Housing Allowance

sage & onion

haxnnxah wrote:
so it seems like im getting a good package then, ok i can live with that, i have asked around but everyones so bloody hush hush about what deal theyv'e been given and no one lets on.
thanks for your help

Your also quite hush hush, so what are you getting??, salary +++ let us know so we can all look for something better

sage & onion

haxnnxah wrote:
p/a i'll recieve 170000dhs to rent/buy whatever i choose to do.
is that a good or bad package? plus living allowance ect but just curious about the amount iv been offered.
sorry, i missed a nought, thank f*** lol,phew.
170, 000p/a
good job im not a typist huh lol

is the 170,000 your living allowance only?, if so that will get you a 3 bed terraced villa in Springs or Ranches to rent. xty Unless you have high profile/role with excellent experience records, consider yourself very very very lucky to get 170K just only for accommodation rent allowance for a single. Who is your employer by the way? Maybe I'll apply for a job there ;) arniegang

sage & onion wrote:
- haxnnxah wrote:
  p/a i'll recieve 170000dhs to rent/buy whatever i choose to do.
  is that a good or bad package? plus living allowance ect but just curious about the amount iv been offered.
  sorry, i missed a nought, thank f*** lol,phew.
  170, 000p/a
  good job im not a typist huh lol
is the 170,000 your living allowance only?, if so that will get you a 3 bed terraced villa in Springs or Ranches to rent.

Mate
Someone in my dev struggled to get a 3E in the springs for 190k he ended up paying 185k :shock: haxnnxah so it seems like im getting a good package then, ok i can live with that, i have asked around but everyones so bloody hush hush about what deal theyv'e been given and no one lets on. thanks for your help haxnnxah Hi, i will get 170,000 for rent or to use on a morgage if i choose to per yr, on top of that i get a living allowance. I'd rather be in a apartment than villai think, villas i imagine are more family orientated and im single. haxnnxah p/a i'll recieve 170000dhs to rent/buy whatever i choose to do. is that a good or bad package? plus living allowance ect but just curious about the amount iv been offered. sorry, i missed a nought, thank f*** lol,phew. 170, 000p/a good job im not a typist huh lol dbxsoul 17,000 pa. ???? that won't even get you a shoe box, let alone a place in a labour camp!!! (seriously) be specific about what type of housing you want, and where you want it. fayz

sage & onion wrote:
- haxnnxah wrote:
  so it seems like im getting a good package then, ok i can live with that, i have asked around but everyones so bloody hush hush about what deal theyv'e been given and no one lets on.
  thanks for your help
Your also quite hush hush, so what are you getting??, salary +++ let us know so we can all look for something better

That's a bit personal don't you think? especially if he is only asking for his housing allowance, at least in my opinion.
to the OP, I would look for a place on SZR, you'll get something decent for your budget and you'll be closer to the action, areas like Jumeria 1, Diyafa and possibly the Marina depending on where you will be working are worth checking out as well. dbxsoul Personally, I’d do the clever thing.. If your company is offering that much per year - clear of any incumbencies. Take the money, get a mortgage - even if it’s a 3 br place in the springs and you have to chip in a bit yourself. You can check with Arnie, but I’d say these have a higher return on investment than an apartment in the marina (for example). You could then either sublet the rooms (if you wanted to) - make some extra to help cover the mortgage, and at the end of the contract you still have a saleable asset, that has hopefully appreciated in value. Better than paying rent to a landlord.

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arniegang Mortgages are getting tighter in dubai Soul. Some are stil offering 90% but mainly to Locals. Expats can get 80/85% if they are lucky but the norm in reality is around 75-80%.
A 3E would fetch around 2.5m making a 20% deposit of 500k
Regarding appts strangely enough i pm'd someone this today, it reads:
If i may be brutally frank by the end of 2008 there will be such a huge over supply of appts landords will be fighting over tennants.
It is only my opinion, but all the indicators are the Dubai property market will have a serious re-adjustment in 2008 as an expected 64,000 units come onto the market.
Personally i will wait until late 2008/2009 when cash will talk and people will be begging the likes of me to buy their empty property.
You must remember the market is currently over inflated with both rentals and sales due to the lack of units available. 64k units are scheduled for completion 2008 and upto a further 68k units for 2009. The market as at now, wont be able to sustain that influx of properties.
Just my opinion . arniegang For those interested i have pasted some extracts from the Hermes Report.

• Prices Begin to Fall in 2009: Assuming that supply in 2007 is constrained, with the peak
year of supply will be in 2009, the downturn will occur later than we had originally assumed.
Our current forecast is for a rise in average prices of 10-15% in 2007 and a rise of 5-10% in
2008. We expect prices to peak in 2H2008 as more supply hits the market. We expect prices
to start declining in 2009, which is now assumed to be the peak supply year, with a
cumulative decline of 15-20% by 2011.
• Price Correction will Encourage Stronger Demand: Whilst we believe that there will be
excess supply in 2008, we see this being absorbed by the pent-up demand of earlier years
(2005-2007). We believe that the extent of the price correction that we are forecasting in
2009 will depend primarily on: i) The pace at which new units are delivered, and ii) the price
elasticity of demand. We believe that demand is price elastic, and that once prices begin to
come down from their highs, this will increase demand.
• Rental Rates Look Set to Decline: The rate of increase of rents has begun to slow. We
expect the decline in the pace of rental rate growth observed in the first eight months of
this year to be sustained into early 2008, with rents starting to decline in 2008 as new
housing comes onto the market.

john smith

Mortgages are getting tighter in dubai Soul. Some are stil offering 90% but mainly to Locals. Expats can get 80/85% if they are lucky but the norm in reality is around 75-80%.

