Dubai Property & Real Estate Blog

Dubai and Abu Dhabi rental market – What to expect in 2012?

2012-01-17T17:24:00.000+04:00

Dubai rental market trends
The higher stability observed in Dubai real estate during 2011 has led experts to predict a kick-start recovery in initial few months of 2012. Dubai rental market is expected to spring back to life because rentals of the residential units have already fallen to the maximum extent in most of the areas across Dubai. New supply of property units is expected to become part of the market during first six months of the year and this oversupply will match the rising demand and set Dubai rental market on steady recovery track.

The demand of the Dubai rental properties is expected to originate from the GCC nationals who consider Dubai the best city for enjoying quality lifestyle. Since the landowners in Dubai know that the troubled real estate has turned general investors into astute ones, therefore to increase the property demand and lure the investors to the vacant properties, they provide better amenities and facilities.
Currently the rents are showing high stability in the areas like Downtown Dubai, Al Barsha, The Greens, and Dubai Marina. Although some areas, like Discovery Gardens, Silicon Oasis and Jumeirah Lake Towers, still show rental declines of 5-15%, yet the rate of this decline is expected to slow down with the increase in demand. The recovery is expected to gain momentum gradually and as a result, the rental market may bounce back in 2012.

Abu Dhabi rental market trends
The expected trends for the Abu Dhabi real estate in 2012 are entirely different from that of Dubai real estate. Rents in Abu Dhabi are accepted to continue falling during 2012. In 2011, the supply of units in the capital remained steady, which badly affected the rental rates and thus the problem of oversupply will continue troubling the market in the following year as well.

Especially in 2011, a significant decline in rental rates was noticed in some areas outside the city due to large supply of new units. New supply of 5000 residential and commercial units will strike the market in the first quarter of the New Year. Since the sales prices and rentals have not touched the bottom level, the trend of rental declines will continue.

In order to attract tenants towards the properties, landlords are providing various incentives like grace period of one or two months in which no rent would be charged and free renovation services. Some property owners are even renting out their properties with free utility services and without setting a requirement of annual rental increases.

Things to watch when investing in off plan properties

2011-11-16T10:13:00.000+04:00

In days before slump Dubai government successfully created the demand for the off plan properties in Dubai, which is very difficult. Investors traded off plan properties heavily before slump but when the global recession and slump covered the whole world, the off plan properties were first to get affected. The reason was that off plan properties does not physically exist and in days of recession it is really difficult to make the demand of something that physically do not exists.

Actually, off plan properties are never mend for short term profits. Off plan properties are always for the long term investment planning in which investor has no worries about the temporary phases of slump. Off plan properties have always remained attractive for buyers as the yield far greater results in long term. In here we will discuss some points which will help investors to make a well informed decision before buying.

Always keeps long term planning
Before even thinking about investing in off plan properties, keep in mind the long term planning. If you have misjudged off plan properties that they will yield good result in short time period like it does in old times then you are totally wrong. For short-term investment, try to invest in fully developed areas.

Checking the Reputation of Developer
If you are sure about investing in off plan properties then the first thing you need to do is to check the reputation of developer. Check the previous records of developer, how many projects he has delivered, and how many of them were on time.

Work on site
After recession, most of the projects in Dubai were halted, so do not forget to visit the site and check the work going on. Sometimes developers trick investors by showing them architectural drawings and other maps rather than showing them actual construction work going on. Also contact the RERA and confirm the status of the project, as all construction projects and their actual details are available on RERA.

Consider the Location
Location is also an important factor, as some projects are very far from the main city thus take too much time to get developed. Try to invest in off plan properties that are located near to the main hub of the city.

Dubai developers shifting their focus from Mega-Malls to Small Community Centres

2011-10-11T11:43:00.000+04:00

From the last couple of decades, the city of Dubai has been known for its mega malls and big shopping centers. However, recently Dubai real estate developers realized that the trend and need of mega malls has shifted and therefore they now plan to concentrate on small scale retail centres. Shopping centres, like Mall of Emirates and Dubai Mall have used everything, such as huge aquariums and ski slopes, to attract tourists. However, only 15 – 30 percent vacancies are available in existing malls during the third quarter of 2011 and no new large malls are expected to complete till 2014.

According to a director of Dubai real estate consultancy, the residents of Dubai or UAE have decided on what kind of malls they will like to visit in future. The residents need shopping centers nearer to their homes; they need convenient and easy shopping facilities to meet their daily needs. The chairman of Nakheel properties, a government owned development company in Dubai, also confirmed that they are shifting their focus to community malls and announced to construct two local shopping malls. Emaar, one of the largest developers in UAE has also recently built 6 community centres in different areas of Dubai.

Many analysts and experts are of the view that the entity which has not been hit primarily by the global recession is the local shopper. The obvious result is that the local community centres, which aim to fulfill the daily needs of the locality, are likely to remain more profitable. From economic perspective, these mega malls are no doubt among the greatest assets of Dubai; these malls have attracted wealthy tourists from adjacent Emirates and all around the world. UAE is known for its intense heat in summer season, these mega-malls are equipped with centrally air-conditioned halls which become the oasis for people against the scorching heat of 46 °C and at the same time make spend considerable amount of money. For Dubai citizens, these mega malls are essential part of their life.

Developers of Dubai properties appear to have mixed feelings about not focusing on bigger malls right now as some are focusing on smaller community centres while others are still in the favor of mega malls. Mall of Arabia is expected to complete by the end of 2015 and is expected to be the biggest shopping centre in Dubai and one of the biggest in the world.

Widespread Subletting trend can result in Legal action

2011-09-13T14:12:00.000+04:00

After the great recession of 2008, the conditions of the worldwide countries changed. In Dubai, this change has come in the form of high inflation rate and high unemployment level. To make ends meet, the tenants have started subletting their rented apartments and villas. In subletting actually, the tenant sublet a room or two to someone else without the consent of the owner. According to Dubai law, the tenant who has sublet the Dubai property without the consent of the landlord will have to face legal eviction. According to senior lawyers, if convicts fail to provide the letter of consent from the owner, they will face legal action that sometimes even leads to serious consequences.

As explained earlier, due to economic downturn and recession, the trend of subletting apartments in Dubai is increased in Dubai at a great extent. This trend is especially prevalent among expats working in Dubai. Law and property experts warn every resident of Dubai that if they are paying their rent to their housemates, they might be unknowingly subletting which is direct breach of Dubai laws. According to a Dubai real estate expert, most of the leases entirely prohibit subleasing or state that subleasing will be only legal if they have legal written consent of owner. The expert also stated that most of the individuals are unaware of the fact that subleasing is illegal and if in any case they are taking a sublease then they should stop it immediately as the ignorance of law is no excuse. They should better check the head lease and should confirm that whether the original tenant have the right to sublease or not.

The reason of the widespread popularity of sublease is due to its flexible renting option in Dubai. It divides the burden of utility bills among the residents. The sublease tenant also has no need to sign the contract, which bounds him for 12 months. This ultimately allows the tenants to roam freely in Emirates for jobs without any restriction of living in one place.

Things can get worse for tenants who are unaware of this law. They have no protection and the tenants can be evicted in matter of days. According to one of the expats, he has been living in an apartment and did not know the fact that the actual owner has no idea that they are living on subleasing. On a surprise visit of the owner, the whole matter was disclosed and the owner immediately took the decision that they would have to leave within one month because he (owner) has no idea that the apartment was being sublet. The expat also added that he had no knowledge of the letter of consent for the sublease of apartments in Dubai.

The lawyers have showed worry for ignorant tenants and are of the view that there can be further complications and problems if the original tenant and the sublease tenants are living in a same apartment or villa. If the original tenant leaves the city then the sublease tenants will have no right to live in the house as they are not the legal tenants. This matter becomes more serious when original tenant flees away and sublease tenants are held responsible for payments and everything.

Dubai Law No. 9 of 2009 – Bringing back buyers or scaring them away

2011-05-09T09:17:00.000+04:00

The recent development in the ongoing tussle between developers and investors in Dubai is a new amendment made by Dubai Land Department in real estate laws, the issuance of a new law which is known as Law No. 9 of 2009. Just when a decision by Dubai Real Estate Court took the edge off the investors' misery, this law might knock them over again. On the other hand, the developers who were infuriated by the decision, would be feeling much relieved now, seeing that the buyers now can not terminate off plan contracts on their own. On the face of it, the new law explains the ratios of refunds made by a developer to buyers in different circumstances, however it is perceived as a law, which practically disables buyers from terminating an agreement.

The law states that the only way an investor will be able to opt out of the agreement, is to take their case into the court with well founded reasons. Another way out of the agreement is to request Dubai's Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) to cancel the project. In a market where investors were already feeling the heat, this law will perhaps, further dampen the spirits; still such law was expected to prevent buyers from exploiting the market, which is already going through a rough phase.

Law No 09 of 2009 sets down the rate of refunds, based on the overall completion of the project. For instance, if the developer has completed 80% of the project, the developer will not be liable to pay back any of the amount paid, and in case the investor defaults on the remaining amount, the developer can request for an auction of the property. If the project was 60% completed, developer can keep 40 percent of the purchase price. Less than 60% completion means 25% deduction, while in case of no construction at all, the developer will keep 30% of the total payment made by buyer. Note, that in first three cases, the relative amount is the total purchase price of unit, while in the last scenario (where no construction took place) we are talking about the total amount that buyer has paid to the developer.

Therefore, buyers are obliged to forego some amount unless the project is canceled by Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA). In that case, the developer has to return all amounts with no deduction, within one year of the cancellation.

Source:
Abu Dhabi Real Estate

Dubai International Airport – Buzzing with Activity

2011-05-06T10:04:00.000+04:00

Enough of all those doom and gloom predictions for Dubai, news is that Dubai airport has shown a seven percent increase in the overall traffic last year. In addition to that, five new airlines have started their services from Dubai airport, which now ranks at number 6 in the list of busiest airports in terms of international traffic (and 15th by overall traffic according to statistics in 2009). With the addition of new airlines, total number of airlines operating from Dubai international airport has reached to 130. Remember, this investment has came at a time when airlines from all over the world are going through a crisis like situation and desperately looking to cut down costs through downsizing and other measures. And it’s not only the outside investors, Dubai government has also been investing heavily in this airport, which is projected to accommodate a whopping 75 million passengers per annum in the year 2011, it will probably take it to the 3rd position in the world’s busiest airports.

These numbers become even more impressive, when we look at other airports appearing on top of the list, for example four of them are the central airports in United States, two in China, then we have the big names like London Heathrow Airport, Tokyo International airport, and the like. As you can see, Dubai is getting as much international traffic as the cities like London, New York or Tokyo. Apart from the passengers, 1.8 million tons of cargo also passed through this airport during 2008. The airport that started functioning from just 2 international flights, back in 1937, today has turned into a hub for passengers and freight coming from all over the world. Presently it has four terminals, while another one is under construction. Dubai government has been working on construction and expansion of this airport, upon completion; it is estimated to be one of the biggest airports in the world.

Some people must be thinking (especially those who were busy telling stories of how Dubai has faltered big time), this traffic must have been those foreigners who are trying to abandon this place as soon as possible. Well, not really, as Dubai tourism statistics show an equally healthy figure, Dubai is still getting more tourists than the cities like Paris, London or Singapore and its peak season has not even started (Dubai gets most of its tourists in the months of July, August and September).

Source:
Dubai Rent
Dubai Real Estate Agents

Dealing with the First right of refusal in property business

2011-05-02T13:58:00.000+04:00

When you hold an FROR (First right of refusal) on a real estate property (or any other asset for that matter), it basically means the current owner of the property is obligated to offer you the property (to purchase) whenever he/she decides to sell the property. In case the owner sidesteps the person holding First right of refusal, and sell it to another buyer, the FROR holder can take them to court for reparation.
To understand how FROR works, let's have a look at this example. Mr. A owns an apartment and rents it out to Mr. B. After living there for some months, Mr. B develops an interest in purchasing that apartment, for some reasons the transaction cannot take place straight away. However, Mr. B asks for an FROR agreement and Mr. A agrees. Now, once the agreement is signed by Mr. A, he is now restricted to offer this apartment to Mr. B before he finalizes the deal with any other party. For example, when he's approached by a third party with an offer of say, $450,000 USD, and he is willing to accept, he must first contact Mr. B and make an offer for him to buy this apartment for the same amount ($450,000). It is only after Mr. B refuses to buy, when Mr. A will be free to sell the property to the third party. Remember, Mr. A can not ask for a better price, he must offer the property to Mr. B for the same price, which was being offered to him by the third party.
Question is why a seller in his /her right mindset would agree on presenting someone with an FROR contract. Answer is, because it doesn't really hurt the seller in anyway. However, there are some minor plus and minuses attached to this contract. For example, seller can ask for a small amount as a fee for an FROR contract, also such contract may add a little value to the property. Coming to the negative side, real estate agents are reluctant to deal with such properties, in case the holder of FROR accepts the offer and make a purchase; the agent will be deprived of any commission whatsoever. However, the best thing about First right of refusal is that it doesn't have some predefined clauses or terms, seller and buyers are free to negotiate and jot down their own specific conditions.

There are some modified versions of FROR as well, one of them is Right of First Offer, in which seller has to approach the holder before putting the property on sale.

Source:
Dubai Real Estate

Applying for the residential loan – What will the banker see before approving

2011-04-25T10:03:00.000+04:00

One of the most important forms of consumer loan is “real estate loan”, issued for the purpose of construction or acquisition of land, apartments, homes, shops or any other residential or commercial property. Mortgage has transformed into an industry, helping many middle class families to have possession of home. However, real estate loans (especially mortgage loans) are always regarded as the most risky types, mainly because of the amounts involved (and also because of the maturity time). That is why the banks who are lending must look into many aspects before issuing residential loans, in order to minimize the risk (because the maturity time often extends to 20 – 25 years in these loans).

Below are some of the factors that a banker may consider before it approve or disapprove a loan application.

Income level:

Bankers have got to make sure that the person applying for real estate loan has a steady and reasonable income coming every month. They will look into the source of proceedings and determine the net income. In case you are a salaried person, they may need some confirmation from your employer, the reputation of your employer may also come into play; for example Government employees are often preferred over private sector employees. They will also check the duration (for how long you have been working with the current employer). Similarly, business people should be having a stable, incoming cash flow; huge ups and downs in the profits are not a good indication.

Necessary Documents:

Depending on the type of loan you have applied for, you may need to present different kinds of documents. These documents can be, National Identity Card, Birth Certificate, Employment letter, pay slip, Title insurance, profit and loss statement, proper plan of construction (if you are applying for a construction loan), or credit history (if you have any). All of these documents should be indisputable because the verification department will double-check all of these documents; and any vagueness means your application will be rejected.

Interview:

Meeting with a loan officer is actually the first and an integral part of the process; the officer will inquire about your requirements and form an opinion about your credibility. The interview also serves as a verification of your physical address. When meeting with the officer, stay calm and do not go to extremes for showing how desperate you are for this loan, as it is not going to make any difference. You can also ask the officer to lay down terms and conditions (especially the interest rate or any other service charges) in simple words.

Source:
Dubai Properties Portal

A closer look at Indian Real Estate market and its future

2011-04-22T09:35:00.001+04:00

It has been the same story in most parts of the world, when we look at the past and present situations of real estate sectors in different region. On the face of it, investors are edgy and at least cautious if not scared. Sales and construction work is decelerating and investors are much more watchful when putting in their money into real estate properties. Financial crisis may have caused plenty of bad’s, but one good thing it did, is bringing back some sense in the financial markets. Even though some people may oppose the idea, but slow and well founded growth is much better than that groundless rapid growth that we have seen in previous years.

Coming back to our topic that is Indian real estate, seemingly the market that got a good boost-up in past few years, (thanks to a very healthy growth in Indian economy) has now slowed down. To get an idea of its future, let’s take a look at some of the positives and negative signs associated with the market.

Negative Signs:

Apparently, it will take some time before the international investor can think of investing in Indian real estate again, at this point of time they are holding back their capital and waiting for some stability to build on. Similarly, the local investors are also on back foot and they will continue to hang around for some time now. Banking sector is not in a very good shape either, banks from all over the world are quite uneasy when lending out huge loans, towering prices of construction material like concrete, steel or cement are not going to help either All of these factors means, big developmental projects will be coming to a halt for some time, which means fewer units in the market for sale.

Positive Signs:

India is one of those countries who were not directly affected by recession; instead it was more affected by the shockwaves that reached here, effectively ending the exhilaration and slowing down the markets. Whereas the low property prices are disheartening for real estate investors (and speculators), they provide a good opportunity for people looking to purchase a property for their personal (residential or commercial) usage, especially for NRI (Non Resident Indians). One can also count on Congress getting reelected in recent elections as a positive sign, which means the economic policies will continue. Indian economy continues to grow at a healthy rate, improving purchasing power parity, which means a constant demand in future.

Source:
Rent in Dubai

Selling Your House through Photography

2011-04-18T10:28:00.000+04:00

Selling one’s home takes a lot of effort. Marketing a home by word of mouth is long an old fashion thing. The use of photographs to sell a home has been employed by the real estate agents for quite some time now. Most home sellers don’t indulge into this kind of home selling technique. They usually think of a lot of problems in this kind of approach. Many think that it is not worth considering because of the following reasons. This will take a lot of their time. They are not professional photographers, so it will take a lot of money to hire a professional photographer. If they do it themselves even then it will cost them a lot of money. It doesn’t take a lot of money to shoot through a digital camera yourself and get your photos printed. It won’t cost you that much more then selling your house with a pretty lousy effort you make in selling your home that resulting in a much lower price fetched for you from the market. Before you get yourself accompanied with a so called expert on real estate think about it. Let’s look at how will you use this approach and what benefits will it bring to you. Having a digital camera yourself is a very good option. Digital cameras used to be pretty out of reach of ordinary people. Things have changed for good. If you still haven’t got a digital camera, don’t worry. You can rent out a digital camera. Before that even, we will have to first look at the house preparation. Get your house cleaned and washed if possible. Try to get all the pending paint jobs done. Select timing when your house is full lit to photograph. Arrange your furniture in a well sorted and sophisticated way. Once you have arranged everything and are ready, then start photographing. The trick is to take as much pictures as you can. Never hesitate, because you will only get those photos developed which were the best. Try to take several pictures for each angle of your room and try maximum angles. Select 5 to 7 best pictures that include the best portions of your home like living room, bed room and drawing room. Get them developed and get them copied. Make at least 20 copies. Get some stylish folders printed with your customized address and contact details. Once done, place the pictures in the folders and spread them to the most trusted real estate agents in your area. This will help you directly market your house and show its best features. Always keep one copy with you, as you might have visitors which didn’t get the copy due to any reason. If you feel you can’t take the photographs yourself, hire a professional photographer. This will cost you but think about the cost you have to pay if you sell your house below its true market.

Source:
Dubai Property
Pakistan Real Estate

World’s most famous Real estate tycoons

2011-04-11T09:55:00.000+04:00

Real Estate industry has bestowed many with richness and wealth, but there are some who were fortunate enough, to enjoy lady luck smiling on them for an extended period, as their investments brought huge profits one after another. Real estate is one of those few investment types that can actually bring about overnight riches, as it happened in the case of following tycoons. They were not really switched into tycoons straight away, and they had their fair share of failures, but at the end of the day they managed to establish themselves as the moguls, in realty kingdom.

Donald Bren:
76 years old Donald Bren is presently the richest real estate tycoon in the world with a net worth of 12.0 billion, according to Forbes.com. Today Donald Bren owns round about 400 office buildings and 90 apartment communities, pretty impressive for a man who built his first home with a loan. Though the figures quoted by Donald himself are at variance, but there’s little doubt about his success and brilliance in the realty business.

Donald Trump:
Donald Trump summed up his success in real estate business when he said “Well, Real Estate is always good, as far as I’m concerned”. Real estate industry has indeed been good to Donald Trump, who has constantly been moving up and down (but remains) on the lists of World’s richest people. From “Swifton Village Complex” to “The Trump Tower”, Donald succeeded in hitting the bull’s eye numerous times. He may be more popular as the host of “The Apprentice” or the owner of “The Miss Universe Organization” but it is real estate that has given him the celebrity status.

Sam Zell:
An entrepreneur by birth, Sam Zell was capable of perceiving the demand and then making the most out of that. In his own words “I’ve always been called a professional opportunist, and in the future I m open to anything”. Son of Polish parents, Sam Zell is now ranked at # 68th in the Forbes list of richest Americans. Sam Zell was the man behind the real estate companies like “Equity Residential” and “Equity Office Properties”. Sam Zell has assets reaching a net worth of more than 6 billions.

Lee Shau Kee:
Although, last year has been quite destructive for Henderson Land Development, its owner Lee Shau Kee is still considered a real estate magnate. Despite losing almost 8 billion of net worth in the last two years, Lee Shau Kee is still regarded as one of the richest persons in the whole Greater China Region.

Source:
Dubai Properties

What to do as a Real Estate investor in present Dubai economic conditions

2011-04-04T11:04:00.000+04:00

Once the apple of real estate investor’s eye, Dubai has now become a thorn in the flesh for many of them. Especially for those who jumped the gun by ignoring all instructions and precautionary measures repeatedly thrown at them by Dubai regulatory authorities, as well as many real estate veterans, as they made some investment blunders whilst they were enchanted by the remarkable growth of real estate sector. Putting in Dubai real estate was certainly not a bad investment decision, but being incautious was. Even though the stupendous growth made Dubai look like an out-of-this-world place, in reality it wasn't, which means the rules of economics were as applicable to Dubai market as they are to any other market in the world.

So what’s there for investors, now when the Dubai dream is over …?
Before we continue to answer this question, let’s respond to this one. Is the Dubai dream really over? To tell the truth, all negatives reports and stories coming from the Dubai circles are having a little bit of hyperbole, there’s no denying that Dubai real estate market is dealing with some serious setbacks, but such problems were always expected. Dubai was never going to escape the consequences of global recession, especially when it mostly depends on tourism and finances coming from the west in form of real estate investments, as it is not oil-rich like its neighboring Emirates (e.g. Abu Dhabi).

Investors, who invested in off-plan properties without checking the credibility of the developer or real estate brokers with RERA, are probably the most grief-stricken group, as more and more developers are running out of finance to carry on with construction work, at the same time they are unable or reluctant to pay back. These investors are left with no choice but to file a suit with Dubai real estate court.

For those, who are worried because of sharp decline in prices, the best option is to hang around. Chances are that we will see recuperation as soon as we recover from financial crunch. It's only a matter of people getting out of their saving mode and touring Dubai (after all tourists attractions like burj-ul-arab or shopping malls have not vanished, they are pretty much there). Dubai is also looking towards a bail-out from Abu Dhabi, while Dubai government is also working to keep the damage caused by recent crisis in check, even if it requires the implementation of the new villainous media law.

Source:
Dubai Rent
Lahore Real Estate

Speculation in real estate and its negative aspects

2011-04-01T09:46:00.000+04:00

Speculation (or speculative investment) is an investment made with expectations of considerable appreciation in the prices of some asset (e.g. real estate property, stocks, etc). Speculative investment is a norm in booming real estate markets, though we can't really differentiate between a speculative investment and a standard investment, as both of them looks quite similar on paper. It is actually the risk level and more importantly the investor's thought pattern, which helps us in differentiating between both of them. Speculations are more like a gamble in which investor's intuition plays a significant role.

Real Estate speculation can be a result of rumors, guesswork, or just the gut feeling of investors … when they sense some abnormal hikes in prices or demand in near future, they'll buy and try to take advantage of this anticipated appreciation in prices by reserving some homes, offices or land to turn a profit in future. The most recent example of this speculative investment was witnessed in Dubai real estate market, where the huge difference in demand and supply provoked speculative investments, which in turn raised the property prices quite abnormally.

