Some Developments in Dubai’s Property Sector

According to estimates by a leading property consultancy firm, the sale prices of offices, flats and apartments in Dubai will continue their fall through the first quarter of 2010, mainly because of the excess of supply over demand. It is further estimated that apartment prices are set to take the biggest hit with a decline as much as 20 percent predicted during the next 18 months.
The firm noted that following the increase seen during the third quarter of 2009, the once promising villa prices also remained largely stagnated in Dubai with a marginal increase of 0.2 percent during the last quarter of 2009.
As for the prices of apartments, these dropped 4.3 percent in the last quarter of 2009, following the 3 percent decline in the third quarter. Moreover sale and leasing transactions in the commercial sector also remained low during fourth quarter 2009, with an average decline of 5.1 percent in sale prices, while the average office rents declined 8.4 percent.
The report predicted that average rents in Dubai are likely to fall, as there is an excess of residential units at a time when demand is fundamentally weak.
Another new trend being witnessed is that Dubai developers are considering renting out their new units on furnished basis. This helps generate immediate revenue for them, rather than having buildings without tenants. Moreover the furnished apartments have a higher rental value due to availability of conveniences such as bedroom, furniture and kitchen appliances and the higher investment made in them.
Real estate agents state that the rentals for furnished apartments are 10 to 20 percent higher on average as compared to unfurnished apartments. Given the current situation in Dubai Property market, several investors have started to look at acquiring furnished apartments for short-term rentals. Many estimate that several individual units will be converted into furnished apartments this year.
Presently, rents for furnished apartments are falling in the range between Dhs. 5,500 and Dhs. 8,500 per month. There is also wide consensus that furnished residential property will generate a 15 to 20 percent premium over a typical unfurnished property. As an example, a furnished single bedroom shoreline apartment at the Palm Jumeirah should normally fetch Dh. 150,000 per year by way of rent, while a similar unfurnished apartment should generate about Dh. 120,000 per year.
Meanwhile another advisory firm has remarked in its report for the fourth quarter of 2009 that the selling rates of Dubai’s housing units are slowly approaching their intrinsic value, which shows that the real estate market is beginning to settle down. As a result of this, we might see slight corrections every quarter, but no major changes from current levels.
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Ownership of Property in UAE

Basking in the warmth of the Persian Gulf, the Middle East houses the United Arab Emirates (UAE) which is made up of seven sovereign states aka emirates, namely: Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Fujairah, Ras al- Khaimah, Sharjah and Umm al- Quwain. UAE is home to a unique amalgam of Islamic and western culture that produces a wonderfully modern country offering something to all. With its modern cities teeming with world-class facilities such as super-luxurious hotels, marvelous recreational destinations, and mouth-watering shopping places, UAE has become a major tourist hotspot and a prime relocation destination for world’s peoples.

The year 2002 brought a sweeping revolution in the UAE real estate sector when the foreigners were allowed to buy freehold Real estate in UAE for the first time ever. The very year marked the onset of the UAE property boom that has only gained momentum with the passage of years and till date shows no signs of slowing down. It was in Dubai that the property freehold decree was first issued by crown prince General Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoom. The laws that followed further reinforced the ability of foreigners to own a freehold property in Dubai. The other emirates to follow suit were Ras Al Khaimah and then Ajman which allowed freehold property ownership in 2004.

Dubai- Model of Remarkable Growth

The current history of Dubai has seen a charming change from regional trading port to the city of the future which we see today. Dubai is now one of the worlds most advanced and progressive cities with one of the world's most vigorous real estate markets.
The main turn for the Dubai property market happened 2002, when it was made legal for foreign nationals to own property in Dubai on a freehold basis, something which was not before available. An necessary part of Sheikh Maktoums 'Vision of Dubai' this alteration in real estate legislation was seen as an active encouragement to the international investment community, who took up the offer in substantial numbers. In 2006, the changes of the land law in the Emirate allowed foreign nationals the right to register their freehold property which proved to be a real catalyst to large amounts of investment into the Real estate Dubai market.
As well as the changes to real estate legislation, the authorities in Dubai have looked to draw considerable overseas corporate investment in the region via the creation of a highly attractive set of commercial incentives. The creation of these free trade zone environments proved highly successful, and resulted in large numbers of companies relocating to Dubai to advantage of the favourable taxation and trading environments on offer in the emirate. Today, there are over 20 world-class free zones in Dubai including the Jebel Ali free zone and Dubai Media and Internet City. These free trade zones offer companies relocating to Dubai a range of commercial benefits including 100% foreign ownership, 100% corporate taxation exemption and 100% import and export taxation exemptions.
The result of the growing popularity of Dubai, both in tourism and as a commercial trading environment, has certainly resulted in a large increase in the population. Today, over 1.5 million people live and work in the emirate, which has only served to increase the demand for all types of property in Dubai, both on a short term and long term basis.

