Ladies in the UAE come and talk to me about housing & life there.

[cashmeremafia]

My dh and I are soon going to relocate to Abu Dhabi. We have a 4 month old baby.

Do you know anything about the neighbourhood of Al Bahia? Is it nice to live there with a small child? Is it easy to get around with small shops, etc. I'll have a car and would love to take dd out to the beach, is it close by and clean?

What about accomodation there? I know finding housing in Abu Dhabi is quite tricky. How much should we budget for a 5-6 bedroom villa with pool?

Anything I overlooked? Please come and tell me of your experiences.

how far does your budget stretch for housing?

search the living overseas threads for last year for an idea of prices.

as i understand it and i may be wrong, al bahia is only for 'local people, ie Emiratis, so expats cannot legally rent there.

hi foxytocin: roughly a hundredthousand USD. Oh, I see, I didn't know there were such areas. Shame. Do you live in AD?

here is a thread i started not so long ago. i don't know the US/UAE exchange rate.

you may also want to visit www.abudhabiwoman.com

Thank you foxy, I'll have a look. Is it palpable that real estate prices are coming off in the UAE or is the rental market not affected. Sorry for asking so much, just cannot get a good idea from my research on the web.

rental hasn't been affected yet by the downturn. it will take a while, if ever, to return to anything resembling reality.

this search gives a taste of the ridiculousness.

Yes, ridiculous indeed. I am a bit now but we can't stop the move. However there's an option of settling in Dubai for a year or so before moving on to AD.

Must ash dh what he makes of this. Thank you for fwding the thread foxy! I'm glad I read it. Also found the other one you pulled up re work and such.

We're living in London so we're (sadly) used to ridiculous prices. I mean, getting out of our door in SW1 costs you £50,- didntcha know.. ?

[[sighs and ogles the Pinot Grigio]

if you look on ADW, you will see that Al Ain is far more affordable. I think Al Ain is pretty. For me living in Dubai would be one version of hell for me. Like Vegas but without the gambling someone from the Times wrote and I agree on that description if not the rest of the article. But it depends on what you like. I am outdoorsy, love to see preserved towns and cities and I can forgo shopping, the slick restaurants, hotels, parties, etc. For some people that would be hell on earth. A poster on ADW called Chiara recently moved to UAE and was trying to settle into AD. They ended up in AA and they love it. Search for her messages as she detailed her trials quite well.

Sorry no useful info, but my friend has been in Abu Dhabi for about 18 mnths now. She went with her 18mnth old and had another out there last May. I think they just live in one of the 'villages'. She also helps out at the nursery her DS1 goes to.

I do remember her saying driving was a bit like wacky races, and the red tape is bonkers. She's not on MN, but if I can rouse her I could get her join to pass on some proper info.

Otherwise good luck, and enjoy the sun

Rental prices in Dubai (where I live) are coming down slightly now and are more negotiable, Land lords are starting to accept more than one cheque per year to pay rents etc. The Thing about Ab Dhabs is the lack of supply.
You might fnd it hard to even find a 5 or 6 bed villa available. Living in Dubai is an option for you, you'll have a choice of accomodation. You need to hear it from the horses mouth though, so get on expatwoman.com, there is an Abu board.

FWIW I wanted to add. I am not a big fan of Dubai, for various reasons, HOWEVER, there has been a LOT of press in the UK recently about it, and I have to say, NONE of them have got it right, in fact the times was one of the worse iirc.
You've got to be here to judge it imho.

I didn't like that Times article either. it was awful. i did like the phrase comparing it with vegas. Dubai feels pretty soulless to me. but that is just my impression.