Advantages and Disadvantages:
Speculations are not based on sound analysis; therefore the investment decision that is based on mere assumptions can turn out to be rather destructive, both for investors and also for the overall economy. However, speculation also contributes into the economy in a positive way. For example, speculators absorb the risk and supply the market with much needed capital; these investors gamble with their money and inject liquidity into the financial market, whereas the more watchful investors are holding their money. The biggest criticism made on speculative investment is that these investors add no value to the market or the product itself. These investments are merely buying and flipping, just for the sake of making quick profits, giving an abnormal boost to property prices that may cause a "real estate bubble", inevitably followed by a crash.

As a real estate investor, you will be tempted by many speculative investment opportunities. However, you need to play it safe when putting your money on some property, located at an undeveloped area or land. Speculative investment made in haste is dicey. Remember, if it goes wrong, you'll be loosing a considerable amount. Therefore, you need to back your guesswork by doing some research and at least basic analysis. Another thing to remember, speculative investments in real estate markets are best in the earliest stages of real estate boom, as the market is less likely to crash at this stage.

Source:
Abu Dhabi Real Estate
Dubai Real Estate Agents

Rent increase guidelines for tenants & landlords

2011-03-31T09:53:00.000+04:00

There’s a lot of information for landlords on how to deal with problematic tenants in case of late payments or bad maintenance, but tenants are often unaware of their rights. As a result, they never seek help from the regulatory bodies in case they have been harassed by the landlord, or if the property owner has come up with a sudden, unfair increase in rent. Many tenants believe, just because the landlord is the owner of the property, it is his/her right to raise the rent at any given time. The truth is that they need to notify you in advance; if you think that the raise is way too much, you can even challenge it with the legal authorities (though it may not be a valid option in some parts of this world).

Rent Increase Notice:
In most cases, Landlord has to inform the tenants by issuing a notice beforehand, normally more than 2 months in advance. If not, tenants are in no way obligated to pay the increased amount. The amount of new rent and the date when it will be applicable should be mentioned. Remember, you can’t go around increasing rent every other month; the normal time frame for a rent increase is at least after a space of 12 years in most states. Many states require landlords to specify a valid reason for the rent increase. If you have got the notion that the landlord is treating you with some sort of discrimination because of your religion, race or gender, you reserve the rights to complain to your local authorities. You are also entitled for some rent relaxations, if you are a senior citizen.

Rent increase predicament for landlords:
Many property owners find themselves in a fix when it comes to increasing rent (unless these owners are old hands at buying and renting properties). Biggest constraints could be the possibility of tenant checking out or the scenario where you have developed friendly relations with tenants through the course of time. Though valid, but these reasons do not justify the financial losses that you may bring upon yourself. Ideal way is to proceed with small increase instead of demanding a big lift out of the blue. For deciding the rate of increase, you may consult the guidelines issued by your local authorities. Many landlords will also keep the tenants behavior in mind when deciding upon the increase, if the tenants have been good so far, they will keep the raise to bare minimum, if not, they will ask for a bigger raise.

Source:
Dubai Real Estate Agents

Looking to dine out in Dubai – Try these restaurants

2011-03-24T13:39:00.001+04:00

Majority of Dubai population is made up of foreigners, most of them expatriates and a considerably large number of tourists and foreign businessmen as well. A city that hosts so many foreigners must be having world class restaurants in abundance, for the convenience of people touring Dubai from different regions of the world. Generally, a restaurant is rated on the basis of price, quality of food, location, environment and hygiene. Some restaurants are preferred over others in accordance with the nature of dinner, which might be a business dinner, family banquet, friendly feast, or a dinner with your spouse. A restaurant that is ideal for business dinners may possibly be a bad choice for friend's get together; similarly a great place to hang out with your buddies can not offer an exquisite candlelight dinner.

Following are some restaurants, which are worth visiting because of their food quality, setting or Menu.

Noble House:
The atmosphere and overall setting is marvelous, known for its Chinese cuisine, Noble House is located at Raffles, Dubai. A little bit on expensive side, therefore it may not be a good choice if you are a regular at dining out. Still, Noble House is a great place to go every once in a while.

Aangan:
Most of the Dubai expatriates have their origins in South Asian countries, so it makes sense if most restaurants serve Indian or Pakistani food. Among so many restaurants it's hard to single out one, still if we have to, then Aangan will be a safe bet. Aangan Dhow Palace at Bur Dubai is one of the most preferred restaurants when it comes to Indian cuisine.

Beachcombers:
It is situated near a place that probably no tourist could afford to miss i.e. Burj Al Arab. "Beachcombers" offers quite a variety of food with a focus on Asian cuisine. Considering its surroundings, prices are quire reasonable as well.

Shabestan:
If you are looking for a change from the normal Indian or Chinese cuisine, Shabestan is the place to go. It offers Persian (Iranian) food with peaceful settings at a very reasonable price. Shabestan is located at Dubai Deira Creek, in case you decide to pay it a visit.

Blue Elephant:
Blue Elephant has its branches in other regions as well, in Dubai it is situated at Al Bustan Rotana Hotel. Blue Elephant is famous for its Thai food and lovely atmosphere. Don't forget to try the deserts, if you happen to go there.

Source:
Dubai Properties

Living in UAE - Higher education dilemma for your kids

2011-03-21T13:42:00.000+04:00

Despite having a number of world class business facilities, hotels, and everything that supports a lifestyle of highest quality, UAE was lacking in one department. That is the availability of higher education facilities. For many years upper and middle class families had no other option but to send their children to study abroad, if they were interested in quality education at reasonable fees. Gradually, the trend changed, UAE government has planned and invested in many academic programs to offer a world class education system, which will match its standard of living. Initially, the focus was more on UAE nationals, though with the passage of time these opportunities will be accessible for everyone to avail.

Education Vision 2020:
Recognizing the need and importance of a sound educational system in the overall development and growth of economy, UAE government has initiated a comprehensive plan, called “Education Vision 2000”. This program is intended to provide equal academic opportunities to the citizens, improving the quality and effectiveness of curriculum and enhance learning resources, consequently building a modern education society that will lead to a knowledge driven economy. Huge funds have been allocated to education in successive budgets.

Higher Education:
Some time ago, it was hard to find a university that offers quality research and higher education facilities in United Arab Emirates. However, there's an obvious inclination towards higher education these days, a big majority of students have started to show interest in higher education. Plenty of universities now offer various degrees and academic programs. Some worth mentioning universities are United Arab Emirates University in Al-Ain, University of Sharjah, American Intercontinental University in Dubai, Ajman University of Science and Technology, Zayed University for women, University of Abu Dhabi, Harvard Medical School Dubai Center and Michigan State University to name some of them. Ministry of education also provides financial assistance to promising students, who are willing to study abroad.

Dubai Academic City:
Dubai Academic City is a huge project that plans to host some of the most renowned universities from all over the world. Expected to be completed in 2012, Dubai Academic City is situated in Al Ruwayyah. It is poised to become a global center of knowledge and learning for more than 150,000 students. The city will contain a big number of world class universities and housing facilities for students and faculty members. 129 million square feet of land is allocated for the campus. Dubai International Academic City is a Free Zone (within Dubai Academic City) dedicated to international universities; more than 30 universities from different countries have vowed to open a branch in this zone.

Source:
Pakistan Real Estate
Dubai Properties

Starting as a real estate broker – Here’s a checklist for you

2011-03-17T10:47:00.000+04:00

Starting as a real estate agent or broker is quite easy, all you need to do is, locate some sellers who are looking to sell (or rent) their properties and then search for interested buyers. If you are able to link up interested buyers with the sellers and the transaction takes place, you will be able to get your hands on commission fee. Working as a real estate agent is no doubt, a rewarding career, especially in robust real estate markets. You don't need to spend on anything except to get an office or paying the license fee (only if it is necessary to have one). However, you must be having adequate experience and knowledge of your real estate market, to start as an agent.

Keeping tabs on the market:
People will be visiting you because they assume you have got more readily available information about the market and properties. Therefore, you should make sure that you are having the knowledge and information to make proper advice and guide your clients. You may have to deal with different types of clients, for example buyers who are looking to buy a new home for residing purpose, tenants who are not able to find a property for rent in your locality, or investors who are looking to put some money in real property. To better serve all of them, you need to have ample knowledge of all happenings and occurrences in real estate markets, through newspaper or any other source.

Keep yourself up to date:
Apart from the listings of properties (for sale/rent) in your locality, you must be having additional information. Keep a record of all fluctuations in real estate prices in your area, and see if there has been some pattern or obvious reasons for these changes. This data will help you and your clients to determine the right price of some property. Whenever you come to know of a property for sale, give it a visit and note down key features like bedrooms or the condition of the house. To your clients, you should come out as a dedicated professional instead of a part timer.

Marketing your business:
If you are good at social networking or making public relations, use these qualities to make good working relations with all parties that can be helpful, such as other real estate agents, developers, appraisers or real estate attorneys. Other marketing channels include advertising your agency on local channels, or you can use some colorful brochures.

Source:
Dubai Properties
Pakistan Real Estate

Guidelines for purchasing Off-plan properties

2011-03-11T08:37:00.000+04:00

When you purchase a property where the construction work is in progress (or there has been no construction as yet), and the property merely exists in the plans (drawings, floor plans, etc) of the developer, you are buying an off-plan property. Purchasing or investing in a property that doesn’t exist except in the developer’s plan sounds too risky, but if you are dealing with some trustworthy developer and you have done the necessary research, buying off-plan property can be a very wise decision, be it residential or commercial property. You can reserve the property by paying a small reservation fees, initial deposits are no more than 5 – 10 % followed by some installments that differ from developer to developer (or property to property).
Off-plan properties are priced significantly lower than the completed ones, first because in most cases you buy directly from the developer without involving a middle agent; as a result both buyer and seller can save on commission fees. Second, your initial deposits and installments help developer with the construction expenditures. If you are looking to utilize the property for your own residential or commercial purpose, you end up getting the 15 – 20 % discounts; otherwise you can sell or rent the property and secure some healthy profits (given everything goes according to plans). Also, investing in a property in its earlier stage makes you a stake holder so you can come up with suggestions and recommendations as well (though developers are not legally responsible to act upon these suggestions). What's more, if the property in case is some plaza or apartments, you can lock the best unit for you.
Since we are talking about an investment, there must be some risks involved (and because this investment promises high returns the risk element is also high). The first and the most obvious risk is little or no appreciation in property prices once it is completed, in worse scenario the prices may even fall, also in some rare but very unfortunate circumstances the property may not progress beyond the plans. To avoid these pitfalls, you must do some research on the developer and verify from the regulatory authorities, if the property in plans is officially permitted or not? Try to get in touch with other investors, who have already invested in that property and stay in touch, so that if the developer defaults in one way or the other, all of you can take the developer to court as a group of investor, which will be more influential than an individual Vs developer.

Source:
Dubai Real Estate
Pakistan Real Estate

The mechanics of short sales in real estate

2011-03-07T13:35:00.000+04:00

There are not many “ways out”, once you are in a tight spot as a home owner, who’s going through some financial problems and finding it hard to reimburse the debt amount to his/her lender or mortgagee. Most of the times, you are left with no other options but to withdraw from your home ownership, either by means of foreclosure or “short sale”. A short sale occurs when you sell your home (of course with the consent of the lender) to some buyer at a price that’s less than the owed amount of debt. In case of a short sale, lenders keep the money, buyers get the home and the sellers are left with … well, nothing but at least they can save themselves from dishonor and bad credit record that comes with foreclosures or bankruptcy.

Mostly, three major stakeholders are involved in a short sale, namely seller, buyer and lender. Let’s discuss the transaction one by one, from their standpoint.

Seller:
Though seller gets nothing (of a monetary value) out of “short sale”, still he/she is the one who is the most concerned. As a seller, you should keep some points in mind. First, the lender will not always absolve you of the remaining debt. Second, the credit history doesn’t really remain unmarked in case of short sale (though the bad impact is less than the foreclosure). As a seller, you must put forward a very strong case for the bank's loss mitigation department, an application providing valid reasons with documented proofs (especially if you have cited the "decline in property prices" as the reason for short sale).

Lender:
Lender is of the paramount importance in a short sale, buyers and sellers cannot proceed with the deal without the lender’s permission (In case there are more than one lenders involved, consent from both parties will be needed). Mostly lending banks permit sellers to carry on with the short sale to save all the costs and complications attached with foreclosures, but not before going through a thorough checking and verification process.

Buyer:
Homes at short sale notices are typically low-priced (not lesser than foreclosures though). But the biggest drawback in going for a piece of "short sale property" is the amount of time it can take before the deal is finalized, mainly because it's not the seller but lender who'll approve or disapprove the offer. As a buyer, it makes sense to involve a real estate agent, who has previously dealt with short sales. Short sale homes are supposed to be in better condition than the foreclosed ones, but you must hire a home inspector to do the inspection in any case.

Source:
Dubai Properties
Pakistan Real Estate

Some guidelines for Home Inspection

2011-03-04T10:15:00.000+04:00

As a home buyer, you don't need to be reminded on how important home inspection is, before you close the deal. Isn't it quite obvious that you must confirm that walls, rooms, electrical systems or other building blocks are in satisfactory condition? For this purpose, you can find professional home inspectors who are professionally trained to carry out such inspections. They have the experience, tools and software to complete home inspection in a more thorough and accurate manner. However, if for some reasons you can't avail the services of home inspectors, you must be able to inspect yourself and spot the problems that may surface in near future, then you can ask the seller to fix them.

Interior and Structure Issues:
Take a look at rooms, kitchen, stairs, bathroom and basement area. Check out room dimensions (length, width, and height), walls, ceiling, paint, and the size of doors. In kitchen have a close look at the condition of ceiling, kitchen counters and gas pipelines. Moving to the bathroom, check for the ventilation system, bathroom plumbing, sink, hot tubs and showers. For a layperson, structural problems are the most difficult to figure out, for that start with observing the material used in foundation and construction, check wall thickness, if there's some wooden work then make sure it's not damaged by insects or fungal. Similarly if you are dealing with concrete structures, try to identify the problems like cracking.

Issues related to plumbing and Electrical Systems:
Check for the main panels, electric meter, circuit breakers, wiring, fans and other electrical components. Study the quality of wires and cables used in the wiring; also look for the security measures. Regarding plumbing, check out the water supply lines, pipe materials, valves, vents, water storage facility, also make sure sewerage system is intact.

Heating & Air conditioning Systems:
Proper heating or air conditioning systems (depending on the type of weather you have in your region) are very important. If the weather generally remains cold, pay special attention to the age and condition of heating system, fuel type, and distribution system, in addition to this you can insist on some hot water systems. Similarly, check out the air conditioning system, humidifier or system type if you are residing in warm zones.

You may want to examine home appliances, garage, or moisture and drainage indications. To cut the long story short, you are free to scrutinize just about anything, just don't start turning down all homes just because they have some minor issues, as almost all buildings have drawbacks.

Source:
Pakistan Real Estate

Illuminating real estate bubbles and real estate corrections

2011-02-28T13:59:00.000+04:00

It’s known as a bubble but when it bursts, the after effects are definitely not pleasant (as they are when you pop a real bubble). When a real estate bubble (or housing bubble) goes off, it almost blows up the whole economy and leaves investors and property owners in distress. For instance, you purchased a property in a fast growing real estate market for 300,000 US dollars back in 2000, the real estate prices appreciated and your property price reached up to 800,000 USD in 2006, then the inevitable starts happening (known as the bubble burst) and your property price declines to a meager 250,000 USD in a matter of months. That is how devastating these housing bubbles are, and the worst thing about them is that they are hard to foresee, even if you are a veteran in economics.

Real estate bubbles (or any other type of financial bubble) are not just detrimental once they start to come apart, they are equally damaging to the overall economy even during the course of their build up. A rapid increase in the prices of real estate properties sounds good, and some investors might be able to go home with huge profits, but when we look at overall effects, we come to an conclusion that housing bubbles should be avoided (or at least curtailed by the regulatory bodies) at all costs. First because the abnormal hikes in property prices are based on shaky grounds and second because they are always followed by a very inconsiderate decline in price (known as real estate or housing market correction), which leaves many property owners with negative equity.

Real estate bubbles are normally dubbed as real estate booms, because it’s hard to distinguish between a “bubble” and a “boom”. However, a careful comparison of property prices and relevant economic factors can provide us with a pretty clear picture of what’s going on in the market.

Real Estate Corrections:
Real estate Corrections are quite the opposite of "Real estate bubble", in fact real estate market correction starts right after the burst of real estate bubble. It is the time when prices tumble and take a nose dive, if the sharp rises in real estate prices correspond to "real estate bubble"; it's the sharp decline in property prices that characterize "real estate correction". This correction in price is bound to happen once the real estate prices have reached the peak, though these corrections are not abrupt and it can last some years. Sometimes the prices can be reduced to the half of what they were at the peak of "Real Estate Bubble".

Source:
Dubai Properties

How beneficial is Home Warranty

2011-02-25T10:52:00.000+04:00

By the name of it, many people misinterpret home warranty as some warranty that covers everything (including interior, house structure and even paint). In reality home warranty is merely an insurance for your home appliances (still, not that bad? The home appliances include fans, air conditions, heaters, oven, washing machines and other domestic devices. Home warranty mostly comes into the consideration at the time of sale, though it has no real implications, a home warranty from the seller or real estate agent can add to your peace of mind as a home buyer. Just because the name is heard mostly at the time of sale, it doesn't mean you can't have one for the houses you are living in for years.

As in the case of warranties, the home warranty issuing company is responsible for repairing or replacing the appliance that stops functioning properly. Of course, they have some charges that you must pay on yearly basis just like and other insurance, plus you have to pay a small fee every time you avail their services.

Pros & Cons:
As stated earlier, a home warranty doesn't cover everything; hence you are not freed from all the worries or uncertainties that turn up at the time of home purchase. Still, a good home warranty can provide you with considerable assurance because it may cover heating systems, plumbing or electrical systems along with all the major appliances. In addition to that, home warranty will be perceived as a bonus for buyer when you put your home for sale. Coming to the negative aspects, home warranty works only in case of normal deterioration (wear and tear), your claim will be rejected if the problem was caused by inadequate use or maintenance. If the company (the one providing the warranty) rejects your claim, there's hardly anything you can do, similarly you can't force them to replace some appliance even if it's breaking down every other day.

Some Advise:
First, home warranty is not necessary, it's specifically meant for those who find it extremely irksome to go through repairing or maintenance work on their own. If you have purchased a newly built house, and all the appliances, cooling or plumbing systems are in good shape then home warranty is an unnecessary burden that you should avoid. When you are convinced that you can benefit by having home warranty, you should choose the best service provider after reasonable research. Read the terms and conditions carefully, specially the part that tells what's protected under the warranty and what's not. Moreover, chew on the possible circumstances where your claim can be rejected.

Source:
Dubai Properties

Different types of real estate investments

2011-02-21T15:12:00.000+04:00

Real estate investments are of various types; you can single out any of them according to your requirements. Generally, you should consider following points when choosing one of them.

How much capital do you have?
Are you interested in short-term investment or long-term investment?
A careful review of advantages and disadvantages

Coming back to our topic i.e. different types of real estate investments, following are some basic types of investment.

Rental Properties:
This is the most basic and probably the most commonly used method, you purchase a property, find some renter and rent it out after agreeing upon a fix amount of monthly rent. All expenses like maintenance, tax, mortgage payments lies on you (the landlord), while you secure a regular cash flow coming from the monthly rent payments. Not only that, but you can also benefit from property prices going up in the meantime. You can rent all types of properties, be it the residential, commercial or vacation rentals.

Advantages:
As mentioned earlier, you will be getting a regular stream of income while keeping the possession of property rights, therefore you can benefit from the increase in property value as well.

Disadvantages:
In case you are not able to get some reasonable tenants straight away, you are stuck with your investment, which is supposed to be a large one. Also, the irksome chores of maintenance or dealing with troublesome occupants can prove to be a little too much for some landlords.

Property Flipping:
Property flipping is most common in real estate markets going through significant growth. In these markets (where property prices are soaring), you can purchase a property and put it up for sale straight away, because the prices are rapidly increasing, you should be able to make profit instantaneously. More experienced investors also go through some renovations in the property (known as fix and flip) to secure maximum profits.

Advantages:
This type of property trade (buying and quickly selling) is not recommended for rookies, as it involves quite a number of complications. However, lots of experienced and shrewd investors have managed to make quick money, by just flipping the properties in booming markets.

Disadvantages:
An unsuccessful attempt at property flipping (where you fail to flip the property to another buyer or the price goes down instead of rising) can prove to be disastrous. Stay away from this type unless you are sure of your foreseeing skills.

Indirect Investment (Investing through REIT):
If you are short of capital (not enough to purchase a property on your own); you must be looking for an alternate that’s easy on your pocket. Investing in “Real Estate Investment Trusts” or real estate investment groups is one such alternative. Real Estate Investment Trusts (REIT) or groups are corporations, they invest in real estate and you can purchase the shares (quite similar to mutual funds).

Advantages:
This is easily the most liquid form of real estate investment as these securities can be sold anytime like stocks. You don’t require substantial funds to invest and the profits are often higher than normal stocks.

Disadvantages:
Just like mutual fund, you need to have a basic understanding of the market before you invest into REIT. Another negative aspect is that normally the growth rate in share values or dividend is minimal.

Source:
Pakistan Property
Dubai Property and Real Estate

Different types of mortgage frauds

2011-02-18T10:28:00.000+04:00

Any type of trickery or deception (fake information, double-dealing, maneuvering) employed while requesting for a loan, goes down as mortgage fraud and is liable to be punished by law. Lately, these mortgage frauds have been so frequent that many experts now blame mortgage frauds (along with the negligence on part of lenders) for an increased number of foreclosures, which consequently led to present economic crisis. Many investigations and research studies have confirmed the fact that a huge number of mortgage frauds were perpetrated in the last ten years or so. Though regulatory bodies are aggressively behind these con artists, fraudulent transactions are still taking place.

Sometimes, you are misguided or trapped in such transactions unintentionally, so you must be having an idea of what sort of misleading information is regarded as mortgage fraud. Though, all types of misinformation is considered a mortgage fraud, still there are some common methods that these swindlers use to deceive lenders or real estate buyers. In most cases, some insiders are involved, mainly because they know the system so well. Let's have a quick look at some of the basic types of mortgage fraud.

Various fraudulent parties joining hands to defraud lender:
As stated above, in a good number of mortgage frauds, one or more than one insiders are involved. This is one of the worst kinds of mortgage fraud, where the realty and mortgage experts team up to rip off the lender, these experts can be a real estate agent, appraisers, buyers with fake identity or even employees of the lending firm. This type of scam normally amounts to a whopping figure and most of the times the parties involved take advantage of some loophole in the system.

Stating that you'll be occupying the property when in reality it's not the case
That doesn't really sound much like a fraud? But it is one of the most frequently used deceptions. Reason being higher interest rates and strict conditions imposed for the loans for non-occupancy properties. Investors present them as the likely occupants, to benefit from these relaxations in loan policies.

Foreclosure Scams:
Foreclosure scams are actually like adding insult to the injury, instead of ripping off the lender; they target the home owners going through financial turmoil and on the verge of foreclosure. Naturally, these home owners are desperate to get some help and these swindlers take advantage of this desperation by coming up with false rescue plans, if you find yourself in similar situation (facing foreclosure), make sure you are not being duped by these evil minds.

Source:
Dubai Properties
Pakistan Real Estate

What rights do you have as a buyer in real estate purchase?

2011-02-14T12:07:00.000+04:00

When stepping into a real estate transaction as a buyer, you have some rights to start with, and because it involves a very considerable amount, you should make the most of them. Most real estate buyers are quite uninformed about their privileges. Even if you engage some real estate agent to deal on your behalf, you cannot afford to be in dark about these rights.

