Edmundo

Hi all,

I'm in the process of finalizing my move to Riyadh. I'm an IT solution architect and the position I'm going for is in pre-sales to support building IT solutions for clients at a multinational.

I've had my share of interviews and been offered an expat package conditional to a face to face interview. I'm not worried about that, should be formal meeting to get to know me more and check if I'm suited for client facing

I am a Canadian (born in Lebanon), been in Canada 10 years and speak 3 languages; Arabic French and English. I think it will be a matter of time for me before I adapt to the culture just because I lived in Lebanon for a while before moving to Canada, even though I'm Catholic and have a lot of European/Western culture.

My contacts in Riyadh tell me that I will do fine with the package offered, I'm just curious to get a second first-hand opinion from fellow Europeans and Westerners along because I'm afraid my "Lebanese" friends may not have the culture/mentality or experience that we got used to throughout our journeys in countries outside the Middle-East.

The package includes (Saudi Riyal)
housing: 110,000
car allowance: 36,000
schooling: 26,000 per kid

My kids (6 and 4) already speak a bit of Arabic, medium English and good French. I'm planning to send them to the Lycée Francais and saw on their website that a full year costs around 21,000 per kid so I should be fine with my budget.

My buddies are telling me that 110K for housing is enough for a villa but from the posts I see on this forum I am not sure it will go far.
I am definitely looking at compounds where they will have activities, ballet lessons, etc... and I am willing to compensate on the villa/flat? to get into a better, more secure and live compound with interesting social life.

Can anyone please give me some info about their experiences in compounds and comment on car/schooling if you can?
Any info is highly appreciated.

Thanks for your time!

-Ed

admon

from previous threads on here, the message should be clear -
good villas on compounds are like rocking horse sh!t, make it your employers responsibility to find you a villa.

Nic1

Housing is a little low for a 3 bed on compounds like Kingdom or Al Hamra. But if, as you say, you are happy in an apartment it might be OK. But as admon says housing can be a huge problem out here. Throw this one back at your new employer and get them to sort it - with sme guidelines on what you require. If they are a big multinational they should have contacts.

Good luck
N

still.unsure

seconded... and arabian homes has a 'smallish' 2x bed for about 125k so i think the funds will be a little shy.

if you want to go off compound, however, there seems to be plenty of villas around (and they're huge) for around the 100k mark, _but_ the villas here come with absolutely nothing in them. (you'll even need to install A/C @ 2,500 SAR a room!)

also, try contacting bill @ www.britishcommunityservices.com for tips & tricks on getting accomodation as well...

Nic1

Plus I guess you will have water and electricity bills to pay in an independant - these are usually included in the cost of a compound villa . . So altho off compound might look attractive it's worth doing the math to see just how much more economical it actually is. You also have to take into account that you will need access to a driver, or hire one, for transporting kids to and from school, wife shopping/to work etc. Might not work out any cheaper after all . . .

N

Edmundo

I honestly don't know if I will be happy in an apartment because I've been living in a house for the last 7 years.

I will check with my employer to see if they can help with that.


Thanks for the info.

nottmbantam

You might just want to check that the schooling allowance is enough. There are quite a few international schools in Riyadh. We were looking at my step daughter going to the British International School, and her yearly school fees were around 38,000 SR.

This was for Year 10 though, so the costs for younger kids may well be a lot lower. A lot of the schools have their own websites which tell you the fees, so have a quick look - if you haven't done so already.