Investment in Dubai Real Estate Property Market

Far and above, the most ordinary type of property purchase that foreign nationals are making in Dubai involves Dubai real estate investment. In current years, the government of Dubai has made an intensive effort to attract more foreign investment into Dubai and UAE than at any other time in the history of city.

By way of example, a significant number of foreign nationals have invested in business and commercial property within Dubai. More often than not, a group of foreign investors tend to come together to invest in a particular commercial property in order to spread the risk a bit. Even though Dubai is one of the more stable countries within that particular region of the world, the Middle East remains something or a powder keg and the future stability of the region is always a concern.

Some Points That Will Help You in Retaining Good Tenants

By: Brendan O'Brien

Good tenants are easy to ignore – until they tell you they are moving out. Why are they leaving? Well, it might be because you ignored them. And when tenants plan to move, it’s very, very difficult to get them to change their minds.

The reason you may ignore good tenants is that you spend so much time working on your not-so-good ones; cajoling them to clean up their acts or planning to evict them. When you are always on the phone with Average or Bad tenants A, B, and C, you quickly start thinking of Good tenant D as simply a check that comes in the mail, on time every month, like clockwork. But your good tenants are much more than that. They are human beings who:

• Understand that they are paying good money, and expect good service in return
• Notice when their building seems to be going downhill
• Recognize when they are being B.S.ed or treated disrespectfully or dismissively

On the other hand, YOU may not recognize these feelings in your good tenants, simply because they may be reluctant to share them. The complaints are more likely to come from your poorer tenants, and you may be more likely to dismiss them as a result. The good tenants are more likely to suffer in silence, before deciding to move on.

It’s vitally important that you retain your good tenants, not only because they make your land lording more pleasant, but because they are so hard to replace. Once that unit is vacant, you may not re-rent it for months, and you have no idea how the next tenant will turn out. He could be just bad enough to make your life really difficult, or so bad that he only lasts for a month or two before eviction. Since your good tenants are less likely to contact you, you have to stay in touch with them. Try to get a read on their feelings by calling or emailing at least once a month. Here’s a short checklist of questions:

• Does anything need repairs in the unit?
• Are you noticing any maintenance issues in common areas?
• Do you have any suggestions for me?
• How are your neighbors?

Not only have you learned how satisfied your good tenants feel, you’ve made them feel important and wanted. Now you need to follow up by addressing their concerns, if any, sincerely and quickly. Bear in mind as you do so that you can’t get into trouble for being nicer to your good tenants than your bad ones. If a good tenant’s got a maintenance issue, generally make it your first priority – the only more important issues will relate to safety or potential for very serious problems, such as fire or water damage hazards. If a good tenant’s got a beef with a neighbor, get all the facts and deal with it right away – making sure you get the neighbor’s side of the story before making a judgment. If a good and bad tenant are having a dispute, and neither is clearly in the right, it’s okay to side with the good tenant. While you’re at it, ask your good tenants if they’re thinking about moving. Yes, that’s shockingly blunt. But it’s the only way you’ll ever find out if a tenant is planning to move before he or she actually signs a lease for another unit. Once they sign that lease, they’re gone – and no amount of cajoling is going to get them back.

If a tenant IS planning to move, ask why and press (nicely!) until you get an answer. Hopefully their decision will be based on a problem you can fix. The unit feels kind of old and grimy? Offer to repaint it. It’s too hot in the summer? Get them an air conditioner. It’s too small? Maybe you have a larger unit vacant, even if it’s in another building – and you’ll help them move for free. Some of these fixes run into some serious money. You need to compare them to the cost of finding a new tenant. That is a certain amount of lost income, plus the cost of marketing the unit, plus any necessary renovations to make it re-rentable. If the unit needs paint anyway, then painting it to motivate a good tenant to stay is much better than painting to get a new tenant. If the money looks REALLY serious, ask them to sign a new lease. Point out that they would have to if they moved to a different building anyway.