Information & Inspection:
Property buyer has the right to get hold on all the information about property; similarly he/she can inspect (or hire some house inspector to examine) the house condition and look over into the issues like how much repair work is considered necessary? Does it has all the necessities like clean water or electricity, how old is the building or what sort of material is used in construction? House owner cannot object or refuse these inspections in any case. Also, you can opt to double check all the information provided by the seller for your own satisfaction.

No inequity:
Myth is that property owners (or sellers) have the right to turn down any buyer who's interested in their property on any grounds. These rejections are normally on discriminatory basis and some of the well known reasons are race, religion, marital status, or color … the truth however is that no real estate agent or property seller has the right to demonstrate any such injustice. There are laws like "Fair Housing Act" or "Rehabilitation Act of 1973" to prevent all types of discrimination in United States.

Privileges regarding financial matters:
First of all, you are free to choose the funding option of your own liking; seller cannot press you to go for some specific source. When you go to a lender, he/she is obliged to present all terms and conditions without any ambiguity to the borrower (declared in "Federal Consumer Credit Protection Act"). As in the case of house inspection, you can hire the services of some attorney to look into the terms of loans and advise.

Buying Agreement:
The form of buying/binding agreements varies, but in general it is a written agreement signed by both parties, if some mortgagee is also involved then the paper work is supposed to be a little more complicated. Another noteworthy authority that buyer has is the "cooling off" period that is a span of some days, during which you can drop your decision and cancel the deal for any reason.

These are just some of the rights and privileges that you retain as a property buyer, for an all-inclusive list, you should consult some real estate attorney in your area.

Source:
Dubai Property
Dubai Real Estate Agents

UAE real estate regulatory agency (RERA), Purpose and Functions

2011-02-11T11:19:00.000+04:00

Dubai government has been proactive from the day one in dealing with the problems related to real estate market; issues are seriously dealt with before any of them can damage the confidence of investors in Dubai property market. Since 1960 Dubai land department has been keeping an eye on all the real estate sales and purchase matters in Dubai. On 31st July 2007 RERA (Real Estate Regulatory Authority) was launched as an agency under the Dubai land department by his highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, ruler of Dubai.

Although it was launched under Dubai land department, it is more of an autonomous body, with main objectives being monitoring and regulating Dubai real estate market. People tend to mix these two, though the objectives are same, RERA and Dubai land department differs in their priorities, functions and authorities.

Regulatory measures and standardization of the market:

Dubai attracts investors from all four corners of the earth; also there are expatriates coming from all over the world, then there are UAE locals and developers, all adding into the numbers of stakeholders in Dubai real estate market. Keeping in mind the countless developments, purchases, sales, rentals, investments and all sorts of transactions going around in Dubai, a highly efficient and focused regulatory body was needed to look into all of the problems arising from these transactions. RERA works towards managing Dubai real estate market in a way that guarantees the interest for all of the concerned parties.

Protecting investors through legislations and registrations:

RERA is working for the security of investors and transparency for all by registering real estate agents, developers, and brokers, etc with them, till date 823 developers, 1790 brokers and more than 950 projects are registered with RERA. Investors are advised to deal with these registered developers (RERA also manages developers trust accounts) and brokers with complete sense of security.

RERA and Dubai real estate:

Since its launch, RERA has been busy laying out rules and legislation for all sorts of agreements, contracting parties, licensing, compiling standard agreement forms for real estate transactions, keeping a check on all parties involved in Dubai real estate market including buyers, sellers, investors, advertisement agencies, agents, brokers and developers. The official website of RERA (www.rera.gov.ae) is a great source to get all the authentic information regarding Dubai real estate laws (many new laws have been introduced recently), code of ethics, news, list of approved developers, brokers, projects or trustees, research studies and survey reports. You can also sign up and submit your complains with them.

UAE, An insight into one of the most developed economy

2011-02-07T10:23:00.000+04:00

Whether we call it a recession or not, one thing is sure, we are going through a severe economic crisis, which will be discussed (once over) in the Economics syllabus and debates, in coming years. In this global economic crisis, where the likes of United Estates or European economies are feeling the heat, United Arab Emirates economy continues to head into positive direction. All the economic indicators and reports are also confirming to the fact that there will be no slowdown in near future. Let's have a look at this thriving economy and the contributing factors.

Oil & Gas reserves:
UAE has almost 10 percent of world’s oil (proven reserves), while the gas reserves amount to 4 percent of global reserves. According to UAE government portal, these reserves can last well over 150 years. Recently when soaring oil prices took a toll on all and sundry, this part of the world remained mostly unscathed. Among the seven estates, Abu Dhabi is the biggest producer, producing more than 80 percent of the total UAE oil and gas production. There’s hardly any chance that oil consumption and demand will go down in future, so the black gold will continue to fuel economic growth of UAE.

Construction & Real Estate:
Dubai real estate has done remarkably well for the last few years. Grand projects like “The Palm”, “Burj ul Arab” or “The World” managed to draw investors from all over the world. Abu Dhabi real estate and other estates are also working in this sector. The demand will be much stronger than the supply even after the completion of ongoing projects. Real estate investors are now much more interested in UAE real estate, after the credit crunch in US market, considering it a safer option than others.

High-Class Tourism Industry:
Biggest shopping mall, tallest building of the world, indoor ski resort, white beaches, deserts, man-made islands, some of the most luxurious hotels in the world, crime free environment, rich cultural heritage, international sports event, to sum up, UAE has got tourists attractions in abundance. Tourism industry contributes significantly in over all GDP of UAE and it will continue to do so in the coming years. Many development projects are in progress; world-class airports, bridges and other infrastructure programs are about to complete.
It’s not that UAE is somehow immune to whatever happens globally, but with ample oil reserves, strong real estate market, foreign investments and an exuberant tourism industry, UAE is better equipped to put up with such situations.

How important is real estate education & training to thrive in the field

2011-02-04T14:02:00.000+04:00

Going into real estate business is mostly a matter of choice; you don't need to obtain some particular degree or go through specific educational programs. Especially in past, realtors have started and succeeded without any prior education, learning through their experiences or fellow real estate experts as they progress, but that was past. Now days, you cannot think too little of proper education even in this field, when more and more specialists are taking over the key positions in real estate sector; the impact of education has become more significant than ever.

It's not only the case when you are applying for a job at some company, even if you are willing to start on your own; you need to educate yourself on continuous basis, whether through conventional means (college, online courses) or other sources (books, magazines or articles). Getting hold of most up to date information is crucial, irrespective of your area, be it construction, appraisals, land surveying or running a real estate agency.

Real Estate & Economics:
Knowledge of economics comes handy when determining future prices or other real estate trends. You must have sufficient comprehension of the law of demand (buyers, owners or users in case of real estate) and supply (sellers, developers and agents). You should also be familiar with the economic factors that will/can affect real estate prices, you are supposed to know the answers to basic questions like what's going to happen when demand of homes surpass supply or vice versa?

Real Estate Finance:
Most real estate professionals start their careers from this line of work. If you are looking to join this field, you should equip yourself with the knowledge on how mortgage works, and know-how of other commercial or non-commercial lenders as well. You must be able to guide your customers (after listening to their requirements and limitations) to the most appropriate source.

Law & Regulations:
All real estate transactions and activities have a specific set of laws and regulations set down for them. These laws cover all the major areas like buying and selling, construction, tenancy, commercial properties, quitclaim deeds, financing and foreclosures. A real estate professional should be well versed with at least the basic ones.

Marketing & IT:
Real estate marketing is slightly different from traditional marketing. You cannot go around marketing all "for-sale homes or properties" one by one because of the costs attached. All you can do is to work on establishing your brand name as an authentic real estate agent. Like all other sectors, internet boom has also alleviated the field of real estate marketing. Ignoring the cutting edge technologies this medium provides can cause serious damage to your growth. That is why good proficiency in using internet as a marketing tool is very important for anyone who is looking to excel in real estate marketing.

Source:
Dubai Properties
Dubai Rent

Financing options for real estate buying

2011-01-31T13:30:00.000+04:00

Buying a home is probably the biggest purchase (and maybe the biggest dream as well) a common man makes in his life. Having your own home is seen as a milestone in anybody's life. However it is not so easy for most of the middle class families and it may cost a good percentage of their lifetime savings. Same is the case with real estate investors, many times they see a piece of property that comes as an extremely good investment opportunity but few investors have that much cash in hand all the time. The bottom line is that you need some modes of finance, if you are going to buy some residential or commercial property. Following are some commonly used (and some not very common) options.

Mortgage loans:
When you are in need of buying a property and not having funds for that, you will go for the loans. In this case the lender will be an investor, who is giving out this loan as an investment (known as ownership investment). These investors need to have some security that they will get returns on investment or at least the amount they are investing. When you pledge your home as a security to your lender, it is called a mortgage. The lender now has a claim on the property, and in case you are not able to pay back in future, he has the option to sell the property in auction (foreclosures). Mortgage is the most common source of finance for most real estate buyers and investors. You can chose between fixed rate mortgage and adjustable rate mortgage, there's a third type as well that combines the advantages of both fixed and adjustable rate mortgages (called blended rate mortgage).

Government housing schemes:
Governments, in order to facilitate their citizens, offer housing schemes for middle or lower class people. Also there are some organizations or local government bodies offering housing finance. These loans are not valid for investment purposes, but if you are looking to purchase a home for your own use, you must look into these schemes. If you are eligible for such loans, the rates will be much lower than commercial loans. These schemes vary from state to state or country-to-country, in United Estates some well-known schemes are VA loans or FHA loans.

Family or your credit cards:
Borrowing from your family or friends is another good option. Unlike commercial lenders, they will be much more cooperative (depending on your relations). In most cases you don’t have to pledge your property or some other assets as a security. On a side note, for lenders lending to their friends or families, there's nothing wrong in making a written agreement. Credit cards are not a good long-term financing option, but it can be helpful when you need relatively small amount for down payment or monthly installments.

Source:

Dubai Real Estate
Dubai Real Estate Community

Using the art of home staging to sell your home quickly

2011-01-28T13:51:00.000+04:00

Home staging or property styling is the process of setting up your home for sale. It can be done by cleaning, decorating, painting, or just going through some maintenance work. Home staging is a time-tested method that enables property owners to sell their home quickly (and that too at higher prices). Although there are real estate agents and interior designers who will do it for you, you can also do it yourself without much of a problem. You just have to work towards making your home more appealing and more likable. People are now starting to realize the importance of property staging. Individual sellers, now commonly use home staging that was once a technique used by real estate agents only.

Maintenance work:
Don’t leave basic maintenance work for new buyers. Normally they are looking to get a house that is readily available to shift into. They are already tired of going through the hectic task of property search; a home clearly asking for maintenance work is an immediate turn off. Also, some maintenance work can cover the normal wear and tear signs as well.

Outlook and doorway:
When the potential buyer arrives at your home, he’ll most probably make his mind in first few minutes. First impression contributes a lot towards the final decision of approval or rejection. You need to spend most of your time on improving the outlook and entrance of your home. The buyer should feel at home, the moment he/she arrives at the house. If the first feelings are negative, then there’s hardly anything a splendid drawing room or a very elegant dining room can change afterwards.

Cleaning & Decorating:
Cleaning will not cost you anything, but a clean and tidy look will definitely increase the property price. Painting (whitewash) can do wonders, and it doesn’t cost a lot as well. You maybe familiar with some messy bedrooms or thinking that those cartoon characters painted on wall by your children are really cute, but all of this stuff is going to give the visiting buyer an uncomfortable feeling. Remove your family pictures or personal belongings from the shelves; remember you need to make them feel at home. They shouldn’t feel like violating someone else privacy.

Furniture & Accessories:
This is a must for newly built homes, which are not occupied as yet. Rent the furniture or carpets to make it look like a home. Adjust the furniture wisely; smart furniture arrangements can make a room look bigger and more open. Design rooms to express their use, like bedroom, study room or dining room. This will make the decision making a lot easier for the buyer.

About the Author
William King is the director of UAE & Dubai Real Estate & Property Portal , Karachi Real Estate & Karachi Property , Property & Real Estate Directory and UK Wholesale Suppliers, Distributors, Dropshippers & Manufacturers . He has 18 years of experience in the marketing and trading industries and has been helping retailers and startups with their product sourcing, promotion, marketing and supply chain requirements.

Recession looming at Recession Proof economies, A UAE Perspective

2011-01-25T13:55:00.000+04:00

A different economy, different parameters, and a different scenario altogether, recession is here and apparently it's here to stay. If you are an aged fellow, you'd know that these calamities come and go, but if you are relatively young (or someone affected by it), you'd be feeling like a deer caught in the headlights while listening to the news of economic crisis sprawling all over the world. A recession like situation in US was always on radar when the credit crunch began, and the aftermaths were supposed to be seen in other economies as well. But some economies were considered resilient enough to pass through this phase unaffected. One of these "thought-to-be" solid economies was UAE, which thrives on its oil reserves, real estate and tourism.

Not that the earlier estimates were wrong, and UAE economy is deemed to go down with the recession, but then we are living in a global village and you can't just detach an economy from those who are having trouble. All things considered, UAE may well be able to put up with the ongoing recession, but this economic unrest will definitely weaken the economy pillars.

Real Estate & Construction:
In past three years, we saw magnificent growth in Dubai real estate market. Properties were sold like hot cakes; mega projects announced one after another, land reclamation projects, world's tallest buildings, huge shopping malls and what not. Is it over? You'd ask. Well, certainly not, however the things (e.g. property flipping) are going to calm down to some extent. Construction will not come to a halt anytime soon but will surely drop (you'd have been reading a lot about those 25 percent of world total cranes operating in Dubai, a few of these giant machines can have a break now). Same is the case with real estate prices, they will continue to rise but not at that maddening speed.

Financial Market:
Hardly anyone would have suspected it to reach UAE, but the financial crisis that started from US has been spreading like jungle fire. Even now, the situation in UAE is not that dismal by any means, and it's unlikely to get that worse (oil exports will keep bringing in the much needed capital, particularly in Abu Dhabi). But the banks and other conventional lenders are already panicked, which has resulted in high interest rates. Unavailability of finance will most likely be a problem that Dubai government has to sort out (Dubai has recently got a huge financial aid from Abu Dhabi).

Tourism:
It's not much of a brainteaser for anybody to realize that recession will have a negative affect on tourism industry, especially when most of the tourists coming to the Emirates are from regions that are believed to be the most affected ones (UK, America or Europe). Instead of spending on traveling, people will be looking to save more for tough times ahead. Among all Emirates, Dubai will be hardest hit by this plunge in tourism.

Generally speaking, the picture may not be that rosy in UAE but it will look a lot healthier when judged against the wobbling economies of US or Europe.

Source:
Dubai Real Estate Agents
Dubai Rent

The role and hiring of your real estate Attorney

2011-01-21T11:34:00.000+04:00

Unless you are some real “guru” in real estate business, you need to consult a real estate attorney before you get into a real estate transaction or agreement. Generally speaking, an attorney is a person who acts on behalf of another person; similarly a real estate attorney is someone with enough qualification and license to work as an attorney on behalf of his/her clients in real estate matters. It depends on them if they choose to deal only in real estate cases or real estate is just one of their many areas of expertise.

Let’s have a brief look on real estate attorney’s role and how they can be helpful in your real estate dealings.

Buying and selling homes:
When buying and selling houses, a real estate attorney can assist you in legal framework, closing, insurance, tax and other legal matters. Buying or selling a home is not one of those routine sale & purchase deals; you go through in everyday life. With big amounts and huge interest of both parties involved, this transaction demands a lot of professional approach and expertise to deal with.

Landlord and Tenancy Issues:
What are your rights & obligations as a tenant, as a landlord, as subtenant? What sort of legal protections are there regarding rent increase, eviction or maintenance? If you are not well equipped with this information then consulting some real estate attorney will save you from heaps of troubles and disputes later on.

Construction related issues:
No need to hire a real estate attorney every time you start some maintenance work, but when constructing home or some commercial building, you need services of attorney for construction contract, contractor license or disputes arising from the construction work.

Other Areas of assistance:
Real estate attorney helps his/her clients in transactions including mortgage, foreclosures, condos, negotiations or any other dealings related to real estate. Going through legal documentation like deed preparation is almost impossible without their help. You maybe an expert in hitting bull’s eye when it comes to picking your investment venture but it is always useful to indulge your real estate attorney when going in any type of agreement.

Hiring of a Real Estate Attorney:
The purpose of hiring a real estate attorney is to save you from doing costly mistakes, so there is no point trying to save money by looking for one with minimum fees. You will be getting what you pay for, so try to search for an experienced attorney with reasonable fees but more importantly good experience. Attorney should not necessarily be limited to real estate cases but some past experience in real estate matters is must. Also, remember that attorney is supposed to help you in legal matters; his/her advice on other real estate stuff is not always unassailable.

Source:
Dubai Real Estate
Dubai Real Estate Agents

Property Foreclosures explained for beginners

2011-01-17T13:49:00.000+04:00

When individuals or businesses are not able to make full payment whilst buying some property, they may pledge that property to the lender as a security for the loan. In case the debtor (mortgagor) defaults, lender may seek compensation by means of foreclosure. Foreclosure is the forced sale of property in a public auction under court orders. Court orders are not compulsory in statutory foreclosure, where mortgagee is entitled to put the property on auction without having court order.

Foreclosure procedure is simple. As soon as the borrower defaults on payments, lender will have a notice (Notice of Default) issued against borrower to let him know that he/she maybe facing a foreclosure of the property if the loan is not reinstated. Borrower is provided with some time, known as grace period.

Owners can sell the property themselves during this grace period or they can arrange for funds to reimburse the debt. Real estate investors are often in hunt of properties in pre-foreclosure phase, knowing that owner is out of time and options and he/she will be looking to sell the property as soon as possible. Normally they will sell the property at a very reasonable price which is still more than what they will get if the property is sold by lender through auction. Another advantage of selling the property during this grace period is that owner can avoid having a foreclosure in his/her credit history.

If the owner was not able to repay the default amount during the grace period, a public auction will take place. When you are going to bid on some property in foreclosure, you must do some basic research work. After determining the property’s market price, carefully decide on what should be your limit to bid. Getting the help of some professional agent can also help if you are going into property auctions for the very first time.

Although foreclosures provide investors with some opportunities to make profit, they are never welcomed by owners or even lenders. As an owner you should try to use any alternative other than foreclosure to save your credit history from getting negative ratings. Always keep in touch with lender if you are going through some financial crisis and let him know that you expect it to be over soon. Normally lenders are also not willing to go through foreclosure; ideally both parties should sit together, evaluate the situation, weigh up different options and make some arrangements to relieve both parties.

Source:
Dubai Real Estate
Dubai Real Estate Agents

Internet, An unavoidable source for real estate buying and selling

2011-01-14T15:55:00.000+04:00

Internet has altered the world in an amazing way. With more than 200% growth rate in last 5 years, numbers of internet users keep increasing enormously. More and more people have started to use internet as a medium of interacting with other people, buying and selling online. Internet market has grown to a huge stature. We are living in the era of e-commerce, where over $200 billions were spent last year on shopping online. These figures reflect on the importance of internet for buying or selling any product or service, though we will focus on buying and selling real estate properties in this article.

Accessibility:
New technologies are emerging continuously to make internet accessibility a lot easier, faster and convenient. You can access internet from your home through dial-up, connect to the internet anywhere using Wi-Fi devices, and even operate from your mobile phone to access World Wide Web. This accessibility enables you to browse through several property buying and selling services available at internet, anytime from anywhere.

Description & Images:
Property sellers often provide images of their properties along with descriptions. You can read description and take a look at property image to have an idea of how the actual property looks like. There’s no need to visit a number of properties personally before you decide to buy one. Internet brings the images on your monitors, so that you can have a quick look at hundreds of properties without going to the location yourself, which saves both, traveling expenditures and time.

Easy on the pocket:
Another encouraging aspect of using internet for buying or selling real estate is its low cost. You can avoid much expenditure by using internet. Apart from saving the traveling cost, buyers can save a good deal by comparing prices and picking out the best one. Sellers can benefit from internet by posting their property for sale online and reaching out directly to interested buyers, eliminating the need of agents and their hefty charges.

Time Factor:
Internet allows you to buy, sell or market your property at any time. You do not need to wait for business days or working hours to communicate with agents, buyers or sellers. As soon as you decide to buy, sell or invest in real estate, get online and start browsing through various available options. Free real estate directories like Dubai Real Estate portal can get you started in no time.

Development Locations:
If you want to visualize the exact location of some future development project before investing in it, you can have a look at road maps or satellite views provided with descriptions. You can have an overview of its surroundings and roads leading to that particular development, making it easier to evaluate the property price.

Source:
Dubai Real Estate Agents
Dubai Rent

Dubai New Tenant Law, A Brief Introduction

2011-01-10T13:25:00.000+04:00

According to a survey conducted by Statistics Center of Dubai in 2006, about 85% of Dubai population was made of expatriates. Majority of them lives in rental units. That leaves them solely on landlord’s mercy. Rising rents have long been the biggest worry for these expatriates, with rents getting doubled and tripled in no time. This relation between tenants and landlords became more tensed with issues like landlords vehemently asking tenants to vacate house without any prior notice. Dubai Government first reacted by putting rental caps and now a new law signed by His Highness Sheikh Mohamad bin Rashid Al Maktoum on 26th November 2007 has been introduced. Read on to see what kind of changes it will make.

Tenant’s Point of View:

Tenants are relieved in many ways by this particular law. For instance

•Addressing the issue of abnormal raise in rents, this law prevents any increase or amendment made in tenancy contract for first two years.

•Decided rent will include the usage of utilities like car parking or swimming pools. Landlord must provide the property in sound quality.

•Article 16 of this law puts the responsibility of property maintenance on landlord. But very next article states that landlord shall not make any change which will affect the tenant benefit in any way.

•The landlord cannot force tenants to leave before the expiry of contract with exceptions like tenants failing to pay rent value or if tenant starts using the property for some immoral purpose, etc.

•If the reason disclosed for eviction is possible collapse of property, because of its poor condition, landlord must provide a technical report confirmed by Dubai Municipality.

•Another noteworthy clause of this law is that if landlord restores the property for his/her own use on expiry of contract, he/she cannot rent the property to anyone else for one year. If it happens, the tenants can take legal action against him.

•Tenants should keep in mind that only those contracts are valid which are in written form and registered with RERA.

Landlord’s Perspective:

•Landlords will be restricted to decided rent at the time of contract for two years. Keeping this in mind they can decide a reasonable rent, taking into account factors like inflation rate and time value of money.

•After two years, rent can be modified. If both parties cannot settle on revised amount, this dispute will be forwarded to judicial committee, who will then decide the amount of rent.

•This law is not valid for hotel establishments and any accommodation provided to employees from their companies.

•The landlords are entitled to receive rent value on agreed dates.

•Tenants cannot make any changes to property without landlord’s consent.

•All taxes due to Government will be paid by tenants.

This new law would definitely keep a check on alarmingly increasing tenant problems. However there are some flaws, which will be dealt with, in near future hopefully.

Source:
Dubai Real Estate
Dubai Real Estate Agents

Dubai, Architectural and development dreams coming true

2011-01-07T10:26:00.000+04:00

First it was China, who became the center of attention by starting some of the most amazingly designed architectural project. Now it is Dubai's turn to
arrest the world’s attention, with a vision to make it an ultimate destination for tourists from all over the world, backed by the power of petrodollar, Dubai is
keen to achieve every landmark that exists in architectural world. Be it the tallest building, biggest shopping mall, largest hotel or biggest man-made islands. Every development going on in Dubai has a unique tag linked to it. Dubai is to architectures as Hollywood is to story tellers, giving the license to free your mind and come up with something out of this world. If you think this is an exaggeration, just have a look on some of the constructions going on in Dubai.

Palm Island:
Palm Jumeirah, Palm Jebel Ali and Palm Deira, collectively known as “the palm islands” will be (when completed) the world’s largest man made islands.
Containing hotels, restaurants, shopping malls, apartments and commercial buildings, these islands will add more then 500km of land to Dubai’s coastline.

