Living in Motor City

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6th Gear

Original Poster:

3,566 posts

200 months

Thursday 13th December 2012
quotequote all

How much is a decent 3 bedroom apartment there to rent?

Nice area to live?

Any tips / pointers would be v helpful.

Thanks

yorky500

1,715 posts

197 months

Thursday 13th December 2012
quotequote all
6th Gear said:
How much is a decent 3 bedroom apartment there to rent?

Nice area to live?

Any tips / pointers would be v helpful.

Thanks
I think the 3 bed go for around AED110-130k per year (they are HUGE). It really depends on where in MC you want to live. FoxHill buildings tend to be a bit more than the other ones. They have HUGE balconies.

All the apartments should come with white goods i.e. cooker/fridge freezer/washer dryer. All apartments have underground car parking and lockable storage facility.

The surrounding grounds are well kept and pretty lush. Sufficient communal pools to keep you happy and each pool has changing rooms/toilets and a gym.

Security is pretty good and it is quiet (well, it is where I am). Apartments facing the Autodrome may become noisy during the Dubai 24 hr race but the double glazing is good and blocks out most of it.

All shops and take-aways are there and open. Largest Spinneys in Dubai is located there and very easily accessed with parking (some feckers keep using my parking space which i hate).

We are in our 4th year there and love it.

All the building are serviced/maintained by 1 Company and if you have any issues then you can call them up and they will come round and fix. However there are two ways of renting there: either via Union Properties/NBAD or from private owners. If you rent from UP/NBAD then if you do have an issue it is sorted immediately, but if via private owner then an estimate has to be sent to the owner first who has to give approval before any work is carried out.

yorky500

1,715 posts

197 months

Thursday 13th December 2012
quotequote all
I should add: Du is the only service provider available (it may have changed)

also, if you are used to paying your utility bills only with DEWA, then you will have to now pay for DEWA and Emicool, which I think is a fecking rip-off.

6th Gear

Original Poster:

3,566 posts

200 months

Thursday 13th December 2012
quotequote all
Cheers for the detailed response Yorky, very helpful.

On average, how much are the monthly DEWA and Emicool bills there?

Thanks again.


yorky500

1,715 posts

197 months

Thursday 13th December 2012
quotequote all
6th Gear said:
Cheers for the detailed response Yorky, very helpful.

On average, how much are the monthly DEWA and Emicool bills there?

Thanks again.
Actually, looking of Dubiz, prices seem to have gone up what I stated in my above post.

Its hard to say as it depends on the size of your apartment. Emicool for a two bed apartment (2,250 sq ft of which 1,450 sq ft is living) is around AED550 per month, most of which is taken up by "fixed Charges" which is based on your sq ftage. Actual consumption is small. Dewa is AED250 per month.

Gentleman Geoff

1,058 posts

218 months

Thursday 13th December 2012
quotequote all
I think Yorky has pretty much said everything. After all, he lives there and clearly knows it well.

6th Gear said:
Nice area to live?
I've got friends that live in Motor City and I can vouch for how spacious the apartments are. Even the one-bedroomed places have enormous terraces/balconies. And you have Spinneys and all the other shops right there on your doorstep.

The only thing that would put me off is the distance to Dubai proper. The roundabout construction at Umm Suqeim/Al Khail is a total headache at times. Although it should be a lot better once it's finished.

I don't think there are any bars or licensed restaurants.

yorky500

1,715 posts

197 months

Thursday 13th December 2012
quotequote all
Gentleman Geoff said:
I don't think there are any bars or licensed restaurants.
Sadly not. The closest I believe is the Arabian ranches Golf Club.

Ingress and egress is a piece of pee. Emirates road takes 3-5 mins to get on to, same for Umm Sequeem/Al Qudra Road.

yes, the RA at Al Khail can be a biatch but when finished it will substantially ease traffic. It takes the Mrs 20mins to get to media City from MC, sometimes less (like all traffic in major cities, if you avoid the rush-hour you are good.

A taxi from Time Square costs AED32.00 to Spinneys in MC

IanUAE

2,939 posts

170 months

Thursday 13th December 2012
quotequote all
I'm in the Terraced Aprtments (1st floor 1,500 square foot balcony + 3,000 square foor 3 bedroo). Rent is AED 140,000 + ~AED 1,500 DEWA & Emicool per month).

