Dubai is a coveted destination for lots of cosmopolitan folks. And for a reason. Anyone searching for a lucrative career opportunity or urban lifestyle will find it here. Moreover, Dubai has become a key point for the expat community, with thousands moving here every year looking to accomplish their dreams.
Not to mention that this city also has a broad range of residential and commercial locations for accommodating its expanding population. If you’re new to the city and don’t know where to begin to find your first apartment, you’ve come to the right place. In this guide, we’ll discuss just that. How big a budget you need, what to look for when viewing apartments, how to make an offer, what administration awaits you, and more. Enjoy!
Table of Contents
The Budget You’ll Need
The first and most crucial part of your search for apartments in Dubai is to calculate a budget. Otherwise, you’ll find great apartments that will prove to be out of your financial reach, or pay too much on apartments of lower quality.
When you’re calculating your budget, you should remember that there’s a fee following the rental procedure in Dubai. To be exact, you’ll need to pay 5% of the total rental price as a deposit, as well as 5% as agency fees to a minimal fee of 5000 AED. If you want to go more in-depth about budgeting, you can take a look at this guide to renting an apartment in Dubai.
How to Search for an Apartment
After you’ve decided on a budget, you can find rental apartments in Dubai with a quick online search. Of course, you should search for properties that align with your budget and personal preference. As you find various apartments, you should try getting more info about the different aspects of them. For instance, this can include aspects such as:
- Monthly rent of the apartment
- Area where the apartment is located
- How many rooms the apartment has
- Whether it has furniture or is empty
- If it has a nearby park, school, hospital, or fast food
Choose apartments that appeal to you the most. Base this on their images, monthly rent, amenities, and locations. After, you should find and contact the contact individual — often the landlord or an agent. Next, you should schedule the visit of your potential apartments. You could even save search results for later, so you don’t miss any great looking apartment.
How to View Apartments
It can be overwhelming to look at different apartments all day long. Even more to get hyped about an apartment and neglect to ask the necessary questions you had beside you before you entered the room. That’s why it’s key that you write down a list of potential questions you’ll ask about the apartments you’re looking at.
On the other hand, you shouldn’t dislike an apartment just because it’s missing one or two factors you wrote down. You can often salvage this by voicing your concerns to the contact person. They could come up with a resolution.
How to Make Offers
Once you take a look and determine which apartment to take, the next step will be to finalize your offer. Keep in mind that most contracts require you to take the apartment for a quarter or half a year. Pay in this way as well. However, you will sometimes be able to reach an agreement with your landlord to lower the rent or pay in several invoices.
Before you commit to a single-cheque agreement though, you should ensure that you’re planning to stay in the apartment for a while. Otherwise, you could get expelled or experience losses. If you are not sure about the apartment or its neighborhood, or just want more flexibility, you should select short-term rentals. Make sure you’ve checked out the comparison between short-term and long-term rent to see what option is best for you.
What You Should Know About the Paperwork
If you want to complete the deal, you’ll need to have specific paperwork. Ensure you got an Emirate ID, your passport, and a Dubai visa. You should also take the time to explore the agreement in detail before you sign it. If you get any questions or concerns, now will be the time to voice them.
Keep in mind that you will need to register your rental contract in Dubai via the Ejari registration process. Ejari means “rent” in Arabic. Your agent or apartment’s contact person will guide you through the process and help with any additional paperwork. Of course, that doesn’t mean you should learn more about it. For instance, you may need specific permits.
What More You Should Consider
There are also a couple of things you’ll need to think about before you make your final decision about renting an apartment in Dubai. For instance:
- Ensure the contact person pays all service expenses before moving in.
- Make sure the contact person has fixed any maintenance issues.
- Take care of the access points on the location and ensure you have the necessary keys.
If any problem does happen, remember that you can always file a rent dispute.
