Buying a car in Dubai

Buying a car can be a relatively painless exercise if you know what to look out for:

1. You'll need a driving licence to buy a car.
2. More often than not, you're probably going to need an auto loan as well (see Auto Loans below). banks usually only approve auto loans for cars under 5 years old, and loans can range from 1 year to 6 years term
   
3. You're going to need to decide what kind of car you want to get -- 4x4? Sports car? Family Saloon? All of the above?
4. Insurance -- premiums are usually computed as a percentage (as low as 3.5% of declared value or loan quantum, depending on which is higher, for a normal sedan/saloon, 4 to 6% fr a 4x4, 6% to 10% for high performance cars / convertibles

Auto Loans

If you've been here for less than 3 months, or have not been confirmed by your employer, banks will usually limit the loan quantum to approx AED75k. Of course, you can also get a personal loan (usually of a similar quantum) to use as downpayment. Not the best way to go about it, but it works.

There are normal Auto loans and Islamic financing -- the difference being that under Islamic financing, you won't be penalized an early settlement fee if you decide to sell the car early. Nice :)

If you are buying a car, banks usually require you to provide a release paper from the seller (if the car is used) to prove that the car is not mortgaged. This is to protect the bank. However, it also means that the seller is going to have to settle his/her outstanding loan before he/she can sell that car.

To apply for an auto loan, you'll need to provide your salary transfer letter (or salary certificate), driving licence, a copy of the car's registration card, and the previous owner's driving licence.

Once the bank has approved the loan, they will provide an LPO (i.e. promissory payment note) to the previous owner and a loan approval letter. With the loan approval letter, you'll need to get a copy of the registration card (insurance company just needs the engine and chassis numbers), your UAE driving licence, and a copy of your No Claims Letter (if available) from your previous insurer.

With that, you should get your insurance cover note or policy document (not the same, but either will usually suffice), and with that, you'll need to head over to a Tasjeel/Shamil and RTA registration centre to do the transfer of ownership -- owner does not need to be there, just a copy of his driving licence, his registration card, your UAE driving licence, your insurance policy, your loan approval document, and get in the queue.

Previous owner will need to pay off all outstanding fines, and if the car is more than 2 years old, you'll need to pay AED150 (or was it AED50) for vehicle inspection at Tasjeel/Shamil, AED650 for the registration, AED150 for the express service (optional, but makes it all so much faster).

Choosing a car

Petrol costs SGD0.35 per litre here, compared to SGD2.20 per litre for RON98 Premium Unleaded.

There's no road tax (i.e. penalty for large displacement engines).

So, where do we start?

If you plan to be doing dune bashing, you'll want a 4x4. For soccer mums and people who believe that 4x4s and SUVs offer more safety, think twice -- a bigger, heavier car is less likely to be able to swerve its way out of trouble, and braking also takes a longer distance. Chances are, you're going to end up in an accident, but 'safe' -- assuming another SUV doesn't smash into your car, or worse, the side of your car.

That's just something to think about -- a false sense of security? You decide.

Personally, and I mean this in every sense of the word, I'd just prefer to get something I know I wouldn't want to own due to cost considerations back in Singapore. Like a Porsche, an Audi, a Range Rover Sport, a Corvette, a Mustang, a Hummer H2 (or H3), an MB E55 AMG, a BMW 7-Series etc. That's right -- in this part of the world, you can literally afford to let your hair down and go with your heart because cars are generally much cheaper here than in Singapore. Up to 70% cheaper in some cases. Period.

Take a fully-loaded Evo X SST for example. It costs around SGD135k in Singapore, and at AED191k, that's SGD70k here

An Audi TT 2.0T FSI costs SGD180k in Singapore. An Audi TT 3.2 quattro costs AED187k here -- that's around SGD70k here.

A Lexus IS300 costs AED158k here. Not sure what it costs in Singapore now, but last time I checked, it cost SGD128k.

A VW Golf R32 costs AED150k here, SGD150k back home in Singapore.

I think you see the point already. And that's not even including road tax yet!

