Abu Dhabi, I hardly knew ye
Well, I’ve given Abu Dhabi three months and I’m done. But I’m not coming home, I’m just moving cities.
Since my visa came through and I’m now finally allowed to rent a house I’ve been looking for apartments for the last few weeks. Initially I was looking in Abu Dhabi, because I work closest to that city, but I realised that there was another city only slightly further away from where I work, Dubai.
I work out in the soulless desert in between Abu Dhabi and Dubai so I could either live in downtown Abu Dhabi, where is it as expensive as shit, or I could live in the outskirts of Abu Dhabi, where it is boring as hell, or I could live in Dubai, where it seems that every other expat with a choice is living.
A quick scan of the real estate market in Abu Dhabi sealed it for me. Abu Dhabi is about 10 years behind Dubai in terms of insane growth. During these growth periods the demand for houses far outweighs supply and the prices skyrocket. Dubai decided to build five billion apartment buildings after their first few years of crazy growth so now they have lots of apartments and prices are levelling out. Abu Dhabi is struggling to fill the demand for housing so prices are exploding. The hotel apartment I have been living in for the last few months increased their prices 30% this month. Fuck that.
So I’ve found a place in the Dubai Marina area. It’s on the side of Dubai closest to Abu Dhabi and right where the smaller of the two palm islands is (the Palm Jumeirah.) It's still pretty expensive by Australian standards, but less expensive that the shittier places I could have rented in Abu Dhabi. 120,000 AED a year is pretty average for a one bedroom in this area. I would convert it to Australian dollars for you but I think it might make me cry.
I was lucky enough to get a landlord who would let me pay by two cheques (one post dated) rather than one. Yep, it's normal to have to pay your entire years rent when you move in... plus 5% deposit and 5% agent's commission. Most expats get bank loans just to pay the rent.
Once again the video and sound is a little shitty. And replace the world ‘leafy’ with ‘dusty’, I think I was seeing a mirage.
Oh, and I know that tax return time is just around the corner so now that I have a pad I expect some visitors. See you soon.
Since my visa came through and I’m now finally allowed to rent a house I’ve been looking for apartments for the last few weeks. Initially I was looking in Abu Dhabi, because I work closest to that city, but I realised that there was another city only slightly further away from where I work, Dubai.
I work out in the soulless desert in between Abu Dhabi and Dubai so I could either live in downtown Abu Dhabi, where is it as expensive as shit, or I could live in the outskirts of Abu Dhabi, where it is boring as hell, or I could live in Dubai, where it seems that every other expat with a choice is living.
A quick scan of the real estate market in Abu Dhabi sealed it for me. Abu Dhabi is about 10 years behind Dubai in terms of insane growth. During these growth periods the demand for houses far outweighs supply and the prices skyrocket. Dubai decided to build five billion apartment buildings after their first few years of crazy growth so now they have lots of apartments and prices are levelling out. Abu Dhabi is struggling to fill the demand for housing so prices are exploding. The hotel apartment I have been living in for the last few months increased their prices 30% this month. Fuck that.
So I’ve found a place in the Dubai Marina area. It’s on the side of Dubai closest to Abu Dhabi and right where the smaller of the two palm islands is (the Palm Jumeirah.) It's still pretty expensive by Australian standards, but less expensive that the shittier places I could have rented in Abu Dhabi. 120,000 AED a year is pretty average for a one bedroom in this area. I would convert it to Australian dollars for you but I think it might make me cry.
I was lucky enough to get a landlord who would let me pay by two cheques (one post dated) rather than one. Yep, it's normal to have to pay your entire years rent when you move in... plus 5% deposit and 5% agent's commission. Most expats get bank loans just to pay the rent.
Once again the video and sound is a little shitty. And replace the world ‘leafy’ with ‘dusty’, I think I was seeing a mirage.
Oh, and I know that tax return time is just around the corner so now that I have a pad I expect some visitors. See you soon.
posted by Sam Cox at
02:55
11 Comments:
Dude, how planet killing is your morning drive to work?
By
matware, At
16 June 2008 09:01
I'm looking at Aug/Sept trip, bro.
By
Sandy, At
16 June 2008 10:09
About 80ks as opposed to 50 odd from AD.
Terrible I know, but I don’t have much of a choice. I promise I’ll get a small, fuel efficient car, and not a Hummer.
By
Sam Cox, At
16 June 2008 11:12
That's fucking awesome Sandy.
By
Sam Cox, At
16 June 2008 11:17
Small fuel effiecient car? Isn't fuel cheap over there? You should get the most powerful gas guzzling monster of a car while you still have the opportunity to get cheap fuel!
By
Anonymous, At
16 June 2008 13:16
Yeah, fuel is about 45c/l and over in Saudi Arabia it's 12c/l.
Hmm, maybe I should enjoy it. I wonder how much an old V12 jag would cost?
By
Sam Cox, At
16 June 2008 13:30
Just cos its cheap doesnt mean its ok for you to use a lot of it.
Conscientiously speaking. Obviously.
A man like you with such a keen political and moral mind should not be coerced into such a wasteful activity just because 'you can'. Surely.
J
By
Anonymous, At
16 June 2008 13:46
There was a piece on Insiders yesterday about how the UAE press was reporting the petrol price 'skyrocketing' to 43c a litre and how the govt needed to step in and do something...
By
Sheikh sandoid, At
16 June 2008 17:09
How do you sleep on that bare, shiny floor?
By
Tom '2 Sheds' Jackson, At
16 June 2008 17:15
Just Jokin' 'bout the Jag J.
By
Sam Cox, At
17 June 2008 03:32
Looks good. 160kms round trip to work. thats a half hour tri on those roads is it not? You should investigate buying a plane to leave from your balcony
By
Camborgie, At
3 July 2008 18:52
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