Tips for Apartment Hunting In Dubai

Hi my friends how are you all doing today? Should we even talk about the heat or just ignore it? This is a summer devoid of any vacation for us and we are in the hunt for a perfect apartment in our little budget. Most of you are aware of the fact that we stay in Sharjah and finally it is time to move to Dubai.

We moved to Sharjah a few years back owing to the proximity to my workplace and also lower rents. However, a lot has changed over the years and it is time to move back to Dubai.  Since, I share my life with you through my blog, vlogs and Instagram I thought I would take you along for the apartment hunt. The first step in apartment hunting for me is to be absolutely clear about what exactly am I looking for and what my budget is. If there is a wiggle space in my budget, I need to be sure how much that is too.

Now, a lot of you see To-Let signs in some buildings around you and call up those numbers and though there is nothing wrong in doing that I prefer the sit at home and home hunt method (yes I heard you calling me lazy) I am looking for a 1 bedroom apartment in Dubai for an annual rent of AED 40,000. Say what? It is actually possible to find genuine listings on Bayut.com and the best part is I can sit and shortlist the ones both me and my husband like and go for viewing the absolute best of the lot. It is an utter relief in this scorching heat. This is what the homepage of Bayut looks like These are my selection settings

• Location: Dubai
• Purpose: Rent
• Beds: 1
• Property Type: Apartment
• Rent Frequency: Yearly

My search has produced 377 apartment listings for me as you can see from the above image. The reason I have not specified the number of bathrooms is that a lot of one-bedroom apartments have 1 and a half bath. So it is always good to leave the bath option as All. Keep in mind that once you find the right property agents can mostly help you with negotiating the number of cheques and payment terms. Out of all the results I got this listing caught my attention. What do you all think? Now as you can see I have the option of calling the agent or sending him an email. As I mostly spend my late nights (after my son goes to sleep and I am done tidying up the house) searching for the right apartment I prefer to send an email and somewhere in the morning the agent would ring me back. If everything sounds good I could schedule a viewing. Can we take a moment to appreciate the convenience element here guys?

The reason I depend on Bayut to find the right apartment for us is their attention to accuracy. They have an Operations Team of 50+ which, among other things, runs quality checks and in case of a problem, the listing gets flagged and is sent back for review. This means no more seeing a shiny listing with beautiful images and viewing a property that is the exact opposite of it. In this busy world of 10-hour workdays and forever traffic jams nobody has the time to waste on viewing properties that are falsely advertised. The current major options I have based on my budget are these:

• Queue Point Liwan
• Al Nahda Dubai
• International City

Now let us move to tips on making your apartment hunting in Dubai more organized, stress-free (almost) and highly effective.

1. Be absolutely specific about what you are looking for as this helps you streamline your search and the agents can guide you better to your ideal apartment
2. Since you will be calling and emailing a couple of agents and shortlisting a good number of apartments maintain a simple and effective spreadsheet with name and number of agents you spoke with and also your opinion on viewed apartments
3. Have all your ID copies like Emirates ID Visa and Passport Copies and initial payment ready with you in case you find a great deal and want to right away snatch it for yourself
4. Unlike in certain parts of the world, Dubai neighborhoods are safe and henceforth you could avoid the whole hassle of checking with authorities regarding the area and driving to the area at least 3 times at night to ensure it is safe before you decide to sign the lease agreement
5. I highly recommend you walking around the entire apartment to ensure proper cell phone reception because in our last apartment our bedroom had zero reception and it was a nightmare
6. If possible have a word with one of the current tenants of the building you are viewing to get their insight on living in that building (regular building maintenance, friendly building staff, type of tenants, etc.) and that area (easy access to metro, supermarkets, and hospitals)
7. Ensure you view the space in daylight and probably with a friend or significant other to ensure that you are getting more than one perspective of the place

Keep in mind that you can ask as many questions as you want and also take a proper look at the place including opening every single window, kitchen cabinet, and built-in wardrobes. I hope this post was helpful and also please suggest me a kid-friendly and affordable neighborhood in Dubai.