyadh compound thread
 

Im still fuzzy on the compounds so I’ll let others reply, but as far as cars go, I’ve been watching Haraj and some other sites, and I’m coming to the conclusion that prices on cars are “about” similar to what I’m used to in North America. So in your example, that’s a decent amount for a good lease on a modern German car, for example. However, remember that in your salary, the “transport allowance” is just a way for them to lower your base salary that will be used for calculating your final salary bonus - so in principle, you can use “none” of your transport allowance (in other words, buy a decrepit rusty crapbox for $1,000, and pocket the money), or you can spend 3X on a luxury cruiser - there’s nothing preventing you from doing either. It’s just a category in your paycheque - ultimately, it has no relationship to how much you should be spending on your car. Pick something you like.

Re: One more Riyadh compound thread
 

My 2 cents: don't buy German! You don't want your car being towed to the shop in 40+ heat. Buy Japanese/Korean. A crapbox too, if it's a Toyota or so it will still work. And pocket the money, why would you want to drive a flash car there (well anywhere but you're going to KSA specifically to save up, aren't you..).

Re: One more Riyadh compound thread
 

120k will get you a nice two bed apartment or a two bed town house on a compound. Villas tend to be bigger starting at 3 bed up. The newer compounds tend to be further out of town in the northern suburbs or in the middle of nowhere. Its more difficult to get a maid the further out of town you go ,Lease the car too who wants the headache of getting the thing bought registered repaired maintained and sold. Just set up the standing order and forget about it. You will then just pay the compound maintenance boy to clean it or better still lease it with a driver who can do all your errands when your not using him. Make sure you get a white/silver 4x4 with air conditioned seats.

Re: One more Riyadh compound thread
 

How much do drivers go for, by the way, any idea?

Re: One more Riyadh compound thread
 

I don't know of the top of my head and it will be dependent on the unit numbers Hertz will give you a quote

Re: One more Riyadh compound thread
 

Wouldn't it be expensive to rent/lease cf. eg buying a 10 yr old semi-banger Toyota for cash?

Re: One more Riyadh compound thread
 

"Cars & Girls cause you grief and cost you money." (my dad) You need to make your mind up how much grief you can stand and how much money you are prepared to spend avoiding it. Its all about value to you personally.

Re: One more Riyadh compound thread
 

Fair enough. So it will be a banger then. :cool: Always scored more with the other grief-causing loss maker when driving bangers, too.

Re: One more Riyadh compound thread
 

I have a company car right now so it's not an issue, but when I lived in Riyadh I bought my own 2nd hand which I'd recommend. Some initial outlay but after that you're done and insurance is cheap. Allow around 500 SAR a month for gas unless you're traveling loads of Kms.

Personally I'd go for a Corolla or Elantra maybe, both are everywhere, parts everywhere, easily fixable everywhere. There is a big 2nd hand car market around exit 27ish? on Khurais road as you go East out of Riyadh.

Go with a Saudi or other Arabic speaker you can rely on.

Re: One more Riyadh compound thread
 

Thank you nonthaburi,

In the transportation allowance clause in my contract, there is a provision of 3,500 SAR or a provided vehicle.
I guess that means I can choose whether the company provides me with a car or I get 3,500 SAR per month and rent or buy a car by myself.
One advantage of being a company car is that they take care of insurance and periodic reviews and when I leave KSA I don't have to worry about selling the car or ending the lease.
The advantage of me doing a leasing is that I can save some money in the process.
When I get to the KSA I decide what to do about the car.
Now I want to see if I start pre-selecting a compound to live in and a hotel to stay in for the first few days.
Any help in these fields will be very welcome!