Whether you are new in Dubai, or you’re looking to move from your current place to another, it takes a lot of time to crawl the market in search for a better home.
There are many factors that you need to keep in mind, beside price and size of the property. Here, we’ll try to guide you through the right process of real-estate hunting so you end-up finding the best place that will be your new home, whether you want to rent or buy.
The factors that will influence your choice of the property you’ll end up with are:
- Your preferred location
- Your budget
- The size of your family (of maybe are you single?)
- Quality of the property
- Services in the area
- Surroundings (views, noise, natures,…)
I will try to explain each point in detail below, and give you practical tips and advice on how to assess different situations and take the right decision. Based on my experience of 8+ years in the UAE real estate market, there is more than meets the eye, so bare with me (I promise this is in your best interest).
Spend enough time identifying the location you want to live in
This is probably the most complicated decision in the entire process, and that is why I’m mentioning it first.
Once you decide on a location, that’s it, you’re locked in place for a relatively long time. So choose wisely.
For one, you need to think about your workplace and your daily commute (unless you’re a remote worker or your company still follows the COVID customs and allows work from home). The more you’re expecting to commute, the closer you should be to your workplace.
If you have a car, that’s great. You can look at a radius of 10km around your office for areas to consider. If you don’t have a car, then your options narrow down to:
- live next to a metro station, or a bus stop
- stay at walking distance of your workplace
The second option might be the best if all other factors I’ll discuss below line up in your favor. However if your office is located in a fancy area such as Dubai Marina, Media City or Dubai Downtown, then you need to have really good money in your pocket or bank account. But if you do, then why not get a car and open up your options for a potentially better and more affordable location?
Determine the amount of money you’re willing to budget for your apartment or house
The next step is to filter the options in the selected location according to your budget.
How much can you afford to pay in rent or purchasing price?
This is a fundamental question you should ask yourself. And this is something many people get wrong.
See, one thing about Dubai is that it lures you into gratifying your desires and pampering yourself. Nothing wrong about that as long as you are financially secure and can afford your expenses.
However a large proportion of the population ends up racking credit card debt or bank loans which can at some point backfire and negatively impact their personal lives. People are generally bad at financial planning (and they don’t even bother hiring a financial advisor!).
So the budget you put aside for your new home should be based on your current income as well as expected income. Questions you need to ask yourself:
- How much am I making per month (in terms of salary or other income)?
- Is my job secure 1 year out? 2 years out?
- Am I close to getting promoted or finding a better job with a better salary?
- How long am I planning to stay in the UAE?
Regarding the last question, if you’re here for a few months or less than a year, then maybe you can consider an apartment hotel or a furnished place that you can rent out on a monthly basis, so you don’t have to commit for a complicated contract.
My rule of thumb is: don’t pay more than 3 times your monthly salary in rent. If you stick to this rule, you’ll be financially safe at least in the short to medium term, so you can have enough to spend on your other expenses starting from essentials (food, transportation, utilities, clothing, etc…) to leisure and entertainment (movies, dining out, trips/staycations, etc…)
Keep in mind that most rents in Dubai don’t cover utilities. You should also consider the water & electricity bill (DEWA), which includes a municipality fee equal to 5% of your annual rent, which is broken down into monthly payment (example: if your yearly rent is AED 48,000 then the municipality fee will be AED 2400 a year, and you’ll pay AED 200 per month).
What is the size and type of the place you’re considering?
At this point, you need to decide what type of place you want to live in. Is it an apartment/condo, or a house/villa or a townhouse?
This is certainly a personal choice, but will definitely influence they money you’ll invest (or be influenced by what you can afford).
If you’re a couple with no kids and are planning not to
But CAREFUL! The larger the place, the larger amount you need to budget… obviously! But if you have already determine your budget in the previous step, then you’re ready to explore the different options you have.