How to Rent in Dubai Like a Pro
1. Start Your Search Early
Try to avoid putting yourself in a time crunch, and start your search at least a month before you need to move out. This will give you enough time to find the right place, and more importantly, doesn’t force you to accept any deal out of sheer desperation.
Furthermore, starting early gives you time to potentially negotiate your rent. The worst case scenario is you find the perfect place a bit earlier than you thought. In that case, you can simply move in a couple weeks earlier, if that is suitable.
2. Explore All Your Options
Within each Emirate in the UAE, there are many unique communities with something a little different to offer. Which community fits you best really depends on you, your personality, the lifestyle you want and your family situation.
Do you want to be near art galleries, gourmet restaurants, and bustling nightlife? Then a community like DIFC could be a great fit.
Or would you prefer a more family-friendly area, with plenty of good schools nearby? In that case, Arabian Ranches could be a better option.
In any case, you’ll want to explore the many communities across the UAE, and we make that pretty simple and straightforward with our community guides. There, you can read about all the different communities and get a glimpse at the lifestyle and amenities each one offers.
3. Location! Location! Location!
As you explore, you’ll want to keep another critical factor in mind: commute time! Spending 2 hours in traffic on a daily basis is not only extremely tedious, but it can really impact other areas in your life.
Minimising your commuting time can mean spending more time with friends and family, pursuing hobbies or just unwinding. It’s, without a doubt, a major factor to consider when deciding where to live.
That’s why we added a feature on our App that calculates your travel time from the properties you are browsing to your chosen location.
However, you should note that since most of the Emirates are relatively close to each other, it is not uncommon for people to live in one Emirate and work in another. Many people work in Dubai while living in Sharjah or Abu Dhabi, for example.
4. Decide on Your Must-Haves
Once you’ve narrowed down which communities are the best fit for you, take some time to make a list of your must-haves. This list could include the place being furnished, pet-friendly, or having access to a shared gym.
Then you can use the filters on Property Finder, which include everything you can think of, from all that is mentioned above to whether the property has a killer view of a Landmark.
5. Find a Well-Reputed Real-Estate Agent
One of the biggest pains is finding a listing that looks stunning in the photos, trying to contact the agent for a viewing, and… bust. No response from the agent! It’s pretty frustrating, but you’re not alone. In fact, it’s the very reason behind the SuperAgent feature on Property Finder.
What’s a SuperAgent? At Property Finder, our system automatically identifies agents who are always responsive and helpful with the SuperAgent badge if they meet our service guidelines and offer a high-quality service. You can use the SuperAgent toggle at the top of the search page to only look at properties listed by SuperAgents and avoid being left on read.
5. Find a Well-Reputed Real-Estate Agent
One of the biggest pains is finding a listing that looks stunning in the photos, trying to contact the agent for a viewing, and… bust. No response from the agent! It’s pretty frustrating, but you’re not alone. In fact, it’s the very reason behind the SuperAgent feature on Property Finder.
What’s a SuperAgent? At Property Finder, our system automatically identifies agents who are always responsive and helpful with the SuperAgent badge if they meet our service guidelines and offer a high-quality service. You can use the SuperAgent toggle at the top of the search page to only look at properties listed by SuperAgents and avoid being left on read.
7. Shortlist Your Favourite Properties
Using the tips above, you’ve probably got loads of properties in your Favourites list,and now it’s time to make your shortlist. It’s quite exciting; now you’re getting close to finding your new home! But we can’t get ahead of ourselves, get too excited and forget to be sensible.
8. Negotiate Your Rent
Before you agree to a certain rental rate, do your research on the average rental prices in the area to avoid being overcharged. We have a cheat code for this. Check out the “Properties like this” table under each property listing on Property Finder.
This table shows you the real rent and selling data of similar properties. By examining this table, you can find out if you have room to negotiate your rent for a bit cheaper if you find that the broker is asking for much higher than similar properties.
9. How to Pay Rent in Dubai
Once you’ve found the perfect rental and you’re ready to make it official
