Anyone thinking of buying a place in Dubai should look at this:

http://www.gulfnews.com/nation/Society/10113772.html


"Service" charges just raised 300% to nearly 5000 quid a year....

The man who organised the tennants association is threatened with jail for organising an "illegal gathering".

The place was all rosy to attract new residents.... now it has them, you can smell the greed everywhere.

If you're thinking of buying, talk to a good lawyer first, in particular about your rights under the law here.

Before I get slagged off, I'm just trying to help any potential investors with an alternative view to the spin merchants......

There is a growing tide of scepticism in the UK as regards any overseas property investment - buyers are getting their fingers and life savings burnt from Florida to Phukhet - the endless property refurb programmes have now been replaced by endless horror stories of naive Brit punters being taken for a ride.

UPDATE

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle...ae_april297.xml


“This is a very steep hike. For example, the service charge for a three-bedroom flat has gone up to Dh25,000. Earlier, it was just Dh8,500. Similarly, the charge for a terrace flat has gone up to Dh44,000. Earlier, we were paying just Dh10,000 for the same. And they are not ready to tell us the specific reason for this,” says a resident on condition of anonymity.

“They are also not behaving with us in a proper way. Recently, residents gathered for a meeting in order to decide on their future course of action. But the management issued us a notice saying this was an illegal gathering and that such activities would not be tolerated,” he adds.

Most of the residents own their flats. “They are not ready to listen to us. We have decided to pay the first two instalments in accordance with the new rates. We are also in the course of understanding our legal position. The company is threatening legal action and prosecution if we don’t pay up,” says a resident.

FYI, there are about 7 Dh to the pound.

Green Community sq. ft. Original Original New New Increase Increase
Service Charge AED (UP figures) AED per sq. ft. AED per sq. ft. AED %
Luxury Villa 6,943 15,000 2.16 30000 4.32 15,000 100%
Family Villa 5,382 12,000 2.23 24000 4.46 12,000 100%
Townhouse 4,176 12,000 2.87 20000 4.79 8,000 67%
Garden - Studio 495 2,400 4.85 7000 14.14 4,600 192%
Garden - One Bedroom 980 3,600 3.67 11,000 10.74 7,400 206%
Garden - Two Bedroom 1,862 7,200 3.87 20,000 10.74 11,600 161%
Garden - Three Bedroom 2,400 8,400 3.50 24,000 10.00 15,600 186%
Terrace - Ground Floor 3,627 10,800 2.98 23,000 6.34 12,200 113%
Terrace - First Floor 3,627 10,800 2.98 30,000 8.27 19,200 178%
Terrace - Second Floor 3,627 10,800 2.98 24,000 6.62 13,200 122%
Terrace - Duplex 4,682 11,400 2.44 34,000 7.26 22,600 198%

Found a forum on the web for the residents

Please remember it is a leasehold development, Which has a 7 swimming pools 7 fully equiped Gyms. An oasis in the desert

http://gc.davie.com/forums/772/ShowPost.aspx for the full story

In the mid to late nineties I often read accounts of how disasterous UK B2L was, however most people it turned out made a very good investment. The usual doom mongers stayed away to thier considerable cost.

Sure there will always be horror stories investing abroad, but as long as you approach it in a methodical careful manner there is much gain to be had.

Investing in Florida or any other mature market holds a lot of downside. You cant keep squeezing the same sponge and expecting water, at some point its going to dry out for a while.

The real returns are in new markets, but of course caution is required. One of the simplist ways to safeguard yourself is to chose a very expensive capital city based Lawyer - in particular one which is part of an international chain. As an example when investing in German I found a lawyer that had a London head office - this should give you a lot more security.

I think that real investments are now appearing in the USA market, if one is willing to do a thorough homework.

Pieces of land in Florida which sold for $50000 in 2005 are now around $15000 and decreasing.

Buying cheap in good area of USA is a good deal, whether the USD tanks or not. If it tanks one can use the Pounds to build a nice retirement house
in Florida or Arizona.