Burj-ul-Arab:
Another landmark, this is the world tallest hotel till now (“Rose tower” is all set to take this distinctive position of being the world’s tallest hotel, once it is open, and guess where is it located? Yes, you got it right, it is also in Dubai). Apart from being the tallest, Burj-ul-Arab is a spectacular building, often used as an iconic image for Dubai and deservedly so.

Dubai Mall:
This shopping mall, projected to be completed in 2008 will be the biggest shopping mall in the world. Visitors will find the world’s largest gold souk, more than 1200 stores, a grand aquarium, top-notch Cineplex, Sega indoor theme park and much more.

The World:
A true master piece when it comes to the idea and its execution. “The world” is a set of 300 artificial islands, created in a way to look like the map of the world. For those who think that this is a far-fetched idea, the news is that more then 90% work of land reclamation has already been completed. If you want to invest in something really exclusive then “the world” is for you.

Arch Bridge:
An arch bridge, one mile long and 670 feet tall, the world’s tallest and longest arch bridge is scheduled to be completed in 2012. The thing that is most surprising about this project is its estimated budget, said to be of $817 million. That’s not a great deal for a bridge as large as this. A metro train service will also run through this bridge.

These are just few pickings, out of an array of truly magnificent developments going on in Dubai real estate. There are many, many more on this list, once completed they will surely add to that old list of Seven Wonders of the World.

Source:
Dubai Real Estate

Dubai Rotating Skyscraper, Innovation at its best

2011-01-03T13:28:00.000+04:00

Given the number of stunning, almost miraculous constructions going on in Dubai, it’s hard to single out one which outdoes others in its novelty, magnificence and uniqueness.
Talking of uniqueness? What about the first digital building of the world? What about a mega structure building being assembled at factory? How would you like some apartment with the ability to make whole deck rotate on touch of your finger? It’s big, it’s stunning, and it’s spectacular. It’s the first wind powered rotating sky scrapper of the world.

With the names like Infinity Design, LERA, Bosch Rexroth and Viega associated to the project, Dynamic Constructions is set to begin the work on this rotating sky scraper in Dubai very soon.

Construction:
Construction work will be completed simultaneously, while putting up the center of the building on-site, floors will be manufactured at a factory, before being carried to the location where they will be elevated and positioned with concrete center. This advance method will prove to be both time saving and cost effective. According to Dynamic Constructions, only 90 workers will be needed on-site. Compare this to more then 2000 workers normally required to build this kind of structures, and you will know the difference. Building the center and floors separately, but at the same time will result in a lot more swift completion of the project.

Rotation:
This is what makes this skyscraper truly phenomenal. Each deck of this Dubai skyscraper can rotate independently, giving the skyscraper a new shape and a new dimension every moment, making the building a visual treat. These floors will be remote controlled with residents having the option to decide on the speed and direction of their liking. What’s more? Top five floors would be controlled through voice activated remote controls.

Wind Powered:
Wind energy is the power generated by wind through wind turbines. This process is clean and it doesn’t produce any type of air pollution. Dubai rotating skyscraper will have wind turbines placed within its structure. These turbines are capable of generating more energy then what is needed for expected energy consumption of skyscraper. Thus providing loads of energy back into Dubai energy grid.

Another Rotating Skyscraper:
Lots of people are confusing this wind powered rotating skyscraper designed by David Fisher with another building designed by Glenn Howells Architects. That tower will actually rotate on its base and it comes no way near to the grandeur of David Fisher’s rotating skyscraper.

Source:
Dubai Property
Dubai Property Community

Tips for beginners in Real Estate investment

2010-12-31T15:47:00.000+04:00

You should think over some points if you are considering becoming a Real Estate investor because it might help you to decide whether you could fail or succeed at investing in Real Estate.
The most important thing which you should think about when you are considering becoming a Real Estate investor is whether you can afford it. It is very expensive to invest in Real Estate and you need to understand your budget completely before you think of venturing into Real Estate investing. You might think of taking a Real Estate loan and then investing in Real Estate, but before you do that, make sure you can pay back the Real Estate loan. It is a huge commitment to invest in Real Estate and you have to be sure before you begin whether you can afford to do it.
First figure out exactly why you wish to invest in Real Estate. If you want to invest for your family, first check out the formalities and papers of the land such as the road connectivity, water, electricity and you should also find out how close the estate is to shops, schools, etc. Take a walk through the interiors of the house which you are thinking of investing in to ensure that there are no repairs of any fault which are necessary.
If you want to invest in property for the reason of selling it in the future, it is important that you do quite a bit of research on the estate concerned. Calculate how much appreciation the land is likely to go through and also see which areas will bring you the most amount of profit. All this is very necessary to ensure that you do not buy property which will not be in demand later on.
You should also make sure that you select the right Real Estate agent before you start thinking of investing in Real Estate. The Real Estate agent you choose should have sound market knowledge and he should also be well aware of the current trend in the Real Estate market. Since the bargain you strike on the Real Estate investment rests mostly on the knowledge of the market the Real Estate agent has, make sure that he is dependable. You might end up with a bad bargain and consequent problems if you choose a bad Real Estate agent. Thus, it cannot be stressed enough that you have to be careful when choosing a Real Estate agent.
Most people who wish to invest in Real Estate make mistakes because they rush into it without taking everything into consideration. Do not let other parties or your Real Estate agent pressure you into investing too soon.
Buying a Real Estate property is just like buying a business. You should pay attention to the state of the market for the land you will wish to sell, the past history of that land, the nature of the area where your property is located, and how much the property costs, and what kind of financing you will need.

Source:
Dubai Property
Pakistan Real Estate

Dubai Marina, Hot property for Real Estate investors!

2010-12-27T14:19:00.000+04:00

In the heart of what is now known as ‘New Dubai’ is the district of Dubai Marina in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It is located on Interchange 5 between Jebel Ali Port and the area which is the host to Dubai Media City, Dubai Internet City and the American University in Dubai at 25°4′52.86″N, 55°8′38.67″E. the first part of this project has been completed.

The Dubai marina is completely man-made and has been built up by the Real Estate development firm Emaar Properties of the UAE. It will contain more than two hundred high-rise buildings and some extremely tall skyscrapers, The Princess Tower, Infinity Tower, The Torch Dubai Marina, Dubai Marina Towers, Marina Terrace, Number One Dubai Marina, Horizon Tower and Le Rêve (Dubai) to name just a few of them. It takes up an area of 4.9 million square meters (which is equivalent to 50 million square feet) and this includes the Jumeirah Beach Residence’s 40 residential and hotel towers. It is said that the Dubai Marina will be the world’s largest man-made marina when it is completed. The Marina del Rey in Los Angeles County in California, USA is currently the largest man made marina in the world.

The Dubai Marina is a district situated in the centre of Dubai as is clear from the name. While, the first phase of the Dubai Marina project has been finished, the rest of the work is progressing quite fast. It is completely man-made, and with the more than 200 high-rise buildings and skyscrapers, it is very easy to look for brilliant Real Estate properties in Dubai Marina. The internet will help you out a lot to find out prime property. There are many thousands of portals dealing with the Dubai Marina Real Estate market in which you can get all the info you require about great Real Estate properties in the Dubai Marina.

There are several websites which will not only give you good information about properties at Dubai Marina but also provides you with great tips on buying, selling and also renting properties. When you are wishing to invest in Dubai Marina Real Estate, then research is what you should concentrate on. It is of prime importance that you should gather as much information as you can from various sources and then make an informed decision.

Besides the internet, you could also use the help of Real Estate agents and Real Estate property advisors to look for great property at the Dubai Marina. But before you hire these people, you should ensure that they are authentic and will not charge you a large fee after providing you with bad service. Also find out how much experience the agent has before you enlist their help in looking for Dubai Marina Real Estate properties.

Features of Elite Residence located at the heart of Dubai Marina:
•Brilliant business center
•Swimming pools - Indoor and outdoor
•Well-equipped gym and spa
•Children’s nursery and day care center
•Wonderful entertainment facilities
•Lavish hotel

Source:
Dubai Property
Pakistan Property

Property Comparison, Should a property be rented or bought?

2010-12-24T10:11:00.000+04:00

Factors to be considered:
TIME
•Renting: Renting the house should be considered if you are a frequent traveler and you are sure that you won’t stay in the house for more than a couple of years. Due to the overhead expenditures involved, buying the house for a shorter time makes a bad financial deal.
•Buying: As opposed to renting the house, buying a house is good if you wish to reside in it for the long term. In fact, if you consider a longer time, remember that property value only appreciates with time which makes it a good option. The costs that you will have to incur can easily be spread to several years which you will be spending in the house.
SAVINGS
•Renting: If you don’t have enough savings accumulated through various sources, it’s better for you to opt for renting of the house.
•Buying: Earlier, people could buy houses on mortgage at a down payment of even less than 20%, but the mortgage companies have become very strict with these issues now. So more savings are needed for buying the house. In a way, this is beneficial to the homeowners as most of the time, due to lighter control; they assume too much risk and run into a debt trap.

CASH INFLOWS AND OUTFLOWS
•Renting: If your income is unstable, you can opt for renting the house. The rent, obviously, is dependent on many factors like the locality of the property and the terms of the landlord. Also, during the term of your stay, the rent can be increased several times. A primary reason behind renting is that if the rent is less than 2/3rd of the monthly expenses, then you can use the remaining money for other investment or work purposes.
•Buying: Mortgaging ensures that you can make the payment as long as the loan continues, or opt for a loan refinance. If you opt for buying a house, you are always certain about how much money you have to pay regularly. The overhead expenditures are: mortgage payments in a month, insurance of homeowners, property tax, and various other expenses. On an average, about a third of your income will be spent on the house expenses and taxes. However, a mortgage will not be given to you if the housing expenses cover more than 40% of your income. You may quit paying the mortgage companies, but the housing overheads will always remain as long as you are the homeowner.

TAXES
•Renting: In case you go for renting of a house, you have almost nil tax liability, as all that burden falls on the landlord. You can consult your tax advisor for more details on this matter.
•Buying: In case you are an owner by virtue of buying the house, you will have to pay the property tax as a tax liability. You, however, have an option to deduct the taxes from the interest paid on mortgage. Upon selling a house, a capital gain tax exclusion of $500,000 is made available to a married couple, and in case of an individual, it is $250,000.

General factors which affect the buyers and sellers in property market

2010-12-20T10:15:00.000+04:00

For Real Estate investment in foreign countries, Dubai is a leading preference of people. Geographically, it takes merely six hours to reach Dubai from Germany. This trip would land you on one of the most progressive land of the world. The annual economic growth of Dubai is about 6%-8% with a budget surplus of close to 50%. Besides, the newest technologies and the brilliant infrastructure, with great architecture, make Dubai a leading Real Estate investment sector. Dubai can boost to be the biggest place in the world for this respect.

•Age
Like wine, which only gets better with time, properties in Dubai also appreciate with time. The demand for older properties exceeds that of the newer ones. At many places, there is potentially an excess of supply over demand, and even where such is not the case, the supply is of a nature which allows the purchasers, and also those who do so for letting out, to be in a significantly stronger position.

•Rate of interest
Increase in the rates of interest has hugely affected the new buyers and those who are not yet fully into the Real Estate market, but for the experienced players in this respect, the increasing interest rates has not been of a big impact. In respect to the money that is borrowed, the higher rates of interest reduce the profit only by a small margin.

•Stock market
The volatility, which is a characteristic feature of the stock market, also has a bearing on the Real Estate market. The confidence of the investor in Real Estate can be ruined due to the huge swings that the market always experiences. For those who are professionally into the Real Estate business, they may understand that in the long run, equilibrium will prevail and if they have done their bit of research before buying the property, they will not lose a huge amount due to negative stock market trends in the short run. When the stock market fell the last time, many people decided to buy properties in view of the lower prices in the short term, and this volatility is also a reason why many people prefer to keep a second house as an investment rather than a holiday home. Here, it must again be mentioned that the price is also based on how old the property is. The older it is, the better price can a seller bargain for, as the prices only get better with time.

•Confidence
The decision of people to buy or sell properties is largely dependent on the investor’s confidence. A trend has emerged over time that people buy a new house before selling an older one, and this trend is here to stay. However, of late some fixed prices have emerged and this poses a threat for sellers to sell at a price they want to. This can reverse the trend mentioned above. The coming couple of months are crucial as it will bring about a clear picture as to what lies in the future.

Source:
Dubai Property
Dubai Rentals

Tips for renting your property overseas

2010-12-13T10:08:00.000+04:00

For most people who wish to rent property overseas, language problem is a major difficulty, followed by non-evaluation of market conditions, and no access to details of the overseas deal. So to get the property overseas, a lot of research and analysis is required before banking on one project. The services of a broker or any other agent will be very beneficial here. Even a reputed Real Estate firm will help solve all your difficulties and guide you in the selection process of the best deal available. Some helpful points:

1.If you are considering a property for letting out, select a rectangular or a square room, since other shapes make the room look much smaller. A good living room is what tenants usually look for, even if it means a marginally smaller bedroom.

2.Selecting the right agent or a Real Estate firm is the key here. If you consider an agent who has a lot of contacts and a great presence in the field, he will give you the best returns. You can also look out the newspapers for a list of prospective tenants. If the letting out is for holiday purposes, make sure that the agent has an attractive website to get the tourists’ attention.

3.Never underestimate the importance of interior designing. A tenant can make up his mind to opt for the property just by merely looking at what lies inside the house. In fact, a good interior design can fetch high rentals. Most promoters overlook the interior designing bit. You can very well go for a proper interior designer to give the house the look that you want, or a look that would attract people. A 3-piece suite should be selected. Besides, comfortable larger suites should also be preferred. But don’t overdo it to such an extent that it looks fake. Also, stay miles away from narrow or low-back sofas since they are pretty uncomfortable. Once this is taken care of, click great pictures for uploading on the website. This will give your property an edge over others.

4.For getting still higher rent, investment in parking space would be a very good idea, mainly in huge cities. But be cautious about this aspect as parking may not be such an attractive option as far as holiday resorts are concerned. But for long-term tenants, a parking space is always welcome as it reduces the burden of parking.

5.When buying a property overseas, make sure not to buy from a site meant exclusively for professionals owning more than 25 units. If there are many vacant units, there will be a huge increase in supply which will invariably bring down the rental that you would like to ask for. The Irish investors, who have properties held in Spain, are experiencing difficulties for such things as no company would actively participate in letting out since the owners do not reside in that country.

Source:
Dubai Property
Dubai Rent

Changing trends of property marketing & importance of online marketing

2010-12-09T13:19:00.000+04:00

Irrespective of whether you wish to have a home for investment or residential purposes, listings of Real Estates is a primary requirement. This information can easily be found in newspapers and on the net. In fact, the latter has only assumed greater significance since the internet revolution has been made. Newspapers have turned out to be a time-consuming affair now. When it comes to newspapers, you will be required to read all the listings mentioned, shortlist the options which look good to you, jot down important points like the quotations and contact information on a piece of paper, call them up to get the details or make a call to the local broker to look into the matter after a fixing of appointment. This, of course, is a tedious job. A greater disadvantage of newspapers is that since the listings are published weekly, you may very well get to know that the deal that attracted you the most has already been finalized. So you will need to consult a local broker to know the proper status. In fact, a broker’s services can rarely be done away with since he has all the technical know-how of dealings in properties. At times of confusion, he can be your friend, philosopher and guide, and will help you get the best deal in the market.
Whereas, listing of Real Estate on the internet is a cakewalk. The websites, unlike the newspapers, are updated on a daily or alternative day’s basis, or at the most, two times a week. The new listings are immediately sent to the internet publishers which is an added advantage. So internet is invariably a better option as compared to other mediums. Internet, which is nowadays the most preferred medium for deals on Real Estates, is also preferred due to the ease and hassle-free use that it offers. An exhausted individual may find it convenient to search for a good deal by just a few clicks rather than personally having to visit various homes which you can buy. Also, online fixing of appointments is done. All the research work and various other activities can be taken care of on the internet, without having to move out from the comfort of your house.
For internet marketing, you need to have a website. Yes, there is an option to post all the details regarding a property at some of the online websites, but it is often recommended that you must have your own website for internet marketing purposes. This is mainly because people prefer buying from websites meant exclusively for that particular listing.
So it must have been clear by now that by not taking advantage of the internet for listings of Real Estates, you are foregoing a huge opportunity. So grab this opportunity now before you realize that it’s too late.

Source:
Dubai Property

Business Bay, Will it be the new finance capital of Asia?

2010-12-06T09:52:00.000+04:00

Business Bay is literally a city in Dubai, and is touted as being the city which will make the United Arab Emirates a big business and commercial marketplace. The Dubai Festival Center is its closest neighbor. The business area extends right from Dubai Creek near Ras Al Khor, to Sheikh Zayed Road. It is promoted, and is maintained by the Dubai Properties, a Dubai Holding member. In Dubai, Business Bay is the primary commercial district, and houses many high-rise offices in that locality. There are 230 buildings in total at the Business Bay, which attracts residential apartment promoters, as well as international companies.

Concept of Business Bay
Business Bay is to Dubai, what Manhattan is to New York. The famed Dubai Creek, a landmark in the history of Dubai’s civilization which turned it from a pearl diving and a merely fishing center to an overseas port, has been elongated taking into account the importance that it holds as the primary commercial center of Dubai. In fact, Business Bay has assumed the benchmark of the progression of Dubai; something that had a great role to play behind the success of Dubai Creek.

Initiative behind Business Bay
In the recent past, Dubai has witnessed many great successful commercial opportunities like the Dubai Media City and the Dubai Internet City, to name a few. But Business Bay assumes a significant importance in this respect, as the project was initiated after careful study by top consultancy firms of the world, and this reflects the long-term vision that UAE had regarding Dubai’s future.

Business requirements
The Business Bay is touted to solve Dubai Property long run growth plans. Owing to the annual growth rate of between 5% and 9%, United Arab Emirates is a major attractor for foreign investors. Many international concerns are increasingly setting up offices in Dubai, which provides for many successful home companies as well. Such a development has resulted in increased demand and less supply. This necessitates the development of Business Bay to cater to the needs of the society. Besides, economic reforms are being made to attract foreign capital as well.

Ambience of Business Bay
The ambience at the Business Bay, with luxurious apartments and comfortable offices, speak for themselves. There is a courtyard in the area of business which provides for many social activities, area meant for playing, plazas and arcades. The rare marriage of new themes of architecture with latest amenities makes a great attraction. Podium is yet another added feature that connects residential buildings and allows for blanketed walkways and pathways for people.

The location
As mentioned earlier, the Business Bay’s location lies away from the Dubai Creek, and extends right from Ras Al Khor to Sheikh Zayed Road. This location is appropriate for trading on an international scale since one corner of this growth intersects Sheikh Zayed Road, which is famous for the offices that it has, the international companies, and also the international financial center of Dubai. There are many international hotels at Sheikh Zayed Road as well, like Shangri-La and Emirates Towers. When it comes to the Dubai Creek, Business Bay has the Dubai Festival Center as its immediate neighbor, which is a development in the leisure and retail field, and very much near the international airport of Dubai.

Source:
Dubai Properties

Finally, Some Positive Signs for Dubai Real Estate

2010-11-29T10:57:00.000+04:00

Lately, there has been an overdose of negative reports and news regarding Dubai real estate with analyses pouring in from everywhere, on what went wrong and where? The Dubai dwellers and official high ups have always been on the brighter side of the picture, always claming that Dubai has got the ability to bounce back and stand on its feet. However, the human mind always needs logics and justifications to see the things in a clearer perspective (especially if the human happens to be an investor). To all those who are tirelessly undermining Dubai’s resilience, here is a quick fact check.

Experts are confident that Abu Dhabi’s in time help will give Dubai a much needed face-lift by enhancing its capacity to endure the testing times. The managing director at CB Richards Ellis talking to Arabian Business indicated “There is a considerable amount of liquidity around the world that is looking for opportunities across the globe”. He also pointed out that foreign investment in GCC only summed up to12 % of the total investments, discarding the notion of huge capital flight. Explaining the direction in which the bail out funds will be diverted to, he said “The statement is worded well, as it concentrates not just on the debt to the banks but to the debts owed to contractors and advisors,” He advised investors to re shift their focus from low grade real estate investments to high quality luxury real estate. Richard mentioned the unavailability of high value residence in Dubai as a problem that needed serious attention by the investors.

As many consultants and analysts affirmed their trust in Dubai’s ability to rebound, one of the firmest believers happens to be the chief of Emaar Properties, who said “This significant announcement has provided reassurance to the regional and international investment community that the ties that bind the United Arab Emirates are strong, and that our shared vision of sustainable growth will continue to be realized - despite the challenges posed by the global financial crisis. As a fully integrated participant in the global economy, we surely face further challenges as we continue to forge ahead. But let us make no mistake: our city is strong, as is the federation”. Read again, the city Is strong.

GCC countries have maintained their lead in tax exemptions as well. A recent report by PwC, World Bank, and The International Finance Corporation disclosed GCC countries as the leading ones in tax regimes. UAE was placed in the 4th position, which means it is still one of the most attractive destinations in the world to do business. This will go a long way in support of other measures to attract the foreign investment, preserving UAE as one of the most attractive places on earth to invest. All of these signs have come to play in the right time to alleviate the foreign world’s confidence in Dubai property as well as business in general.

Source:
Dubai Properties

Buying and selling high end properties in Dubai

2010-11-22T11:04:00.001+04:00

Dubai has a great number of high end properties or luxury villas, and even after the slump in real estate market; high end buyers are taking keen interest in fully furnished, luxury homes. Since the prices for prime properties in Dubai are not as high as the asking price of similar properties in other parts of the world, it’s a good niche to target for investors. Bear in mind that Dubai as a living place hasn’t lost its charm and it is only the real estate market that has gone down. The Dubai city remains to be a great place to live, having all kinds of world class facilities and a very modest crime rate. Even the cost of living has come down and Dubai is not ranked even in the list of top 50 most expensive cities of the world. For all these reasons, we can safely assume that affluent persons including business tycoons and celebrities will continue to take interest in owning a residence, at some fancy area in Dubai. One can get high quality, luxury villas in a price range of 700,000 to 1,000,000 US dollars quite easily in posh areas like Palm Jumeirah or Dubai Marina.

Investing in a high end property is without doubt, a high risk investment; therefore you should be extra cautious when buying a high end property. It’s best to hire some real estate agency to watch over your interests from all angles. Buying a high end property wouldn’t be a problem in Dubai, since many properties are lying vacant in Dubai real estate. However, finding the buyers and selling such property at a profit can be a challenging job. For this, you cannot rely solely on standard methods like giving an ad in the classified section of some newspaper or posting a listing on one of those Dubai property portals. You’ll have to specifically target the high end buyers, not only in Dubai but in other countries as well. Remember that marketing high-end properties is an entirely different ball game, stakes are high and so are the prices. When you are trying to sell a luxury property, home staging becomes even more important. The buyer is supposed to be a well-off person and even small defects will put them off.

In case of high end properties, the selection of the Dubai real estate agent can make a difference for both buyers and sellers. High end buyers and sellers are different from common investors, since they’ve got their own reservations and an experienced real estate broker can be of help because he/she will be fully aware of these preferences.

Source:
Dubai Property

Why you should buy real estate in declining market?

2010-11-15T10:47:00.002+04:00

Real estate is quite a risky matter in all times but we can make few assumptions about it that when we should buy property to get more profit? Therefore everyone wants to know what the right time to buy or sell a property is, it is quite natural. If you are at selling end and the market is going down then I won’t recommend you to sell as it won’t give you enough profit. If you are at buying end, then purchasing property with sufficient funds in declining market is a smart move. It is because you are spending less and will eventually get more profit at the end.

