More potential arrival questions!

More potential arrival questions!

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XB70

Original Poster:

2,482 posts

195 months

Tuesday 8th April 2014
quotequote all
So looks like all systems go from this end.

The property search is doing my head in to be honest, not to mention how the rents just keep climbing!

At this point, it looks like Motor City offers the best value for money proximity to a school for my daughter (assuming that there do in fact remain places!) and for my non-driving wife to be able to get around.

The other options, albeit a lot more impractical for me to drop my girl to school then back to DIFC to work, are apartments on SZR or in Mirdif which seems to offer a lot for (not) much, provided you can avoid a flightpath.

What with the rising cost of everything there, it seems that if you can save 50,000AED on the rent then that is worth considering.

I am not sure that I could handle a Mirdif - Motor City - DIFC commute in the mornings to drop her off.

Any thoughts gratefully received and IOU's of a cold one when we get there

dxbtiger

4,389 posts

172 months

Tuesday 8th April 2014
quotequote all
Mirdiff - Motorcity - DIFC I would definately try to avoid, you're looking at just under an hour if you factor dropping her off as well.

What kind of budget you looking at?
Assume a 2 bed?
When will you know if the youngun has a place in the school?

Tappers

80 posts

128 months

Tuesday 8th April 2014
quotequote all
What about places such as JLT, Tecom, Al Barsha or the Greens?

Easy access to the metro for your non-driving wife and Motor City is not too much of a detour on your way to DIFC (at least you'll be going against the flow of traffic unlike Mirdiff to Motor City).

XB70

Original Poster:

2,482 posts

195 months

Tuesday 8th April 2014
quotequote all
Thanks for the comments.

Budget - we would like to keep to 200K AED - anymore than that and it becomes increasingly less 'attractive' from a financial perspective

3 bed ideally is what we need.

The applications for school are being sent this week. When I was in Dubai last week at GEMS Wellington on SZR, I was told that no places (it reminded me of when Patrick Bateman tries to book Dorsia!) but that she would get into the new one being built and due to open in September at Motor City.

My packed day with an hour stuck in a traffic jam in some Dante-like/opposite to Old Town hellhole meant that I could not get over to see where it was...or Motor City or any other place actually!

As an aside, I have been hassling my wife to learn to drive for 10 years now with no success. Sorely tempted to say "there is a bus, there is a metro and there is Quattroporte that I have bought on the drip" then howl off to work :-)

XB70

Original Poster:

2,482 posts

195 months

Tuesday 8th April 2014
quotequote all
Tappers said:
What about places such as JLT, Tecom, Al Barsha or the Greens?

Easy access to the metro for your non-driving wife and Motor City is not too much of a detour on your way to DIFC (at least you'll be going against the flow of traffic unlike Mirdiff to Motor City).
I will look at JLT, Tecom and The Greens.

I had tried to find an Al Barsha place akin to OilyDan's bargain palace with no success!

dxbtiger

4,389 posts

172 months

Tuesday 8th April 2014
quotequote all
Do you want a villa or apartment?

Have you discounted Ranches? If not, plenty of Al Reems should fit the bill, 3 beds, a study (man cave), garden, communal pool etc etc

Edited by dxbtiger on Tuesday 8th April 11:25

Tappers

80 posts

128 months

Tuesday 8th April 2014
quotequote all
Good luck with the schools.

When I arrived here last May with my 13 year old son we had an absolute nightmare trying to find a place. 18 applications, 4 assessments and 9,000 AED later (500 AED for each application) he got offered a place at GEMS World Academy.

Can't imagine it's improved in the last 11 months.

Kieran

182 posts

279 months

Thursday 10th April 2014
quotequote all
As has been said schools may be your biggest challenge, followed by affordable housing. Finding a suitable school place is a bit of a lottery, many are booked up well over 12 months + in advance and it is usually a case of making multiple applications in the hope one comes off, which at short notice usually means people dropping out. Dubai is a transient population so fortunately there is some turnover of places but it is still a challenge. If she has not already, point your wife to the local expat mum forums for dubai which have a host of relevant info.

Based on my own experience I might suggest moving into short term furnished apartments until your school place is sorted - as the school run will be your task, unless you use a school bus, then proximity to the school will be important. It also gives you and your wife a chance to see the possible locations first hand. Second best option would be to move into one of the established gated communities like Arabian Ranches - perhaps over priced for what it is and a bit aged now but as a newcomer it provides an easy landing and has most the amenities onsite. Many do this for a year until they find their feet and then move on to a permanent home when they have a better idea of what they want and what is available.

All the best with the move and just accept the administration will frustrate the hell out of you...

Kieran

XB70

Original Poster:

2,482 posts

195 months

Thursday 10th April 2014
quotequote all
Hi all - sorry for the delayed response. I did a response to DXBTIGER on my phone and it would not upload. Bah.

Anyways, we are looking at an apartment rather than villa to try and keep the utilities bills down for that reason, also trying to avoid district cooling).

Had a look at TECOM but only seem to be 2 bed apartments then jump to penthouses. We will need three as my little girl is nearly 5 and little boy nealy 3 but has a lot of trouble sleeping. In the same room, he would keep her awake most nights.

