Re: Villa for sale
 

I heard Baghdad's a blast.

Lots of Freehole property there as well.

Re: Villa for sale
 

Kabul is rocking...


BMW318, you really need to get a better understanding of NEGOTIATION. Prices anywhere, especially when it comes to real estate, are NEGOTIABLE. Of course nobody is going to advertise a zero premium property.

One thing that none of you seem to understand, is that the spec investors that bought huge blocks of villas and flats did not pay 'market price' for these units. So when an investor say '15% premium' he is really getting a 30% premium from what he paid for the unit, but 15% over the 'market price' of the unit.

So if you find the right person, he will without much negotiation agree to 'zero' premium, as, most likely, he got a huge discount for buying a large block of units, and will both

1) Make money
2) Get rid of property which is not nearly the investment he thought it would be

Re: Villa for sale
 

PS. Yes, the property section of GN and KT are places to start, a good 10,000 flats/villas for sale in there at least

Re: Villa for sale
 

Just make sure you register your deeds with the Land(mine) Registry

Re: Villa for sale
 

So they key seems to be finding an investor who bought a huge chunk of the Arabian Ranches. Anyone want to join me on the hunt for this man ;)

Re: Villa for sale
 

UB can find out.

a select few bought alot of the marina..also worth investigating

Re: Villa for sale
 

What or who is UB?

Re: Villa for sale
 

now theres a question...... :p

Re: Villa for sale
 

One of Jd's bestest friends and real estate guru...... :D

Re: Villa for sale
 

UB is Uncle B.
A poster on this forum who is involved in real estate.

also my flatmate. Tell me what you want/need and ill pass the message on.

Also goes by the name of Pyscho John, MF***** and c*** s****er

Re: Villa for sale
 

Thanks I have sent you a private message.

Re: Villa for sale
 

NP, will ask him tonight and get back to you either tomorrow or Sun,
Rgds
JD

Re: Villa for sale
 

Well, he sounds like a reliable "expert" :rolleyes:

Re: Villa for sale
 

Don't fancy Kabul much....

As I understand it (and I'm happy to be corrected by anybody who lives there) pretty much all of the Springs, Greens, Green Community, Lakes, Meadows and even Arabian Ranches are sold and occupied. So if all the villas are occupied there is clearly a demand for them- why would they not sell at a premium? I can see how apartments at the Marina might be going for a zero premium or even at a loss, as a large number are still empty but you can't base an oppinion on the whole Dubai property market on one development.

Re: Villa for sale
 

Just the sort of people I am looking for :D :D
No offense here UB.
Afternoon Everyone.

Re: Villa for sale
 

springs, lakes, green comm, lakes and meadows are less than 50% from what i've heard

and for one, my friend lives in the springs and he is the only occupied house on his street

Re: Villa for sale
 

Less than 50% what TA5? Still big waiting lists at the Lakes (which is virtually all rented anyway), so facts wrong again. Also, many at Springs & Meadows just being finished off so the fact that no-one is physically living in every house there means **** all.

Re: Villa for sale
 

lakes is a rental community, directly from developer, all others are for purchase only, and they are just being held by spec developers.

Although I agree that there is relatively strong rental demand for properties right now, this is in part to the lack of rental properties, most spec investors don't want to put their property in the rental market as it

1) Diminshes the value of the property once it is lived in
2) Makes it difficult to sell

All these investors want to do is flip the property for a quick buck. My point is that there isn't enough buyer demand (nowhere near enough) to support any price increases for at least 5 or 10 years, therefore, at some point there will be massive excess supply to the buyer-side and the sell-side will start to panic, realizing their plan for a quick buck won't come to fruition at all.

Re: Villa for sale
 

Lakes is full. I've tried to get a rental there.

Springs is only empty because most of the places there are barely or unfinished. The earlier phases are pretty full. Plenty of deadly spiders to keep you company as well.

Meadows appears to be in a similar situation although personally I'd expect it to have lower occupancy because it's higher end and therefore costs more.

Your point appears to have changed (on this thread) from one about being able to find 0% premium or even heavily discounted villas, to one about the long term growth viability of the housing market in Dubai - which I don't think many people would disagree with.

Re: Villa for sale
 

Very well put TA5
In most cases it is cheaper to rent than to buy for the time being.Better to wait out a couple of years and then when the real value of homes comes to show,you can think of buying at that time.

Re: Villa for sale
 

Rents are shooting through the roof. A mate that rents in The Meadows first got his villa for Dhs110,000 in 2003, then it went up to Dhs120,000 in 2004 and now his landlord has told him that when the annual renewal comes up he is bumping it to Dhs130,000 :rolleyes: That would be one reason to buy as far as I'm concerned, no more worrying about skyrocketing rents

Re: Villa for sale
 

I think to buy now would be riskier,because you may buy at a price,even at 0% premium,and the inevitable crash that people are talking about happens,you will realise that you will have lost more than a years rent worth on the value of your property.
As far as Im concerned,this is my two cents worth.

Re: Villa for sale
 

The long term growth viability is what is non-existent. The short term growth spurt is almost over, its the long-term that the market is going to get destroyed.

