Grace O Malley

An old building right? Cos 70 for a 1 bed these days is really cheap. There are lots of new buildings just about to finish and the rents are still incredibly high.

the_red_sheep

Are the pool and gym facilitates in Business Bay finished now? When I saw an apartment there a few months back they were far from it and by all accounts work was at a standstill. Isn't there only one pool and gym between all 12 (?) towers?

Also, the access to and from the Business Bay development is (or certainly was) far from ideal - only accessed from SZR Sharjah bound, and no way to connect through to Downtown/Dubai Mall without going to Financial Centre Road.

Paddy09

Not so old, about 8 years i think and a good spec. when push came to shove, the landlord accepted the 50k.. ive heard that there is alot of apartments in abu dhabi that they keep off the market to keep rents up, is this true?

Grace O Malley

Good for you getting a deal, they really are greedy beggars. Not sure if thats true Paddy, but nothing here is surprising really.

See those towers opp Emirates Palace, wonder what they will go for, fantastic location..

Ethos83

Last I heard most of the planned pools were still unfinished. I looked briefly at the apartments there. They are certainly roomy especially when compared to the shoeboxes in the Emaar buildings Downtown - the Lofts and Views etc. But the site is a construction zone, access in and out is a pain and it must be annoying to pay 4 AED in salik every time you want to go anywhere, and you can't even walk to the Dubai Mall from the Towers because the developers have built a wall screening Business Bay from Emaar's precious downtown.

Downtown apartments may be smaller but they have higher quality finishes, come complete with all the white goods and are just better located. Rents are still dropping there - an agent got back to me the other day with a listing of 85K for a small 2-bed unit in Burj Views. In April 2-bed units in the Executive Towers were 85K....I think they're now down to 70-75, asking price of course. Wonder what they actually go for after the final negotiations.

Millhouse

When I looked at the villas in BB, the pool was being finished off and work was definitely on going. The place is a disaster though, no access in or out. 4x4s will be welcome. Noisey and dusty - we loved the place, just hated the location...

busybee2

yes they do keep them off market to keep rents high

Millhouse

bullshit - greed would force them to drip them onto the market to get some value from them.

Also, what about the freehold stuff on reem that is due soon? that will come on and private landlords will take anything over nothing.

busybee2

nope they will leave buildings empty to save face

benzonar

Isn't it also true that a lot of the locals that own property have them on Islamic finance where the deal is if it is empty then their payments freeze.....or is that yet another unsubstantiated rumour.

Millhouse

If this is true (which I have heard is the case - but just do not believe it) then this strategy will not work once the reem deliveries happen. There is a lot of supply coming soon owned by people who do not have the luxury of holding things empty...

I know several people with multiple units in Sun and Sky. They will take anything for them.

busybee2

yes thats true, if no tenants no costs etc

Brains1983

Al Reef contractors have already stopped watering the plants outside the villas here...

Grace O Malley

Could be, Islamic Financing has some clauses like this.

Ethos83

Can't imagine clauses like these can remain much longer. The banks are going to be hurting for the money sooner or later.