WowEyes

Hi, Moving to Dubai with 2 kids soon and the plan is to spend 2-3 years there before returning.

We would definitely need a 3 bed, and since I hope to find work, I would like to have a full time live in nanny as well - which probably means having an additional maids room.

I was just looking at rentals at apartments/ villas of our choice and nothing seems to be lower than 180K as advertised on the net. The stuff we really like is about 200K. I dont know if there are commissions/ taxes/ fees/ deposits that go on top of it.

So I'm thinking maybe its better to buy a place, and then three years later if we sell it for the same price atleast we would have saved on rent.

However, I am sure many before me have pondered the same and would like to hear what people who have experience staying in Dubai have to say.

How expensive is it (in terms of commissions, paperwork and taxes) to buy property? How easy is it to sell later?

What are mortgage interest rates like?

Millhouse

stick with the rent.

WowEyes

Thanks - I would love to hear more about your experiences.

Millhouse

I rent.

4% stamp duty, can be difficult to sell, and very high deposit requirements for the loans.

Rent isn't always wasted money - remember you pay interest on loans which is basically rent, and over the first couple of years on a loan you are mostly paying interest and fees.

TGFKASE

Rent, rent , rent.....

For the timescales you are looking at, the costs associated with buying and, eventually selling a property, far outweigh any perceived stretch to your rental budget...

Meow

Exactly.


Dubai is an immature market and far more volatile than the UK and much less secure. That is far too short a period to think about buying and selling. As with all other assets classes the value of property can go down as well as up and here it can go way down.

TGFKASE

Oooohhh. High praise from the all-knowing one..

If O&G's love affair with me ever cools, I might head for the finance world..!!!

WowEyes

The thought of all that rent money is just making me cry.....

DH's company offers an all in cash package - no housing there.

Maybe I can search for a job with one of these lovely companies that offer HA and allow rent to buy..... How do I find them?

DXBtoDOH

Forget it.

It's just not worth it. Only buy if you can afford to lose the money. I've lived here when property values halved within months. And it can happen again.

First of all, you're not getting a local mortgage right away as you're new to the country.

If you managed to buy something, in addition to the interest on your mortgage you have pretty stiff annual maintenance fees to pay. The interest + maintenance fees will probably come close to the comparable market rent for the property. And that's money down the drain. If you want to moan over the differential, remember that renting gives you peace of mind because you're not stuck with a property to keep up or worrying about selling when the time comes. If you need to leave the UAE quickly, no problem there.

Whether your husband's package has a housing allowance or not is irrelevant. The concept of these various benefits are always a bit of a red herring. It's only the total value of the package that matters. For example, a base salary of 20K plus a housing allowance of 20K = 40k, yet an "all-in" package of 50K is clearly superior even if there is no separate "housing allowance."

As for finding work, no clue as to what you do so can't help there. Whether you'll make good money depends on what you do.

Millhouse

wait until you start paying the school fees and the utility bills.

scrubbedexpat141

You need a frontal lobotomy if you turn up and buy somewhere straight away.

NorthernLad

We've been here quite a while now, and spent a lot on rent over the years.

It's been worth every dirham though, knowing if things go bad (lose job, laws change, regional conflict etc..) we can jump on a plane and be out of here without any ties.

Trust me, the ability to sleep soundly at night far outweighs owning a property.

TGFKASE

Any perceived cost or loss is far outweighed by the benefit of getting the Fck outta town when you have to..

Bob

Consider rent as just any other utility. The cost of doing business.

The same advice is given to most folks, in most parts of BE really, if you're new to the country and are likely not going to be there for more than a couple of years or so.

Peace of mind as the folks above have said, really is priceless.

Millhouse

The interesting thing on this that's specific to the UAE, is that the loan interest + service charges and any maintenance is not that far off the rent. The UAE had the worst performing housing market globally in 2015 (-10%) and there is plenty more to come this year.