Dubai is slow, but several companies do issue contracts guickly. I got caught out in Dubai, assuming that things were slow, whereas they were badly wrong. I'm not suggesting that is the case with Champions Tower, but chase for the contract on a regular basis.

I can only say with the DIAMOND, the developers at FIRST HOME WORLD WIDE are based in Guilford UK and are super efficient with contracts, I had a preliminary one and the full one was sent to me to sign off before sending the money. Any queries are speedily answered and I am in regular contact with them.

Incidently I bought DIRECT from developers and genreally I am finding that is best where possible.

any questions I am happy to answer

I've just stumbled across this forum. Yes, I too have purchased in Eden Gardens (toward the end of 2005). I found Better Homes very elusive at the start of 2006 and became very concerned, but it became obvious why when the news came through about Lokhandwala taking over the development. Since then, I have found the builders to be very responsive.

Ajhollywood & fws - do you both still have your investments in Eden Gardens or did you pull out?

I pulled out, only to discover that Better Homes had kept my money and never forwarded it to the developer in the first place. Had a nearly two month battle to get my money back, with no help from the agent Property Frontiers.
Not my finest hour!

Are you steering clear of Dubai as a consequence or have you bought back in elsewhere in the near vicinity?

I think Dubai generally is well saturated now but, as with anywhere, location is key so am hoping that DSC will have something different to offer. Only time will tell...

Hi there,
I still think Dubai is a great medium-term or long-term investment. I've also bought a 1 bed in Dubai Marina and another apartment on The World (which also has 'issues') We're going out there in February with my brother who has bought in Ice Hockey Tower in DSC - can't wait!

hi there,
yeah lokhandwala builders have now been very helpful with me and i am happy with my current situation .
I do still think that eden gardens is a good and potentially a great investment (its just no longer what i am looking for).
i tried to deleate all of my previous comments but cant? can anyone tell me how i do this?
many thanks and all the very best.

quote:

Studios at Diamonds is around 400,000 Dirhams

Avesh, where did you go to get a studio flat in "The Diamond" for 400,000 Dirhams, thats about £57,000.

cheers

pcblues

I like the Cube, in Sports City, great location and it's built by Germans, therefore on time. Apparantly it will be run like a condominium and serviced apartments/hotel type basis.

quote:

Originally posted by MAAT:
who are the developers? I bought mine in champions tower and the developer is MRE. I have to agree that sport city is a great buy!

We are really thinking of buying in The Diamond.
Been offered a 1 bed appt for 122K. Sound good??
Please advise so that we might be able to make our minds up!!!

Hi tidy,
What square footage are you talking about? This will make a huge difference when it comes to maintenance charges on handover! Read the International City thread to find out more.
CS

Thanks for replying.
The unit we are looking at is 786 sq ft roughly. 1 bed Apartment. I'm aware of a Company that offer a 'wealthbuilder' incentive to go with the package. This basically means you leaseback the unit to a Management Company for a 40% fee!!! Although this seems really steep, the company would be advertising your unit from 260 odd offices in 56 countries globally. So one would hope that they would reach a tenent market.
Other fees include:
Maintenance sinking fund at 5% - £1752
Utilities and insurance at 7.5% £2628 and a service charge of £1210 (10 - 15 UED/sq/ft)
Annual gross rental on the 1 bed is estimated at £35,040.
Basically after a 5 year period of rental (and 4 weeks personal usage) I would have a total wealth builder income of £77,170 and total profit over the term (growth and rentals) of £211,894.

Does this feasable? I know that ALL figures cannot be guaranteed.

I think the guy said that we buy freehold and then lease back to the Management Company.
It's also ours to get rid of at any time.

HELP!!!!!

I think you need to look at those figures very seriously - you couldn't possibly get that sort of rental for a small 1 bedder in Sports City. Steer well clear of a company that comes up with those sort of figures. And that's a polite way of putting it - my first reactions were much stronger! 1 bed apartments in the Marina - a far, far better location are only approx £13k per annum.

fws,
Thanks for that.
I've just been reading about the founders of First Homes Worldwide 9who are selling this property). Clever lads that have been in the business for years and made a fortune.
I have to say that the Diamond is selling really well and I'm slightly taken in by it all but I/we do have reservations!
We were originally going to buy in Turkey in the Tuzle area with a 2 bed 2 bath appartment with golf course for £88K. This would have been much more comfortable to say the least but not have the appeal of Dubai though.
My major concern with Dubai is over saturation of all these appartments. If you were lucky enough to have been able to afford one of those Signature Villas on the fronds of the Palm for £650,000 a few years ago, you could be now be realising upward of £2million profit!!!!!
Alright for these England footy players eh! The more you've got, the more you make, but with school fees we have to be very careful I'm afraid.
It gets you so mixed up doesn't it. I can see the chances of making money work for us, but it's having the bottle to jump in. Surely I couldn't loose on the Dubai investment could I?? Well I don't suppose any of us can categorically say that we couldn't loose.
Many thanks again, I've taken on board what you've told me.