It won’t be an equal opportunity idea; a mediocre income person can not take such risk. This is because there is an equal chance of loss as well so it is a significant risk. It may happen that you have consumed your saving funds and the possibility that market will not turn to be positive soon. Out of all odds, if you have decided to purchase a home in the declining market, you are at benefit. As the seller really wants to sell his home because with passing time prices are more declining so he wants to sell at tremendously low prices. I am going to cite few reasons that an individual may be considering from purchase perspective.

If you are thinking to purchase home to live in then it is the right time because the prices are continued to fall and people must be after nice and lucrative homes. And if you will keep on thinking about purchasing, several good opportunities will be slipped from your hands. There will be few homes left which need more repair and maintenance charges, so take advantage of the opportunity soon.

The next worrying thing can be “what is my home’s worth”, if you are purchasing the property to live in and it does not require maintenance, it is advantage of this home. Secondly, housing prices soon back to good level so you do not need to worry but do not take out an adjustable rate mortgage with a better interest rate on the hopes of refinancing in the near future. Never start mortgage with the hope that market will go better and I will have refinancing this is the reason people loose their homes.

If you are taking property with rental investment point of view then with all previous considerations, you must also take into account the neighborhood. How you can rent out your property after purchasing, neighborhood renting is improving or declining, rental rates and if for particular time I won’t rent it out, will I have sufficient funds to adjust mortgage in it?

Once you make purchase while considering all these points now if you want to sell it then wait for the good times as the market returns to profit. I will suggest you to buy home that can give you more profit at the end, so make this good investment if you able to buy now.

Source:
Dubai Property

Where to invest in Dubai real estate

2010-11-12T10:39:00.000+04:00

No matter how robust or dilapidated a real estate market, the selection of the right location can still make a difference. Some areas are naturally more attractive for investment, because they are the most sought after areas. Real properties in such areas are the first to get price hikes when the market is good, when the market starts to grow weaker; these properties are the last to have a decline in prices. Dubai real estate market may not be that attractive for investors but some of its areas are still in demand, and investing in properties at one of those areas can still fetch good returns. Let’s take a look at some of these places …

Palm Jumeirah:
One of the three man-made islands (using the land reclamation method) in Dubai. A project by Nakheel that received world wide coverage, even today Palm Jumeirah is one of the most expensive areas in Dubai. These islands added 520 kilometers to Dubai beach, and it is claimed that Palm Island is the first man-made structure visible from the space. Palm Jumeirah is the smallest (smaller than Palm Jebel Ali and Palm Deira) but it has got some of the world’s most famous celebrities as property owners.

Business Bay:
There were reports about people leaving Dubai in huge numbers, but no matter how many people vacate Dubai; Business Bay will remain as crowded as ever, and why not? It is all set to be the business hub of Dubai. The work is still in progress, and when completed (projected to be completed in 2015) it will host up to 250 buildings and many skyscrapers, if you are looking to invest in commercial properties, you must consider investing in a properties at Business Bay.
Dubai Marina:
Dubai is often divided in two parts, the more modern and recently developed area is called new Dubai and Dubai Marina is known as the centre of new Dubai, having Dubai Internet City and Dubai Media city in close proximities. The infrastructure work is almost completed and construction is under progress. It is a huge development, projected to host a number of towers and villas.

Bur Dubai:
Bur Dubai is not as expensive or high-class as Palm Jumeirah or Dubai Marina but still a heavy populated area with Dubai metro running through it. Most of the foreign workers and expatriates are living in this area and vacancy rate in rental properties is quite low.

Source:
Dubai Property

Using lead generation services for your real estate business

2010-11-08T10:41:00.000+04:00

In simple words, a lead can be described as a potential client who is interested in some particular product or service that you are offering. There are various ways of generating leads and for the most part it is easier to make sales by working on leads, as compared to randomly choosing and calling individuals, who have absolutely no interest in your product or service (not to mention that it is considered an annoyance and unethical as well). That’s why many businesses (especially startups or small setups) make use of lead generation services to improve their clientele. If you are a real estate broker, you can also make the most of these services, bearing in mind that leads are a very good starting point.
Lead generation is a specialist job, you can launch a website and wait for the customers to come and contact, but you’ll still need to market that website. On the other hand, lead generating agencies have the knowledge and experience to exert a pull on interested customers and generating leads for all kinds of businesses. They will do it by making an online portal, joining hands with other websites or any other medium. At the end of the day, they will forward the leads along with the customer’s name, contact details and specific areas of interest, for you to have a shot. Till now, lead generating services are employed by big businesses like wholesale suppliers or insurance companies, but it will effectively work for any other business, which offers a big profit margin on every sale.
If you’ve recently started, and you are finding it hard to generate sales by using other marketing mediums (it always takes time before they can start to fetch results), then you must think of using these services. It will cost you a small subscription fee and you will start getting good quality leads in your inbox on weekly or daily basis. However, you must be careful when choosing the agency. Remember that the quality of leads is very important, therefore, you must try couple of leads before hiring the agency. Instead of paying for the entire month or yearly subscription, start with the minimum order and check out the quality and response you’re getting from the leads. Continue with the firm, if you are getting a good ROR (rate of return); if the results are not satisfactory, try another company. In the meantime you can work on your own website and other lead generating ideas.

Source:
Dubai Property

Tips to choose Real Estate Agent

2010-11-05T10:36:00.002+04:00

If you have decided to hire a real estate agent for your commercial property then hiring the right real estate agent is an extremely important step. Mostly people do not focus on the importance of the real estate agents thus they quickly overlook this step. But today I am going to entirely focus on how to choose the right real estate agent to deal your property.

If you will pick up the phone directory and choose a right real estate agent for your property from the Yellow Pages, then just forget it. Because there are more real estate agents in the city as compared to specialist doctors but the thing goes opposite, if you announce to purchase or sell your property, you will be surprised to know the numbers of real estate that will appear out of nowhere to represent your property. It happens everywhere but you can not handle such crucial matter to anyone whom you don’t even know properly.

If you are a seller then you are obviously going to give your most precious asset and you can not take risk to hand it over to someone whom you don’t trust. I would recommend inquiring the agent completely before you sign to hire him. Another fact, agents work for commissions so they can sell you anything by describing any property as the best property they have ever seen. They will not take any responsibility of any fault later. How you can test the credibility of any agent, therefore, before taking a decision ask a referral from your friends. It doesn’t mean to rely completely on their suggestions but test him and then hire him.

There are not several agents who are dealing in specific priced properties and can not give you their best services because they are neither specialized nor have experience in your recommended price range. Therefore ask the agents’ specialization before signing anyone for you.

If your friends are unable to suggest you any real estate broker then it is my suggestion to always go for the real estate agencies first. You can ask anyone about the reliable agencies, go any one out of those names and ask them to give you broker or agent and then stick to that agent.

There are specialized agencies which are solely dealing the sellers or buyers but there are few who do not differentiate between seller and buyer and represent both of them. My suggestion is to avoid such agencies because they can not do justice with both parties.

Choose an agent who can provide you all services and their license is active because sometimes we get agents who give us any offer but after inquiring we get to know that their license is expired or inactive.

Source:
Dubai Property

Shopping right kind of properties in recession to maximize returns for long term investors

2010-11-02T16:05:00.000+04:00

Recession is an undeniable truth in front of all of us. Like every other sector of the economy, real estate is no exception in taking the hits of this gloomy economic phase. Investing in properties at this time really needs extra money and a brave heart to get ahead with the decision. Buying properties is not an easy decision. Investors are of many types. Each has different risk & return aversion. We will discuss here the attraction of the two different types of properties and chances of earning from each of them.

In recession larger properties have the lowest demand. The smaller a property, better the demand for that property is. This is particularly true for commercial properties. These are considered as safe investments for the investors. Why are they considered safer investments? In bad economic days it is difficult for a property dealer to get a large property booked on rent. As businesses opt for smaller spaces, things get tighter with each passing days. They want to work from the bear minimum and don’t want to spend extra money on something unnecessary. On the other hand, situation is totally different from the point of view of investors. Investors are particularly interested in buying a property which they can sell or can get hooked on rent for as quickly as possible. They tend to make the mistake of believing the market that they should be playing safe. This safe playing phenomenon plays havoc with the true potential of investments showing up in different disguises. As in days of recession smaller properties are more expensive, real estate investor pays more for them than they would have paid in the usual market. When the recession ends, the gains anticipated for the property don’t materialize and at best give minimal returns to the investor, a clear deception especially for the novice investors.

There is another type of investment which is investment in the bigger properties. These properties lack serious luster for the investors. Investors think of these properties as dumb and nonsense. The major problem with these properties is the lower demand for such properties in economic downturns. Only handful of skillful investors chose to opt for making an investment into such dismal looking investments. These are however excellent investments for the investors of longer terms. As soon as the economic conditions start improving, the demand for these kinds of properties starts shooting up. This hike in demand for the properties particularly affects those properties which weren’t attended to, earlier. Therefore a long term investor should invest in bigger chunks of real estate in days of recession because the returns he will yield from such properties are unmatchable when compared with the smaller real estate pieces.

Source:
Dubai Property

Real Estate professions – Which one to go for

2010-10-29T10:44:00.000+04:00

Real Estate industry accommodates more professionals than you’d have imagined. Normally, we can think of only real estate agents or brokers when talking about careers associated with real estate sector. In reality, there are numerous careers stemming from this industry, some of them quite lucrative. Any profession that helps people in construction, buying, selling or renting properties will be termed as real estate profession. Good thing about most of these professions is that you are mostly working on your own (even when you are affiliated with another brokerage firm). Your income depends entirely on your efforts, which means, at the end of the day one can go home with considerable earning instead of those petty wages one gets from most of those salary based jobs. If you’ve got the basic requisites like determination, salesmanship and high ambitions, than you may try your luck in any of these professions. Getting some relevant degree or education will significantly increase your chances of success.
Let’s have a look at different types of real estate careers or professions you can embark upon.

Real Estate Broker/Agent:
One of the most commonly adapted careers is to work as an agent on behalf of real estate buyers or sellers. As a real estate agent, you are working as a middle man between buyers and sellers, getting the commission whenever some deal is finalized. These days, real estate agents are further categorized under residential real estate agent (dealing with homes, apartments, bungalows) or commercial real estate agents (dealing with offices, retail stores, shopping malls), depending on their expertise and experience. A real estate agent must be having appropriate know how of real estate pricing, current situation and future prospects of the reality market.

Home Inspection & Property Appraisals:
A buyer doesn’t necessarily need the services of home inspectors or real estate appraiser. However, most of them prefer to hire some specialists to secure the huge amount they are going to spend. A home inspector examines a property, looking for the defects, and warning you of potential vulnerabilities that may arise in near future. Similarly, a real estate appraiser can give an estimated value of the property. Both of these jobs are specialist jobs though, requiring some technical knowledge and skills.

Developers & Contractors:
Another career in real estate is to undertake the job of contractor or developer. A developer looks after all of the aspects of construction, from site selection to designing and supervising the construction work. The development company ought to have huge funds, complete understanding of labor laws, real estate laws, cost control and marketing skills.

Property Management:
Mostly commercial properties like shopping complex, condominiums, housing societies, etc are administered by professional property managers who are good at marketing, maintenance and financial issues. Another similar job is to work as a counselor, the nature of counseling can vary from expert advice on buying or selling a property to arranging the finance.

Source:
Dubai Property

Real estate disclosures and its importance

2010-10-25T11:59:00.000+04:00

The biggest concern on a buyer’s mind, when buying a property (especially a property that was built long ago) is the signs of deterioration, wear and tear, and other defects in the property. Being a seller, you must be able to do something about these concerns, to get your property sold in no time. Preparing a detailed disclosure document is one way of doing it. Real Estate Disclosures are prepared by owners for buyers, stating the defects in a precise manner. Such disclosures are more than an honest gesture that you can choose or refuse; in many developed countries the real estate laws have made it obligatory for the sellers to disclose all sorts of faults and defects. However, such laws are hard to implement, mostly because there are no certain guidelines as to what kind of defects must be disclosed. For example, some laws state that the seller must disclose all of the known problems, at times it can be hard to determine what comes under this definition and what doesn’t.
Irrespective of the laws and regulations, you should be honest when making a disclosure report. It’s better to disclose the defects and settle on a relatively lesser price than deceitfully selling on a higher price and going through legal proceedings initiated by the buyer (after he/she discovers a major defect which was not mentioned in the disclosure). In case, this discovery is made prior to the closing of deal, you’ll have to return all payments made by the buyer (and in some cases bear the legal expenses, as well). That’s why you must be fully aware of local laws concerning real estate disclosures. The disclosure becomes an absolute must if there are health-hazards present at the property (e.g. the presence of radon gas).
A standard real estate disclosure make known the general defects like water leakages, a problem in plumbing or electrical system. One can also get plenty of real estate disclosure forms online for reference. As a general rule, you should state all problems in a clear and precise manner along with the steps you’ve taken so far and the possible fixes (though it is not necessary). In case, you’re a buyer, you shouldn’t rely solely on the disclosure to judge the overall condition of property. Hire a professional home inspector and have the property checked by an expert. Even if the seller is an honest individual, he/she may not be aware of a defect himself, hence you cannot hold them responsible for the negligence later on.

Source:
Dubai Property

Lease analysis software for real estate leasing

2010-10-21T11:17:00.000+04:00

Real estate business has become much broader than it was ever. From buying and purchasing of land and commercial property, people have now moved towards renting and leasing of property. With the invention of computer and internet businesses have gained a momentum. Same is the case with real estate business. People now not even deal in local or national real estate but they are also into international real estate dealing. One of the famous modes of business in real estate is leasing.

A contract granting use or occupation of property during a specified period in exchange for a specified rent is called Leasing. One can lease his property and get fixed amount for life time. But this life time income could only be assured if the owner handles all the processes of lease efficiently. The lease analysis software makes it easy for the owners and landlords to handle the lease related processes efficiently and effectively. Where these lease analysis software’s help the landlords and owners they also help the brokers and tenants to compare different properties offered for leasing. They are of great help to them as well. Through lease analysis software the brokers, dealers, owners, landlords and tenants can get the forecast of 10 to 15 years of leasing by entering the terms and conditions into the software along with the lease amount. The lease analysis software can also calculate the projected cash flow statements and discounted cash flows for its users.

Moreover, it can give calculation for the following costs like:
- Capitalized tenant cost
- Expensed tenant cost
- Cost of borrowed funds
- Amortized tenant improvement
- Security deposit
- Parking expenses

Lease analysis software also helps the tenants to decide which property they should get on lease. It allows them to compare different properties at a time and select the one of their most interest. Over the years lease analysis software’s have gained a lot of popularity. They have become popular among people related to real estate and others because they are easy to use and understand. Even the people who find it challenging to use computers can understand lease analysis software’s easily. Another major reason why the lease analysis software’s are becoming famous is that they tend to satisfy both the owner and the tenant.

Every day there is something new coming to the real estate market of the world. And the collaboration of technology and the real estate business have increased the trust of the people on the real estate market and have enhanced their knowledge about it. Therefore it is really important for the people to get familiar with the lease analysis software.

Source:
Dubai Real Estate

Interior Design – Adding to the comfort of your living room

2010-10-18T10:46:00.000+04:00

Living room (also known as lounge) is a room where people sit, talk, watch TV or just relax. Living room is also known as drawing rooms (commonly used to have guests) in some parts of the world. Usually the drawing room is the most well kept room in the entire house, to the extent that some people abandon the room altogether (to keep it clean and tidy), and use it only when the guests arrive. It is also the most lavished room in the house, subjected to renovations and decorations quite often. However, expensive furniture and pricey antiques are not the only way to refurbish your living room.
The first thing that you need to remember, when redesigning living room is that the living room often reflects the owner’s personality. If you’ve been to the lounge of some painter or any other visual artist, you must have noticed that the overall design, colors and furniture reflects their extraordinary aesthetic sense. However, you don’t really need to try and bring out your creative side when designing the living room (especially if you’ve got none). In most cases, some simple changes in paint color and furniture will do the trick. Just remember that even if the room is mostly used to entertain guests, you shouldn’t compromise on your own likes and dislikes, for the reason that guests will spend not more than few hours in the room, it’s actually you who’ll be spending most of the time in this space.
If you are looking to redesign your living room, we can safely assume that either there’s something wrong with the current settings (that’s the reason you are looking to redesign) or you are just bored by the current appearance, and you are looking to have a change. Whatever the case, you should start from the wall paint, since all other features including carpet, furniture and decorations must compliment the color of walls. When looking to redesign, do not just throw out old furniture and bring in the new one, you can simply reorganize (adding or removing a couple of items) to add more comfort to your living room. Keep the comfort factor in mind when purchasing new furniture, do not go solely for style and look. Furniture is not meant for decorating purpose, there are plenty of items made merely for that purpose; therefore the primary reason and the deciding factor for buying a piece of furniture should be comfort and utility.

Source:
Dubai Real Estate
Dubai Real Estate Rentals

How to integrate technology into a Real Estate Business?

2010-10-15T14:35:00.000+04:00

Real estate has been one of the most profitable and sustainable business. People have become very rich through real estate dealing. Real estate agents use a lot of ways to ensure that they succeed in increase their business. Large businesses with a lot of real estate agents also use different tactics to improve their sales. Large real estate property dealers often spend a fortunate of their earnings on training their sales staff for increase in business. They often however, overlook the fact that technology has been making a greater impact on our lives. This underestimation in role of technology brings a lot of problems for the old style real estate business people. They don’t look into the reason that why would it be necessary to use technology in real estate business. First of all people have started using technology to locate the properties in any country of the world. Secondly, people use internet more then the physical resources to gather information and intelligence. Search engines have change and there has been a new term coined, known as “social search” which is done through the online social networking sites. People now use technology extensively for all the purposes. Using technology has changed the way things are done for good. There are many ways in which you can use technology in your real estate business. The first thing is to use technology for your online business presence. You can get your website designed specifically according to your demand for your real estate business. This would help you establish your online presence.

One other very important way to use technology is to have laptop along with you. Your laptop should have some arrangement for electricity as well as internet. Taking the laptop will help you make presentations to any new client and you can also add to it a lot of useful information, which you won’t be able to remember otherwise. It is also a good practice to find your way through and also the property details through the different internet applications, in case you have problems in finding directions. These are some of the very important technology uses you can have for your real estate property. If you are thinking about the possible benefits then you must rethink. Now people don’t use internet as a luxury in their businesses any more. They use internet to get their hands onto the latest information available so they don’t loose their edge over some other businesses already using technology to their advantage.
Source:
Dubai Property

How to integrate technology into a Real Estate Business?

2010-10-15T14:31:00.000+04:00

One other very important way to use technology is to have laptop along with you. Your laptop should have some arrangement for electricity as well as internet. Taking the laptop will help you make presentations to any new client and you can also add to it a lot of useful information, which you won’t be able to remember otherwise. It is also a good practice to find your way through and also the property details through the different internet applications, in case you have problems in finding directions. These are some of the very important technology uses you can have for your real estate property. If you are thinking about the possible benefits then you must rethink. Now people don’t use internet as a luxury in their businesses any more. They use internet to get their hands onto the latest information available so they don’t loose their edge over some other businesses already using technology to their advantage.

Source:

Dubai Property

How to establish yourself as a real estate expert

2010-10-11T13:20:00.000+04:00

There’s a difference between a run-of-the-mill type of real estate professional and someone who’s regarded as a real estate expert, and it’s not about the level of knowledge and experience one posses, it’s actually the right type of marketing and branding that cement your place as an authority in any given field. Luckily for you, it has become easier to climb up to the status of an expert by using the power of internet, once you’re there, you can expect more customers, bigger paychecks and more importantly, the recognition every professional strives for.

It will take time:
There’s no shorter route to success and you need to put in the time and effort needed, without getting impatient. It will take some time before people start taking you seriously, it will take even more time before they start acknowledging you as an expert and even when you’ve established yourself as an expert, you cannot afford to relax. In fact it is difficult to maintain your authority than establishing it. During this time, you’ll need to provide some free advice and guidance as well.

Using the right channels:
Internet and the boom in social networking websites is no less than a blessing for those who are looking to position themselves as an expert in some specific domain. Launch a Blog, get active on professional’s social networks and start giving free advice in relevant forums and it’s just a matter of time before you will be getting the acknowledgments. Do not target more than 2 or 3 websites at a time, half hearted participation at a bunch of websites will get you nowhere. Instead just focus on couple of websites and prove your mettle before moving to another one. Be ready to speak at the workshops or conferences in your neighborhood for free (of course you’ll need to demonstrate your expertise and a list of achievements before the organizers let you speak).

Blogs are usually considered a good source of income, but they can serve an even bigger purpose as well. Having an established Blog can go a long way in showcasing the author as an expert, write informative and share-worthy posts for your Blog and use the power of social networking websites to spread the word. If you are not into writing, you can start a video Blog as well. Make extensive use of social media or networking websites like Facebook, Youtube or Linkedin, these are free yet very effective mediums to reach your potential audience and impress them with your knowledge and skills.

Source:
Dubai Real Estate

Hiring employees for your real estate business

2010-10-04T09:04:00.001+04:00

No matter how much you’ve invested in the equipment or acquisition of new technologies, it is eventually the employees that help a business grow. All kinds of plans will ultimately fail if the employees were not up to it. Real estate businesses are no exception, hire the right persons and the business is all set to thrive, make wide off the mark hiring decisions and the business is destined to go down. If you are in business for some time, it may not be a problem to pick out the right guys, since you’ll be aware of the responsibilities, type of market and customers by now. However, it becomes a little tricky when you are hiring for the first time. Following guidelines will help you in hiring employees for real estate business.

Knowing what you are hiring for:

You cannot even think of hiring the right person unless you are completely au fait with the duties and responsibilities for the post in question. Many times, managers hire people because they were impressed with their presentation skills, whereas the job had no such requirements. Knowing the job inside out helps you to focus on the right set of skills and qualities. In addition to this, you will ask more to-the-point questions instead of asking the routine ones. On the other hand, if during interviews for a particular job, you come across a person who is noticeably talented but doesn’t fit in that particular position, do not discard. Instead forward his/her credential to human resource department and ask them to find a suitable position.

Keep your expectations in check:

Don’t expect people applying for entry level jobs to show the confidence and enthusiasm of management level staff. Keep your expectations in check or you will end up rejecting some good prospects just because they were not confident enough or because they were nervy during the interview. A greenhorn or anybody who’s in desperate need of a job can get nervous during interviews. That isn’t necessarily an indication of the lack of strength or determination in the overall personality. Be prepared to keep sifting through the applicants unless you can find the right person. Do not hastily hire an inapt person just because you were tired of the hiring process. When hiring, do not make discriminatory decisions (hiring people on the base of their race, gender or caste). Not only is it illegal as well as unethical, it is also going to hurt your business badly in the longer run.

Source:
Dubai Property

Four ways to flip a property and make money

2010-09-27T10:51:00.000+04:00

Flipping properties is the riskiest but most profitable way of making money. Some people say that flipping property is illegal as it creates bubble in the real estate market. But it is not illegal if one follows the proper rules and regulation laid by the state law. Generally people think that buying a property and selling it as quickly as possible is called flipping a property. No doubt it is true but there are a lot of ways to flip property. Following are some flipping methods which can be adopted according to the situation:

Flip property as it is
This type of property flipping means that a person or an investor buys the real estate property and sells it to someone else taking a certain amount as profit. Mostly people buy properties which are poor in condition and sell them with out making any repairs. It is very important to see that the property is bought at below market value because such properties are difficult to sell.

Purchase, repair and then flip
This method of flipping is practiced the most and it is the one which provides greatest profit among all the other property flipping methods. In this type of property flipping the investor purchases a poor property, practices property staging and then sells it on a higher price. People are of a view that property staging is expensive but this type of property flipping generally gives 15 to 20 percent more price than the actual price if the staging was not carried out.