Of course, there's nothing wrong with buying a a Hyundai Tiburon Coupe, Toyota Camry, a Kia Sorento, a Mitsubishi Lancer, etc, but remember -- the world's running out of oil, and I wouldn't want to be looking back 20 years from now, wishing that I'd at least driven something truly glorious back when I *COULD* :)

Accomodation - 11 Aug 2008

Singaporeans wishing to move to Dubai will need to know the following about renting a place:

GUIDELINES

1. In order to rent an apartment, you will need your residence visa. This is usually arranged by your company and is usually settled within 3 weeks of your arrival
2. Rental is usually quoted on a per-annum basis, and paid in 1, 2, 3, or 4 post-dated cheques.
   
3. Most of the time, an apartment (regardless of the number of bedrooms aka BR) comes with 1 parking lot. Additional parking lots can be requested and there is usually an annual fee for it
4. You can usually fit 2 cars in a villa in Arabian Ranches, The Springs, The Meadows, The Lakes, and other Emaar villa compounds
5. Make sure your company pays for your 1st month / 30 days accommodation, otherwise you will be out of pocket for the 1st month, and short term rent is NOT cheap. In the event that your residence visa takes longer than a month to be issued (see point 1 above), be prepared to be out of pocket unless your employer agrees to cover the extra days/weeks/months
6. Do not start shopping for an apartment too early when you arrive. I usually recommend apartment hunting only from start of week 2 since most landlords and agents will not want to reserve an apartment for too long since they want their commissions/money ASAP and will likely drop you for a better paying tenant in the blink of an eye, reservation/deposit or not.
   
7. If you see an apartment that you like, get it. Shopping around for the perfect apartment is going to lose you what you have in hand.
8. Be clear about what you want in your apartment -- on-suite bathrooms for multiple bedrooms, laundry room, near to malls, grocery shops, option to get extra parking space, etc. It makes it that much easier to get what you want if you know what you want.
9. It's a landlords' market here -- decide fast, and close. If you waste too much of an agent's time because you don't know what you want, then be prepared to lose that agent helping you find a place.
10. Getting a place that's 'almost' completed (i.e. TOP) is a bad idea. More often than not, while the price is slightly lower than market, they are rarely ready to move in on the date that they tell you. This means you're going to have to find somewhere to stay while they sort out electricity, internet, etc. Even if you do get to move in, you might find that internet/phone services won't be available for a couple of months. I can't live without internet connectivity -- can you?
11. Check if the building is covered by du or Etisalat -- the telcos use different filters, so some sites (e.g. Flickr) are not accessible via Etisalat but are not blocked by du.
12. Apartments in Dubai Marina are generally priced the same as the ones in Al Barsha, but are smaller in floor area.
13. Note if the landlord is an individual or if the apartment is owned by a single entity. In the case of the latter, it is less likely that they will try stunts like declaring that they want to move in after a year (a trick commonly used to evict a tenant so that they can jack up rent for the next tenant). Sure, you get to fight it out at the Rent Committee and the onus is on the landlord to prove that he/she really is moving back, but more often than not, the current tenant wins -- but do you really want to go through that hassle?
14. Rent is fixed for 1st and 2nd year, i.e. no increase, after which the landlord has the option to increase rent by a max of 5% (or 7%, can someone confirm this?) as per laws laid by the Rent Committee to protect tenants (and cap inflation)
15. There is a housing fee that is levied by DEWA (Dubai Electricity and Water Authority) -- 5% of your monthly rent. e.g. if you are paying AED130k per annum, monthly housing fee works out to AED542 per month
16. as a benchmark, I'm paying around AED230 per month on utilities (water, electricity and sewerage) and AED542 on housing fee -- my water heaters and air conditioning is switched on 24 hours a day, and I have 3 PCs/notebooks running, and lights are usually left on in the evenings until bedtime. Not bad.
    

Choosing a place to live

Sometimes, the best place to live isn't necessarily the closest. It all depends on what is important to you. Some people prefer to live somewhere quiet, despite a longer journey to work in the mornings. Others simply choose what is closer, for the sake of convenience.