Not sure this is true, I have just bought a completed apartment and was offered 90% by ADCB, Dubai Islamic Bank and NBD. I have a friend who had the same experience and another friend who bought in the Views (resale but not complete) and got 95% from arab bank.
If anything I think as the mortgage market matures, the offers will get better, not worse in my opinion. xty Add the re-enforced NOC rule then it'll be faster than predicted ;) Hopefully by the time my apt contract ends mid of 2008, the price would have fall down ;) arniegang

john smith wrote:
- Mortgages are getting tighter in dubai Soul. Some are stil offering 90% but mainly to Locals. Expats can get 80/85% if they are lucky but the norm in reality is around 75-80%.
Not sure this is true, I have just bought a completed apartment and was offered 90% by ADCB, Dubai Islamic Bank and NBD. I have a friend who had the same experience and another friend who bought in the Views (resale but not complete) and got 95% from arab bank.
If anything I think as the mortgage market matures, the offers will get better, not worse in my opinion.

Walk into an established bank with many decades of lending experience like Lloyds TSB or Barclays and they will tell you what i have written. The Arabic banks will soon readjust their lending criteria if a downturn in the market commences, they have no real experience in the property market and this reflects in their LTR for mortages.
If you followed the money markets, this has already had a huge affect in the US with irresponsible lending and it is starting to take effect in the UK, where mortgages granted in September 2007 was the lowest for 15 years.
Any bank lending with a 5% deposit will regret that day when the property is devalued by 20% and the owner has a shortfall to redeem the mortgage, It is called "negative equity".
Furthermore, if the dirham is revalued against the dollar by around 30%, a foreign investor buying a property now, that may drop in value of say 15-20% could look at a loss of anything up to 50%. The banks will pull the plug believe you me, read the US press! gtmash

arniegang wrote:
Mortgages are getting tighter in dubai Soul. Some are stil offering 90% but mainly to Locals. Expats can get 80/85% if they are lucky but the norm in reality is around 75-80%.
A 3E would fetch around 2.5m making a 20% deposit of 500k
Regarding appts strangely enough i pm'd someone this today, it reads:
If i may be brutally frank by the end of 2008 there will be such a huge over supply of appts landords will be fighting over tennants.
It is only my opinion, but all the indicators are the Dubai property market will have a serious re-adjustment in 2008 as an expected 64,000 units come onto the market.
Personally i will wait until late 2008/2009 when cash will talk and people will be begging the likes of me to buy their empty property.
You must remember the market is currently over inflated with both rentals and sales due to the lack of units available. 64k units are scheduled for completion 2008 and upto a further 68k units for 2009. The market as at now, wont be able to sustain that influx of properties.
Just my opinion .

Yep, just an opinion. Everyone has had an opinion about a correction coming in 2006, 2007, 2008...
Meanwhile, I have no shortage of tenants looking for an AFFORDABLE place, not some "luxury" nonsense. scarlet

haxnnxah wrote:
p/a i'll recieve 170000dhs to rent/buy whatever i choose to do.
is that a good or bad package? plus living allowance ect but just curious about the amount iv been offered.

it doesn't make sense 170pa plus "living expenses" equates to an accommodation allowance of 14,000 per month 9which is more than some people earn)
This means the salary may be 900,000dhs per annum!!! As it is usually 15-20% of salary
Hax please clarify what you mean by receive 170000 + Living. is living accom expenses or things like electricity etc.
If you want us to help you need to be more clear. arniegang yea, Gt it is just an opinion, but the market has remained so because all the developers bar Emaar have not kept to their completion dates. 56000 units were scheduled for completion in 2007, from the reports nowhere near that was achieved. JBR now completed has shown that a surplus in supply can and will do affect the market. I accept the published figures in that dubai has a maximum capacity for and average influx of 55.000 new tennants for both 2008/2009, against a supply onto to the market of way way in excess of that. If the figures stand true and developers keep to their shedules by the end of 2009 there will be in excess of 50000 suplus properties. You may be in that position now, but the market will turn eventually as more properties come onto the open market, and will advantage those seeking cheaper deals, as landlords like yourself lower their prices to compete for tenants. again just my opinion. john smith Personally I don't see a significant drop in property value, perhaps a small percentage drop every year for the next few years.
I think the individual needs to look at their reason for buying - I bought because I am confident that I will be here for another 3-5 years and the 7500AED mortgage repayment is significantly less (and more manageable being monthly) than rental on the same quality property. Even if the apartment is worth nothing in 5 years my losses (if any) will be minimal as I will hand the bank the keys and walk away. A better scenario of course is that the apartment maintains it's value or increases or even decreases slightly enabling me to sell and get some cash back.
I see my investment as very minimal risk against a good possible reward.
I agree however that I wouldn't buy here now purely as an investment.
Arnie - whatever your 'feeling' about the future of mortgage lending in the UAE it was incorrect to state that only 75/80% was currently the norm.

Any bank lending with a 5% deposit will regret that day when the property is devalued by 20% and the owner has a shortfall to redeem the mortgage, It is called "negative equity".

This is a fact of life at any time in any country but hasn't stopped banks lending 95% and more in the UK for years (despite the constant warnings of a reduction in property value). Perhaps the only difference here is they know that the expat buyers can go home leaving the bank to pick up the pieces - not so easy for a brit to leave britain never to return.