Flip a per-constructed property
An investor can invest in a pre-constructed property project and then flip it when the project is complete. This type of flipping requires forecasting skills in the investor. He must be aware of the property market trend and forecast the property price in the future. A person should make intelligent investment in pre-constructed projects as when the project completes the market situation is different. If his decision was good and the market price is high then he can flip the property and earn profit but if he selected a wrong project them he will have to bear loss.

Bird doing and then flipping the property

It is one of the most intelligent methods of flipping the property. It is basically beneficial for the people or investors who are new to the property market and are looking to make money. They work as helpers for the investors, real estate agents and brokers. They gather the information related to the real estate market for the investors and compile details for them. Whenever, they become fully aware of the property market trends and they come across a good property for flipping they make investment flip the property and enter the real estate market as an investor.

Source:

Dubai Property

Flipping property is risky but legal and interesting

2010-09-23T13:23:00.000+04:00

The word flipping means to buy and resell any asset as quickly as possible. Therefore it is clear that property flipping means to buy a property and resell it quickly with some profit in hand. The real estate sector in most of the countries has the lowest tax rates on its income that is why people adopt it. Investors make intelligent purchasing and resell the property in profit. This increases the property value in the real estate market. Governments have tried to press this activity a lot.

People are given a view that flipping property is illegal and it is a crime but flipping property is not illegal. It is a legal activity, the only reason governments discourage it is because it creates bubbles in the real estate market and history proves that the property bubble when burst ends up in disaster for any economy. Experts view property flipping as a cyclic problem. Whenever the real estate sector shows bullish trend the property flippers come into play and they create bubble in the economy. When the bubble bursts the people related to real estate market get affected.

Real estate brokers and agents practice full time property flipping in some countries. Not every property flipper is successful as flipping properties is not an easy job to do. The investors and realtors in the flipping business have to work constantly in the search of a flip property. They keep them self updated with the ongoing activities in the real estate market and keep looking for flip property. After finding a flip property they do expense on its maintenance, repair and staging and then resale it as soon as possible. Investors who have less market knowledge about the price trends have to bear loss. And investors who are unable to find the potential buyers or the flipped property are also at less benefit. The real estate experts say that the flipping game in real estate sector is the most risky and the most profitable activity in the real estate sector.

Over the years holding a real estate land has been considered to be the most profitable method but the real estate investors who are involved in real estate flipping and who know how to make intelligent decisions find the flipping much more interesting than holding the land.

To become a good investor in flipping properties one needs to be an expert about the real estate market and that skill can be grasped by becoming a bird dog in the real estate market.

Source:

Dubai Property

Diversifying your investment in real estate market

2010-09-20T12:05:00.000+04:00

Real estate business have become one of the most important and profitable businesses in the world. However, it would not be correct to say that it is an easy one but it is far better than doing other businesses. That is why a lot of people (experienced and inexperienced) jumped into the real estate business.
Now and then we see people complaining in the real estate sector that they lost their investment and are left with nothing. They do not understand that real estate is a cyclic market. There is improvement in it and then there is a downturn followed by an improvement again. Those who get success in this industry understand this. They know that the market is cyclical and they take this sector as a stock market. The reason why they view it as a stock market is that they diversify their investment. Experts in the stock market say that diversifying the portfolio gives you higher return and has low risk. Same is the case with the real estate sector. The more diversified your investment will be the greater will be the profit for you and the lesser will be the risk.
What does diversifying investment in real estate market mean? It means to invest in different property markets. A person can diversify his investment by investing in commercial real estate, residential real estate, mortgages and real estate funds.
Generally people in the real estate market fail because they invest in a single property market for instance say residential or commercial real estate. And when the market shows a bearish trend they have to suffer. Experts say that if they would have diversified their investment there would have been greater chances for them to stay in the real estate market.
Let’s take the example of Dubai real estate market. People who had invested in a single market (residential or commercial) had to bear greater losses whereas others did not. Still those who have invested in only mortgage market of Dubai are facing tough time keeping up with the market as the mortgage rates are high and the mortgage criteria has been tightened for the borrowers. People who diversified their investment in Dubai and UAE real estate did not have to worry about the tough mortgage market situations. Whereas the banks and the investors who invested in mortgage market are still facing problems.
The experts in the real estate market advice that people looking to invest in any real estate market must diversify their real estate investment portfolio or else this market would have nothing for them in the end.

Source:
Dubai Property

Different types of Commercial Real Estate Leases

2010-09-17T14:13:00.000+04:00

The leasing process of commercial real estate is slightly different from residential real estate and the thing does not end over here. There is a wide range of commercial real estate leasing conditions and types occur. It is not like that a tenant and a landlord meet for commercial property transaction and sign the document, there is always a need of right commercial property lease document that can be beneficial for both.

Although the sole purpose of the landlord is to get a great income from their property to earn more profit and the tenant wants to minimize the rental costs as much as possible. But a commercial property lease in a major city and a shopping center lease in any suburb area will be entirely different. Therefore, law has categorized the leases into certain subcategories even within those categories leases differ from each other. Let’s review few out of them:

Gross Lease
Gross Lease is often described as general form of lease in which full services are included. Basically, Landlord fix a particular amount and takes as rent and makes him responsible for any charges like payment of taxes, insurance and other damage charges. This kind of lease is often applied in single or multi tenant office buildings where landlord prefers to collect the rental amount but the costs of all services keep on increasing with the time and same is the case with rental amount.

Triple-Net Lease
Another form of lease is triple-net lease in which landlord collects the rent but a tenant has to pay a significant percentage of all the expenses like maintenance, taxes and insurance. Tenant does not like this kind of lease deal but this is extensively used in commercial real estate and this deal is the best option for the landlord. There is one drawback of this lease is that fixed rent is lower in this system.

Land Lease
The landlord rent out the land to the tenant and he constructs building on it. This kind of lease agreements are for longer period but once the lease period is over, land plus the improvement done on it including building reverts back to the land owner.

Modified Net Lease
This type of lease exists somewhere between the gross lease and the triple net lease as it is quite helpful for both landlords and tenants. The charges are being split up between landlords and tenant like if the landlord agrees to pay the maintenance charges the tenant has to pay the taxes and the insurance charges. This kind of lease agreement is mostly used in industrial, retail or multi-tenant office properties.

Source:
Dubai Property

Difference between freehold and leasehold property

2010-09-14T10:49:00.000+04:00

People after staying associated with the real estate sector for years find it difficult to differentiate between the freehold properties and leasehold properties. They make wrong purchasing decisions without taking in consideration the difference between them.

Freehold property

A freehold property is a property which gives full legal rights to the owners to live and use the property. He is the owner of the property until he further sells the property to someone else. Generally people like to purchase residential, commercial or industrial properties which are freehold but in some situations the properties are not being offered for freehold. Freehold lands mostly are not offered to foreigners. An example of that could be in Saudi Arabia where only nationals can buy the freehold lands and not the foreigners. Dubai, U.S and UK once also did not offer freehold land to the foreigners but looking up to the opportunities and growth of the real estate sector they started offering freehold properties to the foreigners as well. The people who are unable to get a freehold property go for a leasehold property.

Leasehold property

The Leasehold property on the other hand is a property which only gives the buyer a right to live in the property or use it for commercial purposes for a specific period. It does not transfer the ownership to the buyer. Most of the commercial properties and flats are provided to the customers on leasehold contracts which assure that the person could use the property but the ownership lies with the actual owner of the land. The person who buys a leasehold property has to pay the communal maintenance and repair cost. Some of the properties have leasehold for life time (roughly 99 years) which is further extend-able. In such cases the leasehold property has right of lease transfer through inheritance.
Generally freehold properties are better and much more expensive than the leasehold properties as there are fewer complications involved in it. Moreover, the freehold properties give more right and responsibility to the owner.
Intelligent investors also make investments in freehold commercial and industrial projects because they know they can get higher returns from them. But in some situations like in Saudi Arabian real estate market where there is no option for freehold properties for the foreigners, investors have to make investment and purchase leasehold commercial and residential properties.

Source:
Dubai Property

Decorating your living room - Some basics covered

2010-09-09T10:48:00.000+04:00

Decorating a living room is a very fashionable trend prevailing for quite sometime. Before seeing the basics of how to get your living room decorated, first let us differentiate between a living room and a drawing room. Often people have different cultures where at times both are considered as one thing or separate. There is however a difference between decorating the both. The basic difference is that usually in a drawing room guests visiting the house are welcomed and taken care of. This is a more formal place. While in case of a living room, things are pretty different. First of all we don’t serve the guests there. Secondly and more obviously as we don’t serve guests so it needs not be a formal place. Most importantly the purpose of living room is totally different. The main purpose of a living room nowadays is to have a get together of the family after all days work. In this room the family not only has a gossip but it also gets itself some recreation. For that there must be some ample space for sitting as well. In olden days people use to have a lot of activities to do in a living room. Nowadays, people don’t usually do much except of some TV watching and casual gossip beside the well lit fire place. Once understanding the main purpose now we can move on to decorating one. Usually living room is amongst he obvious place to the guest and visitors. It is very important therefore to design a living room with the best available furniture in house. The furniture should display the lifestyle you have. Try to get the things in a proper order. Start planning your living room space decor according to the space availability. Work out the details of the type of furniture that gives a spacious look to your living room. It is very difficult to move around with stuffed furniture and also gives a shabby look to the room. It is better to arrange according to the space available. Overcrowding the furniture may increase the seating capacity, but it can seriously diminish the purpose and looks of your living room. And don’t put any unnecessary things in your living room. The only purpose of maintaining a living room is to relax and socialize with your family in a pleasant environment. Keep that in mind, and it will help you keep yourself on track for a more spacious, enjoyable, and soothing living room.
Source:
Dubai property

Corporate houses for corporate living

2010-09-06T10:35:00.000+04:00

Corporate houses are fully furnished apartments, providing temporary but lavish accommodation, along with all kinds of amenities and housekeeping services. The term corporate house arises from the fact that they are mostly used by businessmen looking for a short stay at some specific place (and not because these houses are owned by corporations). These homes are meant for temporary stays, one doesn’t necessarily need to be a business traveler to take advantage of these residential units. Anybody looking for a short term luxury residence can go for these houses instead of checking in a hotel.

Corporate houses come extremely handy when one cannot afford to stay in expensive hotels, even though they are pricier than most of those standard rental house. However, the high price is often justified by the quality of services and utilities you are going to get along with the living space. Corporate housing is often availed by business executives or managers. It can be an apartment, single housing unit or a separate storey in some bungalow. They are often regarded as an alternative of staying in hotels, the reason of this comparison is almost the similar luxury living with added features, for example a full kitchen, more space and more bedrooms (which is great, in case you are traveling with your family). It is an ideal option for those who think of hotels to be too formal and proper to be considered for more than 2 – 3 days stay.

Having lounge, kitchen, balcony and even rooftop to your disposal provides a very homelike feel, that’s precisely the reason why corporate housing is getting increasingly popular in big cities like New York, London, Los Angeles, Washington, San Francisco and the likes. Even from business point of view, giving a corporate house on rent can prove to be more profitable and relatively hassle free (however you need to have the right house at the right location, to be able to offer it as a corporate house). Many businesses are making use of corporate housing to provide accommodation to their employees, who need to travel to other cities or countries for business trips. Not only it saves some cost, but also provides the much needed flexibility, which is often missing from hotels (for example no timing restrictions on check-in or check-out). When searching for a corporate residence in the city you are planning to travel, it’s always better to deal with some well known company instead of individual owners. You can also ask for suggestions from your peers who have recently traveled to the same region.

Source:
Dubai Property

Concept of Balloon mortgage payments in real estate

2010-09-02T11:15:00.000+04:00

Home mortgaging has become a well known phenomenon world wide. Over the years there have emerged a lot of sub-categories of mortgaging in order to facilitate the mortgagor and the mortgagee. One of the famous terms in mortgage payments is the balloon mortgage payments.

The term mortgage payment is known by almost every one but the term balloon mortgage payment is not known by many. The word balloon here represents a huge payment. In this type of mortgage payment the borrower has to pay lesser mortgage payments over the years and the last payment of the mortgage is huge which balances the whole mortgage payment. Borrowers like to avail this option as they can get the mortgage house making less payment. This option is generally availed by the people who are not financially that much strong and they need some financial assistance. They enter into such mortgage contracts in which they have to pay small amount of payments promising that they will pay off all the remaining amount of mortgage at time of last installment. People who know that they are going to get a larger amount in future also go for such type of mortgages. Balloon mortgage payments concept also gives the right to the borrower to modify the mortgage payments at the time of last payment.

Most of the people are unable to make the balloon payment at the time of last mortgage payment. They then ask lender to provide financial assistance and amortize the mortgage payments which they pay accordingly in the future. The main advantage for the borrowers is that they get an opportunity to pay the mortgage payments in lesser amounts and if unable to pay the amount they can get the balloon payment amortized again. Whereas the disadvantage for the borrower is that when he is unable to pay the balloon payment the lender might not grant him the future amortization of the mortgage payments and ask him to pay the amount at once. This can make the borrower sell his house to make the payments. The other disadvantage for the borrowers in not making the balloon payment is that when the lender grants amortization on the balloon payment he charges the interest rate which is prevailing presently in the market. This causes the borrower to pay the remaining amount with greater interest in the future.

Balloon mortgage payments are also made by regular mortgage borrowers. The regular mortgage payers when gather a sufficient amount and want to get them released from the liability of paying mortgage payment, make a one time payment to the lender in the form of balloon mortgage payment and put an end to their mortgage liability.

Source:-
Dubai Property

Common mistakes made by the real estate blogs

2010-08-30T08:56:00.000+04:00

Generally a blog is written for the sake of providing information to the users and attracting more traffic. Some businesses create a blog to promote their product. Same is the case with real estate blogs. Most of the people get formal education about the business management and its techniques but the scope of getting formal education on real estate is very low. People who want to become investors or realtors become bird dogs in the real estate market, gain some experience and then jump into the real estate market. This process is considered efficient but people use real estate blogs to get the latest updates and to understand different techniques involved in it. Most of the real estate blogs are very helpful for the people in educating them. Experts in the real estate market and different real estate agencies launch their blogs on real estate but fail to attract the traffic. They fail to attract the traffic due to the following reasons:

Diverting from the main objective

The biggest mistake made by the real estate blogs is that they divert from their actual objectives. They start a blog for a specific purpose and then leave that purpose and move to a different track. Sticking to the basic objective is very important because when you stick to a certain objective you target specific people but if the blog keeps on changing its direction the readers get annoyed.

Blog frequency

Some real estate blogs fail because they rush out to provide information related to real estate. People read blogs to get the true stories and know about the fake rumors. Blogs which rush out in providing information fail to provide the true story. This goes against the real estate blog and creates distrust among the people. Moreover, the frequency of posts on the blog must be kept slow. Do not publish posts too quick or too late both will go against the blog.

Poor content

Most of the real estate blogs fail due to the fact that their content is not strong and attractive. If someone is looking for information related to real estate he must be provided information related to that sector. The real estate includes different projects, real estate laws, rental rates etc. providing information which is not of the interest of the reader will be of no use.

Poor title

Title for the real estate blogs must be catchy. Managing a title for the real estate blog post is difficult than giving a title to other blogs and businesses because it is completely a different field and it has to reflect some relevancy to the real estate. Most of the real estate bloggers make a mistake that they give general titles to the post which people find irrelevant to the real estate. This causes the real estate blog to fail.
Source:
Dubai Property

Can you be the next big name in real estate development?

2010-08-26T08:59:00.000+04:00

Real estate development is one of the most lucrative businesses around the world. People from different regions have become millionaires and billionaires by entering into the real estate business. Real estate development is also one of the most lucrative businesses amongst the many types of real estate businesses. When it comes to development, people often think of very big things in life. They think that developers are only those which have a lot of money and can make very big projects. In reality real estate development does not need limitless money. People often make the mistake of thinking that people with the ability to invest in millions and billions can participate in real estate development projects. There are many ways to achieve this. The first and the simplest way are to start small. This is one of the best ways to start property development. Don’t go for something too big. Other way to achieve the same is to think about pooling your resources with some other developers who might be convinced for a development project in an area but haven’t got much capital to seal the deal. Always start with lesser money projects to learn, and allow yourself to make mistakes. It is better to make mistakes so that you can learn in the future and prepare yourself for larger investments.

Like in every business you shouldn’t get emotional in your approach towards purchasing something. Think about each project as something that will make or loose money for you. When you will start thinking about projects in these terms, it would become much easier for you to decide about any development project. Never get over optimistic about something that isn’t likely to happen. Although real estate development is amongst the most rewarding businesses of all, it is also riskier of all as well. One wrong move can send you many years back. Real estate developers are very well focused and organized in their approach. They exactly know what they should expect from a project and when that project will materialize into money. If you made a wrong decision, all the investment you made will be stuck in that project and won’t be usable in any other project. You should be clear about what you can afford and what you can’t. You cannot go on with just any investment while plunging yourself deep into debt. Never invest everything you have in one single project and always try to look for investments which pay back earlier. This would considerably reduce your risk help you make more money.

Source:
Dubai Property

Becoming a bird dog in real estate market

2010-08-23T08:23:00.000+04:00

Real estate business has become one of the most famous businesses these days. Every day people are looking for opportunities to enter into the real estate market. Even if the real estate market is not performing well people view it as a good sector to invest money as the real estate sector recovers it self quickly. Population increases and creates a demand for real estate projects this is how the real estate sector gains importance.
There are a lot of people who want to start a real estate business and make profit out of it but they fear to make any investments. They fear that they do not have any experience about the market and will have to face failure.

To be a successful investor in real estate market one needs to be a bird dog in the real estate market. Bird dog means to work with a real estate agent or a real estate company, identify a good real estate opportunity and grab it. Bird dogging in real estate allows a person to get paid and learn how to invest in the real estate market. It is such a beneficial way of getting the knowledge about the real estate that no one can even imagine. As a bird dog a person makes his money by connecting the motivated seller to the potential buyers. One does not need to buy a property and worry about the credits and bank balance as he does not have to invest any amount in the real estate market. He only has to locate properties and then compile the details like parcel address, lot number, telephone number, name of the owner, title record and so on for the investor. One can practice bird dogging in the real estate market in spare time and work in his own working hours. He does not have to report to anyone and can also generate a reasonable income.

Real estate investment business is not for everyone. A lot of people enter into the business and then leave the market considering that this market is not for them. Bird dogging gives an inexpensive opportunity to the investors to analyze whether the market is for them or not. A successful real estate bird dog is like a detective. The investor is the client for him and his job is to find motivated sellers. A bird dog does not just find the contact number of the seller but he also checks public records whether the seller is credible or not. He needs to go an extra mile to perform this task. The more efficiency a bird dog will show in his work the better will be his experience in the real estate market. Once spending time as a bird dog in the real estate market, an investor can do better analysis of which properties are good and which are not. And keeping an eye on the market he can invest in the real estate market when he thinks that it is the right time to make any investment. Thus being a bird dog in real estate market is a win-win solution for entering into the market.
Source:
Dubai Property

3 things one must know about the real estate market in 2010

2010-08-19T09:18:00.000+04:00

The global economic down turn is over now and there is stability in the economies. The real estate sector which suffered a lot in the past 2 to 3 years has started recovering again. This is the best time considered by the investors to invest in the real estate sector any where in the world because the property prices are low and they are wished to increase in near future.
Experts in the real estate market who keep an eye on the real estate sector of the whole world say that before making any investments in the commercial real estate sector any where in the world one must know the following 5 things. They will help him make profit. These 5 things are as follows:

A dip in the middle of 2010

It is predicted by the real estate experts that there will be a dip in the property market in the mid of 2010 or by the start of the third quarter. This is due to the reason that market cannot always go up constantly. The real estate market movement is cyclical and it keeps on changing. However, the downward trend is not wished to last long as the real estate sector is improving but investors and businesses which do not take in consideration this fact would have to bear losses. Therefore, they must keep in knowledge the market movement of the real estate sector.

Different property trend in different region

It is expected that there will be a huge difference in the property prices and trend in terms of region. Most of the time the property prices move up and down along with the international market but in 2010 the trend would be a bit funny. Countries like Dubai, Emirates, USA and UK will have a steady growth whereas countries like Saudi Arabia and Egypt will have a bullish trend in the market. A bubble in the real estate market of China is likely to burst which will put negative affect on the market. So, for investors who invest in the international market it is important to know that this year there will be a lot of variations in the real estate market trends of different regions. This all is due to separate demand and supply in the real estate sectors of these countries. Therefore one must be aware of all the changes going around.

Rise in mortgage rates

Mortgage rates in 2010 will rise due to the fact that last year the mortgage rates around the world were really low. When the real estate sectors starts recovering the major economies of the world feel hesitant to provide mortgage properties to the people. Because get the properties mortgaged and they then lose the ability to pay off the debts. Therefore, economies and banking regulators have tightened the lending criteria so that any uncertain situation could be handled and only those people could get the properties which really possess the power to pay back the debts.

If an investor is wishing to enter into the real estate sector this year he needs to take in consideration all these three things so that he might not face any problem in future.
Source:
Dubai Property

Things to consider when designing Real Estate business cards

2010-08-16T08:56:00.000+04:00

With the continuous influx of new technologies, some marketing techniques are becoming obsolete, but there are some methods that are as effective as they were before these advancements. Business card is one of them, still widely used, still effective and will continue to be for years to come by. Business card is usually a 3.5 x 2 inch card with your name, profession/business and contact details. Normally one can get up to 1000 business cards in under $25 dollars. Just $25 dollars combined with some unique designing and carefully selected recipients; which means you get an option to reach and impress 1000 potential customers. You can see how cost effective this is, another advantage of business card is that when you go to someone, introduce yourself and hand over your business card, it is not considered as spam, try doing the same via email and your email will be sent to junk.

Like any other professional, someone who is into real estate business also needs business card, especially the real estate agents or brokers. When finalizing a design for your business card, you must start from placing your business logo on the card, it helps in branding. If you don’t have any company, you can do so by putting your own picture. Very few professionals use their pictures on business cards; this is one thing that may help your card to stick out from hundreds of other business cards. Your card must grab attention in one way or another, there’s no use of printing some text on a plain background, as people get so many of these all the time; it’s not possible for them to keep them all. As a result, it’s often the most distinctive card that makes way to their wallets. This uniqueness should be a result of the design or concept, don’t try to make your card unique by coming up with a business card that differs from standard size.

There’s no set standard for the information you are going to print on your business cards. Lately it was limited to your name and phone number, then e-mail or URL also started to appear on business cards, in coming day’s maybe we’ll see twitter accounts printed below names. Giving out your business cards to only the right persons is as important as coming up with the right design. Business networking is an art and you need to use it wisely, handing out your business card to everyone is useless, and in case you are giving it to someone who is not likely to purchase from you, you should plainly ask them for referrals.
Source:
Dubai Property

How to use a multiple listing service for real estate buying & selling

2010-08-12T07:28:00.000+04:00

For someone who has grown up in this era of technology, it is difficult to imagine how the world actually used to function without fast internet connections or software solutions that make our day to day job so easy. It’s interesting to know how people managed to carry out these tasks without having the wonders like internet or even computer machines at their service. Internet has facilitated people from all walk of life but its advantages to real estate buyers and sellers have been massive. Buying or selling your property is so easy that you can do it without getting the help of any real estate broker. That was not possible some years ago.

Before Multiple Listing Services came into being, real estate brokers did not even collaborate with each other. Each agent was restricted to his own properties, which means buyers or sellers were compelled to employ many agents to find the property they were looking for. After some time, different brokers started to collaborate with each other; the collaboration was limited to brokers only, who shared their listings (and commissions) with other brokers. It was still beneficial to property buyers or sellers who do not have to hire many brokers now. They just went to their broker and pay a small fee in order to get their property listed on a multiple listing service (MLS). These listings were in printed form and limited to a small locality.