You should also make sure your tenant recognizes the cost and aggravation of moving. They’ll have to rent a truck, buy or steal boxes, pack everything, arrange for new utilities, physically transport the stuff, and change addresses for all of their mail. Why should they do all that when you can offer them what they want with much less hassle?

On the other hand, they might be moving for reasons you can’t control, maybe because they’re getting married or taking a new job in a different city or buying a house. Thank the tenant for being a great tenant, and ask if they know anyone else who might be interested in renting the unit.

You have to be committed to keeping your good tenants happy. That doesn’t include letting them break rules or pay rent late. Instead, look for little things you can do to be helpful. For example, when tenants move out, they often leave behind one or two objects of some value; bookshelves, portable fans, and so on. I offer these to my remaining good tenants. I also send Christmas cards each year with a gift card to a local coffee shop in each. It’s definitely worth $5 to make a good tenant happy.While you’re at it, invest in a few emergency items you can have available for tenants if they need them. Get a couple of electric space heaters (for use if the heating system breaks) and big coolers (if there’s a power failure). Now if you get a call about a heating problem or power failure, you can offer some quick relief until the issue is resolved.

About the Author:

Brendan O’Brien is the founder and president of Property Master Web™ Software. He is a contributing writer to REIP The Rewards® Magazine and is an active landlord and real estate investor. O’Brien designed Property Master Web™ with a team of 26 real estate investors and professionals to create the most comprehensive property management software solution for everyone, from first time investors to multiple property mangers. In addition to software, the advisory board has written 162 Landlording Tips that are a great resource for any property manager. For more information about Property Master Web™ visit http://www.PCPropertyMaster.com

How To Qualify As A Real Estate Dubai Agent?

To be a Dubai real estate agent more than anything else, it requires a license issued after a test has been qualified by the person. A candidate must be an adult as per the law, i.e. he should be at least 18 years of age. He must also be a graduate as per the administration laws governing real estate Dubai, and must have undertaken a written test and should have qualified in the same. The written test comprises of diverse questions based on property & real estate transactions and the various laws implicated in transactions of real estate across Dubai. It also verifies the knowledge of a person regarding the various laws on the sale and purchase of property. A real estate agent and a real estate broker both work at different levels and hence their serviceable areas are dissimilar from each other.

A real estate broker being more experienced and having shouldered more responsibilities has to pass through a different examination which is of higher level as compared to the test cleared by a real estate agent. To achieve a license of a real estate agent, one has to attend classes varying from 30-90 hours in order to get himself trained as a real estate agent while to clear an exam for real estate broker, 60-90 classes need to be attended with an additional experience ranging from one to three years as a real estate agent. The transaction process is not as simple as it was in earlier times hence calling in more talent and skills for the job. Firms now are hunting for people trained in real estate dealings, finance, business administration, economics, statistics, and law or alike.

There are various courses that offer training in such programs. This not only aids the firm by providing proficient real estate agents but also fosters better prospects for the people attending this training program. Apart from the conventional training the attributes of the candidate and his personality also matters, while choosing this option, he must make sure that his personality gels with the kind of work he would be undertaking in future. A real estate agent must be a well organized person who holds a pleasant personality and can interact with people easily. A real estate agent must be convincing and influential while talking. He must project a trustworthy character devoid of any false appearance. A Dubai real estate agent should also have an enthusiasm to work along with effervescence for details and particulars. He should also be good at remembering names and recalling faces. In most cities, the license has to be renewed after every 1-2 years although there is no intransigent need for reappearing in the qualifying examination. Education needs to be continued in some of the cities to renew their license.

Deepak Rodey works with Property Advice Dubai

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Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Deepak_Rodey

Invest in Dubai Property

At the same time as the cost of property in Dubai has been mounting, it is to be noted that compared to worldwide standards the costs are still comparatively low. This means that any investment in Dubai property is an opportunity to swiftly increase capital appreciation by a big margin. Considering the upbeat state of the real estate market, any investment in Dubai property over the next few months or years will capitulate exceptional results.

The reason for this is very simple. As the growth and positive reception of investment in real estate in Dubai keeps mounting it will inevitably result in the US and UK sourced money that will reach via expatriates from those countries thinking about an investment in Dubai property. When that happens the value of real estate Dubai will most likely reach global standards and all investors will stand to make huge profits.