Nobody disagrees that there is a shortage of rentals right now, however, this is only because investors are holding tight to 70% or so of the available, unoccupied units. One day, these units are going to either drop in value to actually attract buyers, or hit the rental market en-masse causing rents to drop.

Rents in the marina are already dropping thanks to the newly opened buildings.

Re: Villa for sale
 

That is the second time you have mentioned falling rents at the Marina and while I'm not overly familiar with the new towers becoming available I would ask how the size of the apartments compares with what is available now, and what are the facilities like? At least one of the new towers is "at" the marina but actually nowhere near the water- or the shops and restaurants. I'd expect to pay a lilttle more to live nearer to the water, shops and restaurants, as well as have 24hr security, landscaping and what have you taken care of. The trouble with comparing rents in different towers at the same development is that you have to make sure you are comparing like with like. Also, where are you getting the rental prices for the new towers from? Care to give me a reference so I can check?

Re: Villa for sale
 

la la la

Re: Villa for sale
 

property times

Re: Villa for sale
 

Border Reiver, I called a real estate agent to ask about the new building TA5 mentioned that was cheaper, she said it was so because it was only near the Marina and not actually part of it by the marina front and so on. So rents havn't really gone down at the Marina as TA5 would have us believe!

Re: Villa for sale
 

wait until the other 100 'on the marina' buildings are finished

Re: Villa for sale
 

You're right. Three of my sister's colleagues in office sold their properties in Greens and Springs and have made between 250-350 k each (about 60% return on investment)

IG

Re: Villa for sale
 

Hi there Anya - long time no hear! On a completely different subject, do you think you could PM me details of that chap you were telling me about who does the perfume? Cheers! :D

Re: Villa for sale
 

Ah, so now you are saying you are wrong now, but will be right in a couple of year's time? :confused:

Re: Villa for sale
 

Listen, go ahead and do whatever you want. Believe the hype, ignore the warnings, ignore the professionals who are predicting a crash, it really doesn't affect me, only you.

I'll be sitting around laughing when I buy your place for 1/4 of what you bought it for in 2-3 years while you are stuck with the remaining mortgage through a corrupt islamic banking system.

Re: Villa for sale
 

I think all he was doing was pointing out the fact that you've changed your point of view completely from zero premium and discounted villas all over the place, to wait a few years then you'll see.

I certainly agree that the market is unsustainable in the long term, but that's not the point your initial post was making. You were suggesting a crash was just around the corner, if not already happening.

Re: Villa for sale
 

That is exactly my point. I expect to see a relatively low percentage increase in prices for the next year or so, and possibly even a slight dip if interest rates go up much, but certainly not a crash and certainly not "thousands" of villas being dumped at a loss. Unfortunately for the tenants among us I don't see much of a dip in rental prices either. As a property owner I would much rather see a steady, sustainable increase in prices rather than the boom and bust which has occured in the UK in the past.

Would I buy now? Yes, but I wouldn't expect to be able to sell in a year's time at a 30% profit and I would be selective about location.

Re: Villa for sale
 

I was talking about rents, not prices, prices are already dropping.

Re: Villa for sale
 

Yes, that is what everyone would like, but the UAE is setting itself up for a MASSIVE crash in the very near future.

Tell me this, when the 40,000 units currently under construction are completed in 2-3 years (not including palm jebel ali, dubai waterfront, palm deira, burj dubai, and about 100-150,000 units that will be completed in the next 10 years), who is going to move there? Really, who? That's enough new housing for 250,000 new people in the next 3 years, and over 1 million in the next ten, and expensive housing at that. For a place that is struggling to get anywhere close to its desired population growth that is market suicide, as it will be a market in massive oversupply for 10-30 years at the current underperforming growth rates.

Re: Villa for sale
 

Hardly, prices for the villa type we want have been increasing over the past few weeks!

Re: Villa for sale
 

Do you have any idea how many people live on this planet who are just waiting to invest (oh sorry, throw away would be more along your lines) their money in Dubai? There are many countries where investment just could not be an option and just because Europeans and Americans are not jumping at opportunities coming their way, there are plenty waiting on the other side who are more than happy to do so and who will be the once with a big smile on their face?

Just because not all properties will be occupied all at the same time doesn't mean they will not belong to happy owners who will just make use of it whenever they please to or even let their friends or people they want to impress use them.

Ever heard of holiday homes in Spain? Do you know how many Spanish people thought Europeans were crazy and those homes would never fill up? Do you know how much a home in Spain cost 10 years ago in the middle of nowhere and how much it is now?

Thanks to people like you there is more left for those with faith in something worth grabbing who otherwise wouldn't stand a chance.

Re: Villa for sale
 

http://www.ameinfo.com/60573.html

Palm tree, you really need to come out about what you do for a living, as biased opinions from real estate agents should be known when they are posted.

Re: Villa for sale
 

http://www.ameinfo.com/60603.html


Keep in mind that AMEinfo is a government propoganda machine that pretty much never says anything but 'dubai is perfect'. Pretty bad when a propoganda machine starts putting out bad news about something it is designed to glorify.