Post-Internet Era:

Numerous property portals have cropped up since the advent of internet. These property portals cover the entire cities or even countries. And unlike the typical multiple listing services, these websites are not receptive to real estate brokers only. A big majority of these websites is open to all including brokers, agents, buyers, sellers, tenants, developers and other interested parties. In the start, they were limited to just property details and prices but the more advanced ones are now listing the address, images, map, area, bedrooms, floors, pools or garages details. What’s more, some of these property listing services now allow the users to upload videos with their properties, which means that the sellers can have a virtual tour without even going to the property themselves. Such extensive property data means that buyers or sellers are no more bound to take agents into service, just to get their homes on listing services, though there are many other reasons to hire an agent.
Source:
Dubai Real Estate

How to set salaries for real estate professionals

2010-08-09T09:36:00.000+04:00

Setting a salary for someone who is going to work for you is full of twists and turns, you fix a salary too small and you are risking loosing the good workers, on the other hand a salary too big might be able to retain the employee but it may place an unnecessary burden on your budget and earnings. It becomes a little more knotty when it comes to setting salaries for real estate professionals. For the reason that you don’t have any set standards. Credentials, requirements, experience and expertise differ from client to client; you cannot just take out the average salary of other real estate professionals and start giving your employees the same, but that’s the only benchmark out there so you must compare your salaries with what others are paying to their staff. You can ask other managers directly or take a look at those job advertisements for real estate professionals because most of the time they’ve got the salary range mentioned on it.

Once you are aware of the ongoing salary average in the market, you must make a list of the responsibilities that the employee will have to perform. You might want them to do something which doesn’t necessarily fall into that specific post job description (for example asking your sales staff to do collections or some kind of calculations at the end of the day), for that you’ll have to pay extra amount. By the same token, if the required responsibilities are lesser, then the salary should be adjusted according to the difference. Also, you must keep in mind your size of business, for example there’s no point in competing with some huge property management firms who pay their employees an attractive package, if you are starting a small scale business. A property manager for a couple of properties will surely get significantly less amount than what a property manager for an apartment complex earns.

If you are on a budget, you can hire some greenhorn and train him/her for the job instead of hiring some veteran. Setting salary for the real estate agent is probably the easiest; you can just fix a small amount as basic salary and lay out a good sales compensation package. By doing this you will ensure that you are getting the return on your investment (salaries you’ll pay to your employees are investments). Ideally, you should revise the remuneration package every 6 month or at least once in a year and make changes in accordance with overall inflation rate, their performance and the position of your business.
Source:
Dubai Property

Getting more out of your real estate signs & brochure

2010-08-05T08:39:00.000+04:00

Real estate signs are probably one of the oldest methods of advertising real estate homes on sale. The least a property seller can do, to let the potential buyers know about a property which is for sale, is to hang a sign on door. Even in this age of internet and online portals, real estate signs are used extensively by real estate agents and property owners. Such signs are not limited to properties for sale; they are even more helpful when you have to advertise some house or apartment for rent to attract tenants. Property management services in charge of apartment complex marketing use lots of on site banners and signage.

There are various ways to make a real estate sign as attractive as possible, and the first one is the careful selection of colors. Blue and white are two of the most attention grabbing colors when it comes to real estate signs but you can choose just about any color that suits your design. If you are a real estate brokerage or property management company, you should stick with mostly the same colors (ideally the colors used in your company logo) in your brochures, signs, banners and other advertising material.

Use the space in your signs and brochures wisely, don’t waste it by putting in useless graphics, they will just create destruction instead of helping in anyway. Property images or your company slogan are the only types of images you should use. Apart from the images, you can add property details along with the price or rent. If you can afford some professional graphic designers then go for it, professionally designed brochures are always better than some amateur carrying out tests. If you are going to have some brochures printed out, you must use good quality paper and printing materials, especially if you have to advertise more than one property.
Your contact details including a phone number or your website URL must be prominent enough because colors and design can do only half job (attracting buyers or tenants), it’s your phone number or website URL that will do the rest (which is guiding them to the next step). If you are planning to place these signs at nearby roads and streets, then you must add an arrow to guide the visitors.

Discounts that you can use in your real estate business

2010-08-02T08:39:00.001+04:00

All sorts of business offer discounts from time to time for promotional purposes. Discount or sale allowance creates a win-win situation for the business, its partners and of course, the customers. Customers are happy because they get the product or services at lower rates while the businesses are glad because they get the attention and increased number of sales as a result. Quite often it’s more than a short boost in the number of sales, because those who purchase at discount rates are likely to return even when the rates are back to normal. Businesses also make use of discounts and sales to vend out old fashioned stock. However, in real estate business getting rid of outdated inventory cannot be the motive, still discounts are always useful when you are looking to rise above your competitors and attract new clients.
Following are just some of the discounts you can offer to your clients to attract more business.

Services Based Discount:

If you are a property management company or full service real estate broker, you can offer discount based on the number of services your client purchase. The more services they employ, the greater the discount will be. However, you need to be careful when deciding the percentage of discount you’ll offer. Remember that the discount should work as bait without gobbling up your income.

Free Consultation:

You can offer some basic services or consultation for free. Such offer will attract lots of prospective customers who can come to you and discuss their specific requirements while you can share your expert opinion on the issue. It provides an ideal opportunity to impress them with your knowledge. Once they acknowledge your expertise, they will gladly hire you as their agent or property manager. Quite obviously, you should make such offer when you are confident of making a good impression, if you think you will not be able to then probably you should work on your skills first.

Discount on advance or lump sum payment:

You can encourage your clients to pay full in advance by offering a discount on making lump sum payments. However, you’ve got to treat such customers (who’ve paid in advance) carefully because they’ll be extra sensitive to any disservice. You will get a very bad reputation if you have accepted the payment in advance and your customer feel that you are now careless towards him. Don’t think that you’ve got nothing to loose because you’ve pocketed the payment, always remember that there’s an even more important thing on stake and that is, your reputation.

Different types of real estate license

2010-07-30T08:26:00.001+04:00

License is a kind of permit or authorization by regulatory authorities, which entitles a company or professional to offer some particular services in the market. It’s true that many professionals still manage to operate without a license but more than anybody else, it’s the responsibility of those who are going to employ these professionals to inquire about the license. A valid license speaks volume about the company’s credibility, especially if you are going to invest in some development, you must confirm that the developer or contractor is a licensed one. In case of some fraud, you can contact the license issuing body and ask for help. Similarly, if you are looking to start a career in real estate, you must acquire the relevant license. It doesn’t cost much but it goes a long way in establishing you or your company as a legitimate one and customers are more comfortable when getting into business. There are various types of real estate license; following are some of the basic ones.

Real Estate Broker License:

Whenever some real estate market starts showing sings of growth, many people start working as real estate agents to get their piece of the pie. Working as a real estate agent doesn’t cost much; all you need is to rent an office and collect a list of properties for sale in nearby areas. Real estate agent work as the middle man, buyers and sellers come to these agents with their requirements and they charge commissions for helping them in buying or selling their properties. Not all of these real estate agents are licensed and when you deal with one of these unlicensed ones, you are taking a considerable risk. Some of these agents can be swindlers and you may end up loosing huge amount of money. Licensing requirements are different in different regions but some of the basic ones include a clean criminal record, acquisition of some relevant degree or relevant experience.

Contractor & Developer license:

Another very important license is contractor license. There are so many laws attached with construction and realty development, a contractor needs to abide by all of these laws, also the contractor or property developer needs to have adequate knowledge of state laws and universal standards concerning safety and comfort of the residents. When investing in off-plan properties, the first thing you need to check is if the developer has got the license for construction or development.
Apart from the broker or developer license, there are other types of real estate licenses as well, for example mortgage license or license for property management services.

Source:
Dubai Property

Benefits of Mobile Homes and their drawbacks

2010-07-26T09:18:00.001+04:00

Necessity is not only the mother of invention but the mother of adaptation as well. New needs and requirements keep giving birth to new innovations, modifications and improvisations in all kinds of products. Residences and homes have been subject to these modifications as well. Sometimes it is the lack of land/space that instigates such changes, at times it is some specific needs of the residents. One of the most important factors, which is always considered by all and sundry, is the expenditures attached with accommodation. There are numerous low cost alternatives like apartments, studio apartments or mobile homes. Mobile home is probably the cheapest of all, a mobile home or trailer home is a factory built house which is delivered to a specific location. For some, it will be a totally new concept but mobile homes are quite common in countries like UK or USA. Even though, these structures are transportable, usually the only mobilization that takes place is from factory to the place where it will be erected. Earlier, mobile homes were used by those who were always on the go (e.g. professionals whose job needed lots of traveling) but now they are used as a cheaper alternative to conventional houses.

Benefits:

No matter how lenient the mortgage terms turn out to be, purchasing a home is still an unbearable financial burden for many. Also, (believe it or not) there are some people who simply don’t want to spend an entire fortune on an opulent residence; they consider it a waste of money. The biggest advantage of mobile home is its low cost, monthly rents or mortgage installments can rob you off your peace of mind, not only is it inexpensive to purchase, the maintenance and expanding cost is also less than the traditional ones. Mobile homes are ideal for temporary usage, for example if you are not left with enough funds to build a house after purchasing some land, you can go for a mobile home for the time being. Besides, contrary to the popular belief, mobile homes are actually more spacey than the apartments (especially the double wide homes).

Drawbacks:

The biggest downside to a mobile home is their vulnerability when it comes to safety and the depreciation factor. Mobile homes are not as secured as traditional homes, they do provide a shelter from rains or mild storms, but they are at risk when it comes to hurricanes, tornados or earthquakes (especially the old structures). Another drawback is the price depreciation factor, unlike conventional homes (where the house prices normally climb); prices of mobile homes mostly decline with the passage of time.

Some of the best dining places in Abu Dhabi

2010-07-20T13:31:00.001+04:00

Eating out is one of those few recreational activities that suit each and every occasion, no wonder that restaurant is one of the most commonly-used places for people who are looking to hangout with their friends or family. However, choosing the right restaurant is not that easy. Many a times, people are not aware of some very good food places in their own cities, especially the visitors or tourists. Abu Dhabi has got quite a lot of restaurants that serve all kinds of foods and drinks. Following are just some of them who are worth mentioning.

Bam Bu – one of the best Chinese restaurants in the city:

Bam Bu is situated in the tourist club area near Abu Dhabi mall, although known for its Chinese cuisine, Bam Bu menu is not limited to Chinese food. They serve various kinds of soups including hot & sour, chicken and prawn wanton, tom yum kung, crab egg drop and clear vegetable soup. While the main course include black bean chicken, Satay chicken, sizzling szechuan chicken and cuttlefish, lemon chicken, soy local snapper and many other dishes. They also offer two special deals known as Bam Bu gold and Bam Bu platinum.

Best Indian Restaurants:

Most of the foreigners in UAE come from Asian origin, which means they’ll prefer Indian cuisine the most. There are numerous Indian restaurants; however Moti Mahal is one of the finest among all Indian restaurants, well known for its Tandori chicken. If you are a vegetarian, then you may like to visit Kwalty in Al Markaziyah while Asha is equally good. Other notable Indian restaurants include Nihal, Ruchi, Haveli and Zari Zardozi. For slightly different but equally delicious food you can visit some famous Pakistani restaurant like Karachi city restaurant in tourist club area.

Bice in Hilton for Italian food:

Bice is an award winning restaurant serving authentic Italian food including pastas, risottos and of course pizzas. Even if you are not looking for heavy meal, you can have a cup of espresso to rejuvenate your mind and body. Apart from the good food, some tables provide a breathtaking view of Gulf.
Cafés:
At times, when you don’t really feel like eating and still want to spend some time out with somebody, you can visit one of these cafes and talk over a cup of coffee. Some good hangout places in Abu Dhabi are Café cappuccino and Amassi in Al Markaziya, Café Columbia at tourist club area, Café Mozart at Al Raha Beach and Café Florian in Ras Al Akhdar.

Yet another blow to Dubai’s Economy – Dubai World requests for “Stand Still”

2010-07-16T13:40:00.001+04:00

Financial distress earlier panicked the US and then made its way through the mushroomed real estate of Dubai . State owned “Dubai World” requested for delaying its debt obligations worth $60 billion worsened an already dampened world economic condition. The news has not only upset the investor’s sentiments but also made them think of new safe haven for their investments. Dubai being considered as one of the leading financial centers of the world with its dexterity and strength has disappointed many. Analysts are still hopeful that this news won’t affect the other countries except the few with direct investments in Dubai. Even world leaders have shown confidence in Dubai’s ability to bounce back and get on track. One of the most affected countries is believed to be the UK with many of its commercial banks in Dubai. Realists however see this as a major commitment back out from a government owned entity and have started seeing Dubai’s future pledges as shaky at best. Optimists on the other hand see it as a temporary scenario for the conglomerate. The logic behind the optimism is its diversification of investments into different sectors across Dubai from ranging from port management to commodity exchanges.

It is not all bad and there are projects in pipeline that would make a world of differences. There are however lessons to be learnt from this. First the investments for future Dubai projects are in serious doubts due to questions raised on Dubai’s future economic growth. Another most important thing is the unplanned growth of population centers without even demand for them in the first place. This break away from an on time payment promise will haunt the future investors of Dubai for quite some time. Efforts have been made by the concerned authorities to immune the property investors from future losses by making effective laws, which is a step in the right direction. A new hope in the market is also expected to be seen after an Irish property firm has launched a multi million dollar fund to buy properties to ease pressure on investors. The choice of properties to be bought by the firm seems to be very choosy, although it will help ease some pressure on supply side of the properties. IMF’s recent statement showing its confidence in the parent company of Dubai World “Nakheel” will also help send positive signals to the market. Significant signs of improvement have started emerging in the world economy, however sustainable development needs proper implementation of all checks and balances put in place. Care must be taken to follow a sustainable development model approach compliant with the real demand and supply scenario instead of hype created out of greed and speculation.

Top Football clubs coming to Abu Dhabi for FIFA Club World Cup

2010-07-13T09:16:00.001+04:00

Abu Dhabi has hosted many world class events for a number of sports including cricket, grand prix, tennis, golf and now football. Most recent is the FIFA club world cup which is being played at Zayed Sports City and Mohammed Bin Zayed stadiums. Top club teams have arrived in Abu Dhabi for this tournament. Names like Barcelona FC, Atlanta FC, Auckland City FC, Pohang Steelers FC and TP Mazembo are in Abu Dhabi to take part in these matches. While the spectators can expect to watch in action the players like Xavi Hernandez, Rafael Marquez, Kim Gi-Dong, Federico Vilar, Horacio Peralta, Thiery Henry, Leandro Desabato and Keryn Jordan. Last year Manchester United won the World Cup with Liga De Quito ending as runner up. Barcelona, who will be playing their final against Estudiantes, is the strongest contenders this time around.

Sports Events and Tourism:

Main motive behind hosting these world class events is to give a substantial boost to their tourism industry. Abu Dhabi has adapted a multi-faceted but careful approach to establish itself as one of the major cities in the world. Some huge developments like Sadiyaat Island are in progress, major sports events are taking place. Then there’s some display of their financial strength, you can gauge the extent of their economy by (out of the blue) bailout of $10 billion for Dubai, which is huge especially in perspective of worldwide financial crunch. All in all, Abu Dhabi seems much more in control when compared to the haphazardness that we can see in other parts of the world.

In addition to its positive impacts on Abu Dhabi reputation, football world cup is an anticipated event in UAE, since football is one of those very few sports which are popular among the emirate citizens (cricket is also popular but most of its fan base consists of expatriates). The event has been pretty successful so far, FIFA officials are impressed with the preparation, especially the FIFA president Joseph S. Blatter, who expressed his satisfaction in these words “The president Mohammed Khalfan Al-Rumaithi was being too humble when he said they will do better next year. It is not possible, because the organizational skill, premises, stadiums, hospitality, media arrangements, transport and everything has been the best. I can only congratulate the government of Abu Dhabi.”. Similar admirations and compliments were being made by players and officials of the visiting teams.

Some of the best UAE resorts for tourists

2010-07-08T14:38:00.000+04:00

A resort area is a place where people go for vacations and resort is used to refer to some hotel which is situated in that area. United Arab Emirates has seen remarkable growth when it comes to tourism industry. Dubai was the first emirate to invest in its tourism sector and it paid significantly. Abu Dhabi followed the suit and came up with several tourist attractions and while these two emirates have achieved considerable success, other emirates are also working on their infrastructure and tourism facilities, for instance Sharjah and Ajman.

Beautiful beaches and exotic locations make UAE an ideal place for tourists to spend their vacations. Most of these tourists arrive from developed countries like United States or UK, therefore the absence of world class hotels and resorts can spoil the overall experience, making it harder for foreign tourists to spend quality time in UAE. That’s not the case with UAE though; here you can find superlative hotels and resorts in abundance. Dubai has got the most and Abu Dhabi is not far behind. You can choose among a number of different resorts by comparing their rates, services and locations.

Dubai Resorts:

As stated above, Dubai receives a number of visitors from all parts of the world. If you are looking to visit Dubai and looking for a short stay, you can pick one from the numerous first-rate hotels situated in the city, such as Jabel Ali Golf Resort & Spa, Sheraton Jumeirah Beach Resort, Le Meridien Mina Seyahi Beach Resort & Marina or Al Maha Desert Resort & Spa. All of these resorts are world class and rates are not high as well.

Abu Dhabi Resorts:

Abu Dhabi has a lot to offer to the tourists, the development work is far more planned as compared to Dubai, as a result it’s not as congested as Dubai. Although, there are not as many hotels in Abu Dhabi as Dubai but there are enough hotels to accommodate the tourists coming to the city. Some noteworthy resorts in Abu Dhabi are Sheraton Abu Dhabi Resort & Tower, Golden Tulip Al Jazira Hotel & Resort, Anantara Qasr Al Sarab Resort & Spa, Danat Resort Jebel Dhanna or Desert Islands Resort & Spa.

Sharjah Resorts:

Even before Dubai started to come into the view of outside world, Sharjah was a well known city in some parts of the world, thanks to a series of international cricket matches being played at its ground. If you are looking to spend vacations in Sharjah (the third largest emirate of UAE) you can choose any of Coral Beach Resort Sharjah, Lou Lou A Beach Resort, Marbella Resort Sharjah or Radisson Blu Resort.

Lessons for Dubai and Future course of action

2010-07-06T14:49:00.001+04:00

Dubai has been in the limelight for over a year now. A lot of water has since passed under the bridge. Many say Dubai won’t be able to come out of this crunch for quite sometime, while others call it an artificial oasis which might never be able to gain stronger status. It is the same media which was crying for Dubai’s disproportionate growth and now is declaring it all as a forged presentation of something not in existence. Dubai tried to diversify into tourism mainly after oil. The purpose was to reduce its dependency on oil only and make it otherwise a memorable place to visit. People say there was nothing to it as all had been built in thin air. Well that might be acceptable for a mere argument. You cannot just say it like that when you yourself were there at the same vary place where it all took place. No body tried to look into the factors that led this happening other then the debt crisis. It was a tourism attraction. And the world recession didn’t allow such luxuries after so many people went out of job. Unfortunately, no one mentioned about that. No one talks about US where the hit of recession has brought unemployment above 10% and that even crossing the projected figures. Why do the people forget about the projects that would be completed in 2010? Why don’t they remember that there is no place in the world right now which is attracting any form of investment? Why don’t they want to admit that there are many things in Dubai that aren’t anywhere else in the world?

Dubai’s decision to increase its accommodation capacity was fairly a right one. There are places in the world that went to shambles after crisis and still remain as tall as they can like Japan for instance. One can argue about the timing of that capacity being built by Dubai. It surely wasn’t the right time for doing that thing, but no one knew that Uncle SAM would plunge the world into recession. However, there is no doubt that originally there existed sufficient demand to justify that kind of exploding growth. Dubai is confident in its ability to resurface and retain itself the way it was. They although have lessons to learn from this whole adventure. See the world’s leading countries sunk deep into debts but still sailing smoothly (with the exception of recession as a global phenomenon).

Here’s what will make a great sense to work out things and help make Dubai as one of the roaring economies of GCC. Diversification and not concentration is the order of the day. First of all Dubai should not focus on tourism and oil alone. It should start thinking of other ways to attract investments as well. Second thing is that it should slowly shift its emphasis from localized to foreign direct investments that would help it grow its investments overseas in tough times at home. Third, it should focus on creating long term jobs unlike those created out of the stimulus package in the US (which some argue would last for some time). These jobs might include establishing trading zones, industrial zones and other such investments that would automatically generate demand for their real estate. Building real estate can only result in temporary demand of the workers of any class for the real estate work itself. You need buildings for people to not only live but also have jobs for getting them fed on sustainable basis. Dubai has done a lot to get itself out of this recession; however it should turn this lemon into lemonade by focusing on projects that would ensure its economy and population’s long term sustainable survival.

Dubai real estate investors deterred by the news of frauds

2010-07-01T14:29:00.000+04:00

Dubai dream may not be over as yet, but it’s fast fading away. Global recession has already reduced the tourists and foreign investment coming into Dubai real estate sector to bare minimum, and now the news of frauds and scams are there to further frighten off the investors. These days, Dubai is in the news for all the wrong reasons (the most recent being the “standstill” request being made by Dubai World, which has literally shaken the world’s economy). There’s no doubt that Dubai government is doing its best to control the damage, taking steps like tightening up on fraud companies and professionals, introducing new laws, and seeking financial help from Abu Dhabi (who doesn’t appear too keen to help). However, the setbacks like recession, credit crunch and frauds are coming out in succession (just like the opening of Pandora’s Box), making it really difficult for Dubai to regain its charisma. Sorting out all of these problems is not going to be easy, but one thing is sure; Dubai cannot afford to loose its credibility at this critical juncture.

Dynasty Zarooni was one of the first well known real estate company to appear in the news along with fraud allegations. The chairman Kabir Mulchandani, who at first denied the allegations (not surprisingly), ended up being held later on accusations of “fraud and embezzlement”. The lawsuits filed against the firm involved more than AED 6 billion. Then some top officials at Nakheel were investigated for bribery charges. Even though, you can’t blame Nakheel for the wrongdoing of its executives, the name associated with the accused was enough to scare investors. A fairly recent scam to surface on the scene is the one that involves Al Fajer Properties.

Charges are laid against many individuals, lots of arrests being made, however that’s not enough to satisfy the investors. One thing that continues to woe the investors is Dubai authorities attempt to brush local’s involvement in some of these frauds, under the carpet. Many experts are now questioning the credibility of all these probes and sentences taking place. Nothing intimidates investors more than the risk of fraud, for that reason Dubai government needs to act fast before it is too late; otherwise it’ll be hard to get back investor’s trust and transparency once it’s gone. In that case, the Dubai authorities will have no one else to blame, but themselves.

Dubai Debt Crisis – All is not well as yet

2010-06-25T11:59:00.000+04:00

Trouble never comes alone, especially in Dubai’s case, where troubles are arriving in groups and refusing to leave anytime soon. Every good piece of news is overshadowed by a couple of bad ones coming out of Dubai property market. Just when investors were rejoicing over the Abu Dhabi bailout, reports have emerged that the total Dubai’s debt has reached a staggering $170 billion, which is more than double of what was previously believed ($80 dollars). Not to mention the reports regarding Abu Dhabi’s bailout, which clarifies that Dubai will actually receive just $5 billion instead of $10 billion. (Chances are that they’ll be thinking of renaming “Burj Khalifa” back to “Burj Dubai” now).

Generally, it’s not easy to get out of debt once you’re in, both at individual and at national level. Going by the appearances, it will take quite some time for Dubai to come out of their huge debt, no matter how swift the recovery is. It banks mainly on its real estate sector as the Oil and Gas reserves in Dubai are not sufficient enough. However, looking at the situation of global financial markets and the overall conditions it’s not likely that Dubai can regain investor’s trust anytime soon. Dubai’s last hope, its oil rich neighbor Abu Dhabi does not seem too keen to extend helping hand. As a result, investors are getting flustered, trying their best to fish out their money and leave.