Hello foxy, yeah, I totally agree with your view of Dubai. I quite enjoy going out but would rather be in a local or cozy cafe ( I lived in Scandinavia for a while...ah, loved it). I've been to DU and though I liked the Al Qasr where we stayed, I didn't like a single place my DH took me to. It was fake and bland. I think you're hitting the nail on the head when you call it soulless. That's what I felt, too.

escape: thank you, I'll check out expatwoman.com. Yes, Du is an option, it would only be temporary, to give us time to look in AD. I'm well aware of the supply issue re housing and having looked at some of the price tags I'm just in denial.

Niknak21, oh that's really kind of you, could you ask your friend what she thinks and how she settled in? Is she happy? You can always CAT me. Thank you!

cashmeremafiaI think she's settled in fine.

Sorry not sure how to CAT you?!?!

I will try and get in touch with her now, it's sometimes a bit hit and miss where she has her hands full with 2.

Hi niknak, ah, I understand, no rush. You just click on the envelope on the right side on my post to send a personal message to be read by my eyes only

I'm just now having a look at Al Ain, it seems amazingly beautiful. Can't sleep so will google a bit more.

Could somebody link to the Times article please? I missed it.

www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1127187/Over-Dripping-money-Adored-celebs-Big-brash-loaded-ambiti on-No-Piers-Morgan--incredible-city-Dubai.html

This is not the Times article but the latest piece of news on Dubai. Think Morgan has missed the credit crunch.

Hi, I managed to get a reply from my friend, she thinks I want to move now! Wires crossed. I have just copied some of her email so hope it makes sense. I think she's too busy with her DD2 to get anymore response, but hope this helps and you have great time when you've done the settling in.

• it is hard work to start and get through all the crap but we love it now - the bureauycracy is bonkers but obviously not as crap as my typing/spelling

• there ios a british dental clinic here - run by two scots - most british expats go there - however, one of my friends was a dental nurse for a guy in dubai - and doesn't rate it at all with her inside knowledge of how it should run - and she's a fellow scot so I was surprised they normally stick together

• so there is plenty of scope for good dentists - there isn't much competition for them so i think they rake in the money - though they may be useful as a contact

• you need toi have a local sponsor to set up business here - but i know a lady who has a friendly emirati who sponsored her to set up her business (real estate but it might be worth me contacting her if you like?) sometimes they can take a cut - its why you need a good one

• accommodation is super spendy but gradually on it's way down with the credit crunch

• for example - we paid 180,000 aed for our villa in june 2007 - it is now 450,000 to get one here in our compound

• our vet has just set up on her own - now i know it's a dentist you'd want to do but I would have thought there may be similarities somewhere - she is Dr Katrin Jahn - beautiful gorgeous lady now runs the German Vetinary Centre - not that you can tell from her very british accent - could mail her if you like?

• this is all random I know but I am just typing as i think - just ideas

• khalifa city a (KCA) is an up and coming area where the german vets has just set up - it is near to raha gardens - this is where lots of expats are goping to - there is no dentist practice here at all - you have to drive in to town which is crazy - i would seriously look here to set up a clinic - i thinbk the potential would be huge

• april weather is still ok not as hot as june july august - if you fancyu it - -

In dubai the credit crunch has arrived regardles of Piers Morgan, and I might just add that most of us are compeletly normal, we dont party pissed on the beach every night or go to the plol every week. Of course these options are available but so they are in the UK and elsewhere. check www.dubizzle.com for an indication of the falling prices of dubai property and the cost of cars and furniture.

Beware there is certainly a mass exodus from Dubai, children leaving schools, expats selling thee possesions, whole housefuls of stuff. On the other hand life is good, for us no better or worse than home, but the weather is better, the opportunities for travel are fab, we went to Bahrain for the day to the biggest water park in the ME, cost for flights (1hr) 10dhs (£2 at todays rates), yes it was a special offer but it certainly made a change from going to Scarborough or Whitby (not that I dislike either of those places let me say).

My understanding is AD is more expensive, less bling, less flash, less souless, very diff to get accomodation. some people still in rented hotel apartments with no cooker after 6 months.

good luck, try www.expatwoman.com/abudhabi for more info.