With the rising rents there, we are keen to try and control the outlays as much as possible. We are going into it eyes open in terms of the cost of living but Sydney is far from cheap either, albeit not with the 'red sky at night, triple rent increase is right' approach that DXB is taking due to Expo 2020 or planet alignment in 2057.

Crossing fingers on the schools but at the moment, that corridor from Motor City up to Al Bashra and Marina seems to offer good (!) value for money, close to school, commutable to DIFC and still able to allow my Amish wife to get around :-)

I am already experiencing the paperwork issues as question of whether passport copies need to be legalised for visa and work permit (UAE Consulate in Ireland said that they do not legalise passport copies where UAE Consulate in OZ says that they do). My wife and kids are on OZ passports and I have an Irish one.

Fun and games!


dxbtiger

4,389 posts

172 months

Thursday 10th April 2014
quotequote all
XB70 said:
Anyways, we are looking at an apartment rather than villa to try and keep the utilities bills down for that reason, also trying to avoid district cooling).
District cooling is development specific rather than applied to Villas not Apartments.

In fact I can't think of any Villas that pay Disctrict Cooling?

Jumeirah Lake Towers and Jumeirah Beach Residence pay it for sure.

TECOM isn't great to be honest, still a little rough round the edges.

Greens worth looking at perhaps, Motor City probably better VFM though and much handier if you get into that school there.

XB70

Original Poster:

2,482 posts

195 months

Thursday 10th April 2014
quotequote all
Thanks! I was looking at some of the ads on propertfinder and thinking "wow, 100 pictures of the road and a park and ZERO of the apartments!".

Am looking at the Alsopp website and finally some decent information and prices don't seem to be too bad.

I see that no fridge is commmon but no cooker! Seems odd for what, in some cases, seem to be very decent buildings.

On that note, it is worth bringing our fridge, washing machine and dryer with us? They are only a year old and sounds that we will need 20ft container in any event.

Sorry for all the questions

dxbtiger

4,389 posts

172 months

Thursday 10th April 2014
quotequote all
If you are bringing a container then you may as well, some places will have the lot, others won't.

White goods easy to shift here if you end up not needing them

XB70

Original Poster:

2,482 posts

195 months

Thursday 10th April 2014
quotequote all
Thanks. Being very ineffective at work at the moment!

There seems to be quite a lot of good sized villas in the Springs for under 200K AED. Is there a catch that I am missing since seems a bit too good to be true. Nice size, backyard for the kids, parking space for the Tilda or Japanese import AMG S-Class (grin).

dxbtiger

4,389 posts

172 months

Thursday 10th April 2014
quotequote all
I'm having a liquid thursday lunch at the Gramercy (you'll know it when you arrive in DIFC) so that's as ineffective as it gets!

Springs is exactly the same as the Al Reems in Ranches, just cut and paste design, bathrooms and kitchens are all pretty tired by now unless owner has upgraded but its a good community.

Tappers

80 posts

128 months

Thursday 10th April 2014
quotequote all
dxbtiger said:
Springs is exactly the same as the Al Reems in Ranches, just cut and paste design, bathrooms and kitchens are all pretty tired by now unless owner has upgraded but its a good community.
I agree with the above. I looked at villas in the Springs last year around the 220k mark. I was surprised at how many needed a reasonable degree of modernisation. Looked at 4 ... all were poor so gave up and went elsewhere. Was very tempted by some of the Villas at Victory Heights. Not such an established community and slightly more expensive but they are all brand new.

FlexRay

89 posts

134 months

Tuesday 22nd April 2014
quotequote all
I live in Jumeirah Village Triangle?

Easy access to SZR and Emirates Road.

2 Bed Villa, maids room and big garden is around 180k just now

Craig

K50 DEL

9,227 posts

227 months

Tuesday 22nd April 2014
quotequote all
dxbtiger said:
Springs is exactly the same as the Al Reems in Ranches, just cut and paste design, bathrooms and kitchens are all pretty tired by now unless owner has upgraded but its a good community.
I'd agree with this, I have extensive experience in both Springs and Ranches and whilst both are nice communities which have more features than JVT, JVC etc they are getting old now and things are breaking on them.... there are also less and less that have been owner occupied since new, meaning many are in a fairly poor condition.

It is possible to find lovely properties in both developments that have been nicely updated etc but you need to be prepared to see a lot of dogs first (I think I looked at about 20 springs places 3 years ago before I rented mine, moved out after 2 years as the landlord refused to maintain it properly)

ct84

147 posts

121 months

Tuesday 22nd April 2014
quotequote all
Have you thought about Victory heights in sports city?

Not the most developed place yet, but nice community, decent quality, access to main roads, 2 minutes to motor city and 3 bed villas are all under 200k.

Good Luck

shirt

22,508 posts

200 months

Tuesday 22nd April 2014
quotequote all
200k for rent. i clearly need a better job.

dxbtiger

4,389 posts

172 months

Tuesday 22nd April 2014
quotequote all
FlexRay said:
I live in Jumeirah Village Triangle?

Easy access to SZR and Emirates Road.

2 Bed Villa, maids room and big garden is around 180k just now

Craig
Hi Neighbour!

9G'er here