There’s nothing stopping the price decline either, some experts had claimed price recovery in 2009. By the looks of it, we’ll not be witnessing any, even in 2010. Looking at the lingering speed of construction, it is undecided as to how long will it take before these huge projects are completed. Those who had invested in these off plan properties will not be too happy about these long delays, in fact a big number of these investors are already asking regulatory authorities and Dubai property court to help them in getting their money back from developers.

Future of tourism industry doesn’t look as bleak though, in fact Dubai cruise industry has seen some healthy growth in the recent past. The opening of the new terminal in Port Rashid and Royal Carribbean’s cruise ship, called Brilliance of the Seas, will definitely provide the much needed boost to Dubai tourism sector. The cruise ship alone will attract more than 30,000 passengers to the region in the coming days.

Dubai – Tourism Destination 2010

2010-06-22T14:42:00.001+04:00

Dubai has never lost the charm as a favorite tourist resort. Heart breaking Real Estate News has affected it, but the adventurers never settle for less. 2010 is just a few days away. A lot of countries, whose economy is tourism dependent, do look towards future projection of tourism. Bad News has been a blessing in disguise for the tourists. It has resulted into a significant decline of prices in hotels. Internet statistics also show an increased trend of searching for Dubai’s hot spots and accommodations many times. The price is averaging around 80% in the beginning of 2010, when compared to the starting prices of year 2009.One tourism expert and manager of a large hotel chain commented “Dubai has never been such an affordable trip. We look forward for even a better vacancy rate for our accommodations. Where else you can get such enjoyment in this monetary value.”

The price wars have really set the pace and who knows when you get your hands on a Dubai ticket, things would have further leveled. Burj Dubai being the tallest building of the world will also be inaugurated in 2010. Burj Dubai’s 10 hectare park is already hitting the news. This would also make a great appeal for many to see this marvel of famous Arab builders “Emaar”. Dubai’s metro train service has also been an attraction to many and that will also grab a lot of tourism focus. Dubai’s real estate industry has been in woods for some time. However, Dubai’s real estate is very optimist about 2010. They say that 2010 will be very good for Dubai because of the two main reasons. First the tallest building of the world “Burj Dubai” is going to be inaugurated in 2010. Then most importantly Dubai’s reduced hotel packages will reduce the undue distraction caused by the recent events. One of the real estate agent Fakih remarked the events of 2010 as “I see a lot of hope in the market. Things have already started improving. Tourism is our strength and once we regain it, this will really help us reestablish our selves”.

General real estate community and rulers in particular see a lot of optimism. Tourism is said to be one of the major GDP contributors for Dubai. The year 2010 tourist attractions will not only help alleviate the confidence of the foreign world, but would also help bring an optimistic picture. If we look at 2009, there had been many things that weren’t expected to happen, but they just happened. Real estate experts across UAE have a firm belief in Dubai’s ability to resurface. They say that 2009 was very tough on Dubai, but they are optimistic that lessons learnt will help them do their jobs better. The new real estate laws have also been welcomed by the real estate community to control unnecessary hype and speculation.

An analysis of Dubai Real Estate Market in year 2009

2010-05-18T09:22:00.002+04:00

Year 2009 was not as bad for Dubai real estate market as you’d expect after going through news of so many setbacks. Even though there were plenty of issues concerning property buyers, the number of real estate transactions didn’t really decline as compared to previous years. This year, approximately 80,000 transactions recorded which is not significantly lesser than the previous years. In fact, in many ways year 2009 was the second best year in terms of real estate transactions taking place (in case we are just comparing on basis of the number of transactions in the last decade.) However, lots of activity in a property market doesn’t really mean that the market is booming, for the reason that majority of these transactions can be the case of owners selling their properties at discounted rates and leaving the market.

Another very interesting aspect to look at is the number of foreign investors taking interest and investing in Dubai properties. Again, the figures were not that bad. Indian and UK nationals had the biggest share while Pakistan was not much behind. There was considerable investment coming from Iran and Saudi Arabia as well. Other notable countries were Kuwait, Oman, United States and Russia. Palm Jabal Ali and Dubai Marina had the biggest numbers of properties sold. Year 2009 see lots of major projects coming to a halt and it includes some projects by giant developers like Nakheel or Emaar. Only good thing to come out in this aspect was the completion of Burj Khalifa (Formerly known as Burj Dubai).

RERA came up with a number of new laws for developers, investors, brokers and sellers to tighten the realty sector (and to tighten the media sector as well). Dubai property court was launched to take up lawsuits as the tussle between property developers and investors continued, involving mainly the off plan properties. Most notable laws were Law no 9 of 2009 and the one related to rent increase and other tenancy issues. The global financial crunch took a toll on mortgage markets as well and it went through more than 70% drop this year. Prices and rents kept falling in most localities except for some of the newly built developments; chances are that the decline will continue in this year as well. Even though it’s far from being all over as yet, but it seems we’ll have to wait for a couple or more years to see some notable recovery.

Abu Dhabi likely to be the strongest performing real estate market in MENA

2010-05-18T09:19:00.000+04:00

If you’re one of those who didn’t manage to get to the Dubai real estate market at the right time, when it was going through its early growth and the investors were making stupendous profits and real estate developers planned and completed some extra ordinary projects. Unfortunately the circumstances changed as soon as you started to think about investing in Dubai real estate (not that you’re to be blamed), since then it has been a kind of mess up with one setback striking after the another. It’d be better if you give Dubai a little break (hoping that it will come back in near future). In the meantime you may focus on its neighborhood where Abu Dhabi is fast becoming the center of attention. The biggest emirate is now anticipated to be the strongest performing real estate market in MENA by experts. According to Jones Lang LaSalle's “Investor Sentiment Survey”, real estate investors and developers are now eyeing at Abu Dhabi as the next big thing in the whole region.

So what are the ranking factors that place Abu Dhabi at the top of the list containing the most promising real estate markets in MENA? Especially when the chances are that the real estate and financial crisis will keep on worsening in its neighboring emirate (Dubai). To start with its plus points, Abu Dhabi can keep producing oil for another 150 years (at current production level) as compared to the minimal reserves Dubai is left with (estimated to last not more than 10 years). No wonder Abu Dhabi is the wealthiest emirate in United Arab Emirates. For that reason, Abu Dhabi is less likely to suffer from financial shortage in near future.

Middle East markets are set to grow because of currently low prices and high demand for real properties. Here, the real estate prices are considerably lower than those of western markets, which mean more possibilities for short term yields. Recent economic crisis did not affect this region that bad and the situation will get even better with the passage of time. After a brief pause, investors will be looking to start off once again with some promising markets and Abu Dhabi will surely attract a lot of investors with all its advantages and plus points. However, one only hopes that Abu Dhabi has learned from Dubai mistakes. Some serious efforts will be needed to win investor’s trust after the news of troubles that foreign investors are facing in Dubai. Similarly the real estate authorities will have to keep a check on the market to curb unproductive activities like property flipping.

Abu Dhabi bails out Dubai

2010-03-03T14:38:00.001+04:00

Dubai World has been in news for some time now. Every one was expecting Abu Dhabi to step forward and help Dubai World get out of the recession. It was a difficult decision to make and many were in doubt regarding the ability or willingness of Abu Dhabi to give Dubai World a helping hand. Earlier Dubai World had announced about its inability to pay debts in time and asked for rescheduling. Dubai’s government showed full confidence in its ability to rebound and stay solid. Although it was difficult to determine when and how will Dubai World’s crisis see its end. Dubai’s government announced on 14th December, 2009 that it has been funded by Abu Dhabi for a staggering $10 billion to help meet its financial obligations in time, which were also due on the same day. Out of these $10 billion, $4.1 billion is said to be used in helping the government meet its liabilities against the Islamic bond issued in November 2007. The news was taken as a new ray of hope across the real estate world and for all the UAE economies. The stock exchanges showed a great response to this welcoming news and Dubai’s main share index went up by 10%, while Abu Dhabi’s share index recorded a rise of 7%. Dubai’s government has tried to capitalize on this opportunity and restore the world’s and investor’s confidence in Dubai and UAE in general.

Chairman of Dubai’s Fiscal Committee earlier mentioned that “We are here today to reassure investors, financial and trade creditors, employees, and our citizens that our government will act at all times in accordance with market principles and internationally accepted business practices." He also announced to implement a new law on bankruptcy saying “This law will be available should Dubai World and its subsidiaries be unable to achieve an acceptable restructuring of its remaining obligations.” The rest of the amount might go into helping Dubai stabilizing & getting done with its pressing issues like working capital & interest payments. Dubai is said to lack the deep pockets like Abu Dhabi having huge oil reserves. This will hopefully bring Dubai out of troubled territories at least for the time being. Others however see this never ending dilemma as Dubai’s inability to pay its obligations in time and are dubious about its ability to sustain in a longer run. An expert commented advocated the move saying that “I hope this brings assistance to help sort the credit crunch. Many experts see it as a relief, but I think we will have to have a wait and see approach on how things unfold before jumping onto any conclusion. And future course of action must be decided with caution”.

Starting and running a Real estate agency in Dubai

2010-01-28T11:09:00.000+04:00

Working as a real estate broker is a rewarding career in Dubai, knowing the number of sales and purchase that take place. Real estate agents are in demand because the majority of investors, buyers and sellers are not fully aware of the dynamics of the market, since most of the investors are coming from other countries. Lack of knowledge regarding real estate laws and matters make them vulnerable against various types of frauds, except when they are represented by an experienced broker. In past, some fraudsters took advantage of the absence of any specific regulations controlling real estate agents. These swindlers managed to defraud both buyers and sellers. Thankfully, RERA took quick steps towards making and implementing regulatory measures to curb these fellows who were giving bad name to the entire market.

Starting a business in Dubai:

Before we move on to the guidelines for setting up a real estate business in Dubai, let’s have a brief look at the general procedures for starting any kind of business in Dubai. The first thing you need to do is to get familiarized with the region, for the reason that there are some pretty unique rules and regulations, ignoring them can be risky. For example you need to involve a UAE citizen as a partner, in fact the partner is supposed to own at least 51% of the interests, which allows them to be in charge most of the time. Certainly, a big put off for most entrepreneurs but that’s how it goes. Also, you must be having at least $10,000 dollars in your bank account before you are approved by the ministry of commerce.

Starting a real estate agency:

Along with the general requirements, you must meet specific requirements set by real estate regulatory authorities. First, you need to obtain a separate license for each and every service you are going to offer. For example, license for buying and selling, license for real estate leasing, license for real estate consultancy or a license for property management. Similarly, licenses are required in case of property inspection services, real estate exhibition, real estate mortgage broker, consultancy, and the likes.

Another requirement worth mentioning is the training provided by RERA, all real estate agents must pass this course before they can practice. Remember, only UAE or GCC nationals can apply for the ownership license for the brokerage after presenting the certificate of good conduct issued by CID. However, if you are not a UAE or GCC national, you can apply for the license to work as a real estate consultant if you’ve got at least 5 years of experience under your belt.

Role of homeowner’s Association in Dubai

2010-01-07T15:42:00.000+04:00

If you are buying (or living in) a separate house, you don’t really need to worry about Homeowner’s Association, however if you are looking to purchase an apartment/condominium in a jointly owned development then you must be alert to the role and functions of a homeowner association. By definition, homeowner association is a separate entity formed to oversee and manage common areas in a jointly owned property. Even though, it looks as if it’s a pretty harmless committee that keeps an eye on common areas and watch over simple maintenance work, lack of knowledge regarding rules and covenants while living in an apartment complex (or any other jointly owned property) can get you in serious trouble.

For example you’ve bought an apartment, as soon as you move to your new residence, you’re approached by the HOA and informed that you must get rid of your beloved pet in order to be able to live peacefully, since homeowner's association for this particular property doesn’t permit any kind of pets. Every so often, HOA can impose restrictions that may sound hilariously odd, as well as proving ridiculously bounding at the same time. Therefore, at times this seemingly innocent entity can turn out to be a nonsensical association that’s set out to make things difficult for you, whilst you are at their mercy. Bottom-line, make sure you’ve read and inquired about the rules and regulations of the concerned association in case you are buying or renting in a jointly owned property.

Homeowner’s Association in Dubai:

New Strata Law allows, in fact directs everybody who’s in the possession of jointly owned property in Dubai to be tuned in to the laws of their respective homeowner's association. According to the rules, Home owner’s association will legally come into being when the first unit is registered in the owner’s association register with RERA; once it is formed all unit owners will automatically become the members, while developers can represent the unsold units. The executive committee of all homeowner associations in Dubai must be having a chairman, vice chairman, secretary and treasurer (all of them duly elected by the members by majority vote).

Even though by-laws specific to the owner’s associations are not issued as yet, general guidelines are there which state that small internal changes are allowed if they do not have a bearing on the peace or privacy of other owners. However, if you are looking to make significant changes in external or internal structure, then they must be approved by the association in advance.

Dubai ready to bid for Olympics 2020 and World’s Exhibition

2009-12-22T08:47:00.006+04:00

Hosting an event like Olympics is not a small deal, running a promotional campaign alone may cost millions of dollars. But then again, what was the last time when you hear of anything small, coming out of Dubai? It has been long since Dubai has stopped doing anything “small”. From Palm Islands (world’s largest man made island) to Burj Dubai (World’s tallest building), Dubai has gone for everything grand and that too in a grand manner. There should be no doubt in anybody’s mind that Dubai will bid for 2020 Olympics, especially after Qatar had for 2016 games. It is quite evident that Dubai is keen to rank itself among the topmost cities of the world and it seems to be aware of the fact that all it takes is one Olympic games and bang, suddenly the host city will become the center of attention for all four corners of the world. Add World’s expo that takes place every five years and you’ve got an unbeatable combination of sports, business, tourism and media’s focus.

International Olympic Committee chooses one city among all of the candidates (this selection is made seven years before the year of the Olympics). The committee currently consists of 112 regular and 23 honorary members. The host is decided by majority vote; whereas the members coming from the competing cities are not allowed to cast their votes. As said earlier, hosting Olympic Games is not a small deal and many candidates do not even make it to the final stage of selection, as their proposals are rejected on the basis of insufficient preparations and resources. Before the voting, each of the short listed candidates run extensive promotional campaigns, while the IOC evaluation commission visits these cities for inspection of stadiums, Olympic village and other preparations.

What are the chances for Dubai?

Despite of its past record of pulling off projects which were deemed impossible for many, it’d be hard nevertheless for Dubai to get elected as the host. Primarily because of its weather which is scorching hot in summers. On the other hand, such drawbacks were also there when they announced the now-completed (almost) projects like Burj Dubai or Dubai Metro. There’s no doubt that it takes much more to host Olympic games than erecting a super tall building, still when we talk about Dubai, we can expect some serious efforts with decent chance of success.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum has recently set up a committee, which will explore the likelihood of Dubai successfully hosting events like Olympic Games and world’s Expo in 2020. Bear in mind that Dubai considered bidding for 2016 games as well, however it didn’t go off. This time, we can safely assume that they’ll go on with the bid, making Dubai the second Arab city to vow for Olympic hosting and probably the first to host one. Who knows?

Abu Dhabi ranked in the “Top 10 cities to travel in 2010”

2009-12-09T12:05:00.000+04:00

For a period of a decade or so, Dubai continuously overshadowed its neighboring estates by attracting the bigger chunk of tourists and visitors from all over the world. Such was the magnetism and charisma, that the majority of people who visit UAE didn't even know the names of other estates, let alone visiting them. Slowly but surely other estates are catching up one by one, and not surprisingly Abu Dhabi is the first one to get there. Recently, the famous travel information portal lonely planet has compiled a list of top ten cities to travel in 2010 and Abu Dhabi's name is included in the list. What's there that makes Abu Dhabi appear in the list with the likes of Kyoto, Lecce, Charleston, Vancouver or Singapore? Let's take a look.

Abu Dhabi is the capital of United Arab Emirates (and you thought it was Dubai … Eh?) With all of its oil reserves and a visionary ruler like Sheik Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Abu Dhabi is rapidly developing a world class infrastructure to promote tourism. It includes huge developments like Sadiyaat Island, Al Sowwah Island, Yas Island, highways, museums, hotels, parks, zoos, and shopping malls. Following in the footsteps of Dubai (while learning from its mistakes) Abu Dhabi has employed a more careful approach. Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (established in 2004) has set their sights on attracting more than 3 million visitors annually by 2015. The goal doesn't seem far fetched, given the kind of finances they’ve got.

Abu Dhabi has got plenty to offer to the tourists arriving at this vibrant city, from first rate golf courses to skiing facility, from ice skating to scuba diving. Abu Dhabi is famous for its cultural activities; you'll find all sorts of events including art exhibitions, traditional music and folk dances. Emirates Palace, Beach Rotana Hotel and Hilton Baynunah are some of the most famous hotels in Abu Dhabi. Abu Dhabi has just hosted Formula One Grand Prix, and the 5.5 km long track is set to host many more. ADTA is planning to build up to 17,000 new hotel rooms before the end of 2015. Other noteworthy projects include the expansion of Abu Dhabi International Airport (which is already the second busiest airport of UAE), Khalifa City, Mussafah, Corniche and City Centre. At the moment, tourists may or may not agree with the lonely planet ratings, but if everything goes according to the plan, Abu Dhabi is going to be one of the world's top tourist locations by 2015.

Modern day iconic buildings – What really makes them iconic?

2009-11-17T11:52:00.002+04:00

No standard definition exists for an “iconic building”, maybe one thing which is common with all of these iconic structures is that none of them was built with a purpose to serve as an iconic building. Pretty drivel, you must have said, but then it’s hard to find any other similarity between a list that comprises of buildings like Sydney Opera House, Eiffel Tower, Burj ul Arab, Statue of Liberty, Seattle Space Needle, colosseum or Empire State building.

Not all of them are exceptionally tall (e.g. Taj Mahal, Opera House), not all of them are incredibly large (e.g. white house), and neither do they can be classified as the most beautifully designed buildings. So what really makes them iconic? It is probably, the unique design, concept, symbolic value and also the time when they were built, which makes them iconic.

It’s best that we explore these building on a case by case basis rather than discussing them as a group.

Eiffel Tower:

It’s hard to imagine, how a structure that was criticized in the harshest manner by the experts and artists of its time, and which was set to be dismantled soon after it has served its basic purpose (Exposition Universelle) is now regarded as the most recognized structure of the world. The tower, which was once considered a blot on the landscape of Paris, is now visited by millions and millions of people every year, because they think it is one of the most beautiful man made structure.

Sydney Opera House:

Sydney Opera House took almost 16 years in its completion and suffered numerous setbacks during the course of this time. With all kind of problems including skyrocketing cost, project getting politicized, changes made in the original design, Jorn Utzon (the original architect) resign, the building turned out to be worth all the efforts, once it was completed. Situated on the Sydney Harbor, this master piece has an outstanding design, no wonder Jorn Utzon won Pritzker Prize, the most celebrated award for any architecture.

Burj Ul Arab:

The most recent addition into the list of iconic buildings of the world is probably Burj Ul Arab in Dubai, the second tallest hotel in the world. Built entirely on 920 feet of reclaimed land, Burj Ul Arab is masterfully built to look like a sail of Arabian Dhow, simple yet elegant. Simplicity ends at the basic design though, as the interior gets as opulent as it can get in any world class hotel.

Empire State Building:

The Empire State building is one of the most adored landmarks in United States of America. Built in the era of Great Depression, it was completed in a remarkable time span of less than 2 years. It continued to be the world’s tallest building for many years and still holds 15th place on the list of world’s tallest buildings. It was also the first building having more than one hundred floors.

Looking into some of the largest shopping malls of the world

2009-11-05T13:23:00.000+04:00

The Dubai Mall:

Imagine a shopping mall that covers a staggering 12 million square feet of land, for many people in the world it will be a far-fetched idea. However, for a city like Dubai it is kind of regular news now. Dubai mall was inaugurated in the end of 2008, covering 12 million square feet of land in total and having space for 1200 shops, this mall is the world's biggest shopping mall (in terms of land it covers). Situated right in the neighborhood of world's tallest tower (which is not yet completed), Burj Dubai. Main attractions are the Gold market (Gold Souk) with 220 jewelry shops, a huge aquarium that has made its way into the Guinness book of world records and an underwater zoo, Sega republic, a splendid ice rink and The famous Dubai fountain. Visitors will also find a huge luxury hotel within this mall, as well as Dubai's biggest Cineplex.

Golden Resources Mall:

People's Republic of China has got some of the biggest shopping malls in the world, and why not? China as a region has the largest population in the world. Unfortunately though, the biggest super markets (Golden Resources Mall & South China Mall) are nowhere near to be called successful, as the number of occupied shops and the shoppers is extremely low, mainly because of the location. Golden Resources Mall has got shops in excess of 1000, though most of them are still vacant. Irrespective of its success business wise, Golden Resources is still the world's second largest shopping mall.

West Edmonton Mall:

Moving from Asia to the North America (and skipping two or three other biggies in the Asian region), we have West Edmonton Mall of Canada on our list of biggest shopping malls, which offers a combination of shopping extravaganza and recreational facilities. It was accredited as the world's largest mall for many years until some developing Asian countries came up with one massive super market after another, now it ranks on no 5th in the list. However, if we compare these malls in terms of visitors, West Edmonton Mall will probably rank above other contenders. In addition to 800 shopping stores, there is a huge amusement park known as Galaxyland, world's largest waterpark, Luxurious Hotel, Recreation center, huge ice rink, and many other tourist attractions.

SM Mall of Asia:

The Fourth largest shopping mall of the world, SM mall covers 407,000 square meters and is described as a tourist destination instead of just being a super market. The entertainment section offers a whole range of cinemas and movie theaters including one of the world’s biggest IMEX screens, skating rink, huge bowling Alley, music hall and a very unique Science discovery center. Philippine’s largest convention center is also a part of SM Mall of Asia with a capacity of 6000 people. Almost all famous brands have got an outlet in the Mall; shoppers can find fashion garments, home and furnishing products, jewelry shops, Art, hypermarkets, Travel and financial services. Many world class events were also hosted at this place in the past three years.

Federal Housing Administration Loans in United States

2009-10-21T08:50:00.000+04:00

If you are feeling a little blue because of ongoing recession, you should better spend some time reading about the great depression, you will feel a little reassured, for the reason that things do not turn out as dire as they did at that time. Back in 1930, when the recession surfaced, it left the bigger part of the world’s economy in stutters, billions of people lost their jobs, all sort of trade and industries came to a grinding halt. When most people were finding it hard to have anything to eat, it was impossible for them to even think of owning a house. As a result, real estate market was comprehensively grounded and a push was needed from the government to get the things back in motion. It was that point of time, when Federal Housing Administration was instigated in the year 1934, with the objectives of facilitating both lenders and borrowers.

Although the term FHA loans sounds like it is a loan issued by Federal Housing Administration, in reality FHA doesn’t really give out any loan, all it does is to appraise loan application and provide a kind of insurance to the lender on approved applications. The need of this insurance arose from the financial conditions at the time of great depression, after that it has came up with several financing packages to deal with various economic situations, the most recent being the home financing program known as “Obama mortgage”. According to the official website of the department of housing and urban development, FHA has insured more than 34 million home mortgages up till now, which shows the wide spread influence of FHA loans on American housing sector.

The basic objective behind all types of FHA loan is enabling low or middle class families to have possession of their homes. Requirements to qualify for FHA loan are not different than other conventional loans, except that they are a lot more lenient (easy qualifying, low down payments, etc). Some of the basic requirements include a steady income, good credit history with no recent bankruptcy or foreclosures on your records, and of course the total amount of mortgage payment should be in accordance with your monthly income. You can also refinance your previous loan, to avail the benefits of FHA loans even if you had obtained a conventional loan earlier. Another thing worth mentioning is that you can obtain FHA loans only from the lenders approved by US department of housing and urban development.