Hi Barry

Personally I think Sports City is a great location - my brother has bought there. I can see it becoming world-renowned and very popular for rentals, butI don't think you can ever say that you can't lose in property. Yes I agree it would have been great to have bought on the Palm, but unfortunately things are slowing down a bit in Dubai at the moment. Do your research and make sure you think carefully and are happy with a bit of risk. Good luck.

I forgot to mention that all room rentals are 'pooled' ie everyone gets a share of the rental percentage of occupancy (varied according to the property ypu own of course, 1 bed/2 bed/3 bed etc).
No danger of 'The Management' renting their properties first and you missing out.
I'm getting a headache!!

Hi- ive researched sports city and in my opinion the diamond is over priced and the rental guarantee they are offering will not be achieved. I brought in the Oasis Tower which over looks the lake
The agent I brought through even discounted the air fare

Hi Frank11,
And I bet your agent is Dubaicitymoves!
If you think that the Diamond is overpriced, why did you purchase one!! (August?).
Surely you haven't 'dumped' it already?
Bought in the Cube also (may?), are your employers Dubaicitymoves by any chance Frank?

Mr Tidyfinace- no I dont work for them but I bet you work on behalf of the Diamond deveolpers as anyone who does their researce will see how overpriced the development is- there are alot of agents on this forum pretending to be purchasers!!

Hi Frank,
you didn't answer my question regarding YOU purchasing in Sports City. Anyway I don't want to have a slanging match - so no offence, it's just that you seemed to be contradicting yourself.
I've read a few reports stating how the Diamond development is overpriced, and we've heeded those reports and won't be progressing it further.
I'm TRYING to do my research, which is why I join these forums. I absolutely agree with you that there are lots of so-called would-be buyers on here who aren't really who they say they are. I can assure you though, I'm afraid I'm just a lowly Rolls-Royce worker from the Midlands, trying to get a handle on the market and make my money work for me.
With 31 years at Rolls-Royce behind me though, maybe I AM ready for a change!!

hi guys,

I paid about 30k so far for my flat in champions tower in sport city. I need to pay another 59k as the total pice is 89k.. However I'm starting to doubt if I made the right purchase and thinking of you cuting my losses and forget about the whole thing. I might lose 30k but its better then losing 89k!

any toughts?

Maat,
Crickey mate, seems drastic to lose £30K doesn't it!!
Why are you getting worried? There will still be a market for you I'm sure. As I said to Frank11, I'm still an early learner on all this Dubai investment lark, so I feel I haven't got the experience to advice you. We'd dearly love to get a place out there but a more sensible option for us right now may be to increase the leasehold on our uk flat and wait a while.
But to throw the towel in on £30K seems very drastic to me. You're going to have to do a lot of soul searching Maat. I wish you well.

MAAT Why are you thinking of pulling out? You won't lose 30k as you can sell on anyway, but what is prompting you to panic? DSC is going to be a great location.

Tidyfinance,
£35,040 per year gross rental income for a 1 bed flat is insane. That is over Dhs. 220,000 per year. You can currently rent a 3 bed villa in most parts of DXB for half that, even less if you look around.

Hi Clive,
yeah, I'm getting lots of bad vibes on this one.
Firsthomes worldwide were offering this. They use a wealthbuilder package. You type in the property value and it sends out all this data.
It's all guesswork mainly I suppose, especially if the building has only just started coming out of the ground. Another thing that has been pointed out to me is that in the next 3-6 months or so, loads of properties will be coming onto the market for rent as completion enters the fray.
Thanks for your comment, appreciate it.
Perhaps I should look at Montenegro eh Clive!
Here's a question for everyone.......why is it that the Irish seem to lead the way in getting to the holiday hotspots first? I believe this is a fact, fair play to them, but it baffles me as to why this is. Contacts in the building industry maybe?? What does everyone think?