I chose to live in the TECOM area, in Al Barsha, opposite The Greens because

1. internet and TV services are provided by du. (by the way, I work for du) - less sites blocked
   
2. it's an 8 minute drive from my office in Dubai Media City
3. it's a 5 minute drive from the Mall of the Emirates, and a 5 minute drive to Ibn Battuta Mall
4. it's 7 minutes from where I have my car serviced (Audi Al Nabooda, along Sheikh Zayed Road) -- easier to hitch a ride from colleagues/friends since it's not out of the way, and cheaper cab fares if I have to take a cab
5. there's a Choitram's supermarket within 5 minutes walking distance, where The Greens Community Centre is. There's a video rental shop, F&B outlets and a pharmacy as well.
6. there's a gym, swimming pool and I had the option to pay for a 2nd parking lot
   

These are generally criteria I use to choose a place. Be clear about what you want within reach. Granted, there's a fair bit of construction going on near my place, but inside the house, behind double-paned glass, it's pretty quiet and peaceful.

Living in a villa compound

Some people prefer to live in a villa. 2BR villas in The Springs are now going in the region of AED180k to AED200k per annum (needs to be confirmed), compared to a 2BR apartment in Al Barsha (5 minutes away) for around AED160k per annum.

Those who like the idea of having a garden with the villa should note that gardens need watering, and water isn't that cheap when you need many litres to keep it green. Friends living in villas have consistently reported that their water bill along has crossed AED1000 per month, excluding electricity, sewerage and housing fees, so be warned.

Of course, having a nice garden also means you have somewhere nice to chill out in the autumn, winter and spring seasons, and have friends over for drinks over BBQ or an evening garden party.

Villa compounds like the Arabian Ranches, The Springs, The Meadows, The Lakes, etc usually have on-site private security guards as well, and your neighbours are usually pretty well-off chaps (usually Western expats), and you even get a free membership to the Golf Club at the Arabian Ranches if you live there. These compounds also usually have a town centre of sorts, with a supermarket and other facilities (F&B, pharmacies, clinic, etc) which means that they are pretty self-contained.

Living in Karama, Bur Dubai, Deira, Al Qusais, etc

Some people liken living in these areas to living in NYC. Personally, I chose not to live there because of bad traffic, and it's far from my workplace, with traffic congestion on the way to work and back.

On the upside, there's

1. lots of cheap shopping
2. lots of cheap groceries
3. lots of cheap F&B outlets (a la kopitiams, ENV Health Rating of D type of eateries)

On the downside, there's

1. bad traffic jams
2. rent is almost as high, if not as high as in Al Barsha (thanks to the new Rent Index) -- studio apartments are in the region of AED85k, 1BR in the region of AED95k to AED120k, 2BR from AED130k to AED160k, etc

Personally, I think it's more like Geylang -- you get all the hustle and bustle, the colourful characters, and cheap & tasty food. And the occassionally dodgy characters :)

Living in International City

International City is located near Ras Al Khor, adjacent to the Dubai-Al Ain Highway, and is probably one of the cheapest places to rent. A studio apartments costs just AED43k a year to rent (probably around AED45k to AED50k by now), 1BR around AED55k to AED65k, and a 2BR in the region of AED70k to AED80k per annum.

Granted, it's a little bit out of the way, and next to the Dubai Sewage Treatment plant that's said to be operating a little way too much over-capacity. The Dubai authorities have done much to try to allieviate the 'smell' that gets a little too noticeable, especially in the summer months. Of course, some parts of International City are further away from the plant, and obviously the smell and price differ accordingly.

Also, being cheap, it also attracts a slightly different sort of clientle -- the 'China' part of International City, that's located next to Dragon Mart (i.e. giant warehouse/shopping mall of all things China -- note I'm not saying Chinese), and largely populated by, yep, you guessed it, Chinese. Mainland Chinese. That's not too bad, if you're the sort who doesn't mind finding spit and litter in the corridors, litter, fruit skins, and cigarette butts on your balcony, Chinese men approaching you and asking for your rates (women are usually approached, but who knows if they make exceptions), that sort of thing.

The other 'countries' (e.g. Spain, Italy, etc) are populated by other kinds of folk, geographically (e.g. from the subcontinent, Turks, etc) and professionally (e.g. teachers -- seems that some companies house their white collared workers here, in individual apartments or sharing, which is some there is a perception of International City being a bit of a white-collared labour camp).

Nevertheless, International City is a good option for the budget-conscious and those who embrace that sort of environment and neighbours, and new shops are constantly being set up there, e.. Plug-Ins, an electronics retailer, small supermarkets, etc, so that ought to add more spice to the amenities (and probably chaos where parking is concerned for those living around those areas -- convenience comes at a price, no?)