Where was HGTV with their offer to appear on House Hunters International? We would have jumped at the opportunity. Thankfully, our home search is over but it was not easy or straightforward. We looked at 15 properties and spoke with five different agents. Of the 15 properties there were maybe three that we would have considered making our own. We made an offer on a property and after a little back and forth, our offer was accepted. We will hopefully be getting the keys tomorrow and moving towards the end of the week.
Dubai is a large city with many desirable neighbourhoods to live in. We narrowed down our preferred neighbourhood pretty quickly – we wanted to live close to school with easy access to the beach. We had other requirements – minimum three bedrooms, shared pool and within our budget. Well maintained or newer construction with an open floor plan kitchen was also something that we would have liked.
The houses here all have a few things in common that we are not used to. They all have a maid’s room. This is typically a small room with a tiny attached bathroom, either within the house or accessed from outside. Typically, the laundry room is convenient to the maid’s room. The kitchen is usually in its own room with a door; a closed-off space. The houses available for rent typically do not come with any appliances, meaning we would need to buy a fridge, stove, oven, dishwasher, microwave, washing machine and dryer to use for three years and then sell before we move back to Edmonton. The washing machines and dryers are typically a combination unit which is not ideal because you can only ever do one load at a time. All of the houses are tile, no carpet to be found. Most bathrooms have a bidet and or a bidet shower.
The houses we looked at were all in various states of cleanliness. We visited homes that were full of construction garbage and filthy, one had abandoned toilets on the front porch and throughout the house. Some of the houses we looked at were in rough shape and would need considerable maintenance to make them a desirable place to live. Some of the shared pools were awesome – huge and deep with diving boards and hot tubs – but the houses didn’t come close to being what we were looking for. It was difficult to look past the dirt, garbage, and maintenance problems.
We looked at two properties that were five bedrooms, around 5,000 square feet. They were both lovely homes and although we are hoping for lots of visitors, they just seemed too big for us to live in and furnish over the next three years. We visited two houses that you accessed the laundry facilities from outside, meaning I would have to haul laundry baskets in and out of the house (in 40+ degree weather) – no thank you. The boys loved some of the pools but the houses just weren’t what we were looking for. We looked at a couple really nice properties outside of our desired neighbourhood but when it came down to it, a short commute to school and the beach won out every time. One property we looked at had roof access and a beautiful view over the housetops of the Burj Al Arab but the house was not in our preferred neighbourhood.
We found properties to view by using the local online rental website. One property can be represented by several different real estate companies. We accidentally scheduled back to back viewings at the same property with two different agents. Some of the houses we visited already had the utilities shut off so there was no power and no air conditioning which made for some long hours traipsing around houses in +40 degree heat. But our dedication paid off and I think we found the perfect house to call home and welcome visitors to over the next three years.
from snowballs to sandcastles 