5 minutes from the track is pretty handy for me.

shirt

23,231 posts

207 months

Thursday 13th December 2012
quotequote all
do you have to sign up for community cooling? we didn't in jar as think we won't need it for the first 6mths. will they be stroppy if we only sign for 6 on a 12mth lease?

back on topic but yeah the apartments are nice and it has more of a community feel than marina/palm. had quote a few long conversations about cars when the clubby was parked up there. downsides are distance from social centres but i guess that depends on what you're looking for. nearest watering hole is the polo club which is much better than the golf club imvho.

Hitch78

6,117 posts

200 months

Friday 14th December 2012
quotequote all
I like Motor City - had no idea it was so expensive though. I pay just over that for a four bedroom house in the Ranches and I thought the differential was much more.

Dusty964

6,962 posts

196 months

Friday 14th December 2012
quotequote all
I'm in a 2 bed so not much help, but the fees are set- we pay 500 a month, it increases by roughly 250 a month through summer when the air con is on.
I can happily confirm that the closest place for a pint is the polo club, although not much in it between that and the golf club.
A taxi to bidibondi on the palm is 36aed, 45 to get to near Shirts place to meet up for a 'quiet' pint midweek. MOE is 20aed should you need to go to Après and drink possibly the worst beer in Dubai.



micawrx

280 posts

166 months

Saturday 15th December 2012
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I would guess Four bed in the ranches ' this week' would be over 210000aed

Prices for desirable areas are rocketing.

A four bed villa in motor city is 190000.. ( at the back, overlooking the round grassy bit)

oilydan

2,030 posts

277 months

Monday 17th December 2012
quotequote all
yorky500 said:
...(some feckers keep using my parking space which i hate)...
Sorry, but having a convinient parking spot, right under the biggest Spinneys in DXB is an invitation for the Jaaaag driving gentry of Dubai to park in it. Dear chap.

I pay 195k for a 6 bed in Barsha. It has the convinience of a race-track (around Barsha Mall on Weekends), full offroading course (anywhere off the main streets if you have a quad and a 5 year old), we have the most compact (smallest) Spinneys in Dubai and are close to some of the best (worst) Holiday Inn style hotels in the region. Polo Club? Golf Club? Who needs those when you have the 'Centro' ....

K50 DEL

9,333 posts

234 months

Monday 17th December 2012
quotequote all
I pay 200k for a 3,000 sqft, 3 bed (1E Style) in Springs... slightly toppy on price but then I do have a lake view and my own pool.

I suspect that my landlord will be trying to raise the rent dramatically come renewal in July.... it seems that once 7 days report rent hikes it automatically becomes true.

Hitch78

6,117 posts

200 months

Monday 17th December 2012
quotequote all
I pay 155k for a four bed (one of which is nursery sized) in Alma in the Ranches. Views of a stagnant pond and six day a week sand shifting as they squeeze in more houses come free!

House is awesome, lake and park will be once it's finished!

shirt

23,231 posts

207 months

Monday 17th December 2012
quotequote all
isn't there a cap on the max. rent hike for the first 3 years? either 5 or 8% springs to mind.

victory heights is well priced for villas and they come with garages and is just behind motor city. for 190k you could get a detached 4000sqft bungalow in the green community with garden and standalone double garage block.




dxbtiger

4,429 posts

179 months

Monday 17th December 2012
quotequote all
On my phone, will put link in later if required but there is a rental increase calculator on dubai land dept website.

Pop in the size, area you live in, rent amount and it'll tell you what the landlord can do with rent.

Advantage for tenants is massive variance even in same area and the index is out of date.

e21jason

717 posts

225 months

Monday 17th December 2012
quotequote all
The rent cap does not apply if there is a significant increase in property value wihtin a year then (20% I think) then the landlord can do what ever.

K50 DEL

9,333 posts

234 months

Monday 17th December 2012
quotequote all
Then you have to think about whether you really want to live in a house where the landlord has been forced to rent to you at a lower rate than he wants... you can bet that nothing maintenance wise would be done and he'd be a pain in the arse when you decided to leave.....

I ended up negotiating with him so my rent went up by 12% last year (the actual regs are that it can only go up by a max of 5% and even then only if the current rental price is more than 20% below market rate.
Unfortunately as with all these things whilst the law is in place, it has no real teeth.

shirt

23,231 posts

207 months

Monday 17th December 2012
quotequote all
K50 DEL said:
Then you have to think about whether you really want to live in a house where the landlord has been forced to rent to you at a lower rate than he wants...
more likely would you want to live in a place where the landlord sees you as a cash cow to be milked?

landlord in the place sam and i moved into wanted a 20% uplift on what he charged last year. i managed to do a deal at 0% increase.