International City is Doing Great

[sanairug]

I have read so many complaints about International city but I am here to share my thoughts with all the fellow owners who has a unit in International city. In my opinion the hard time is over and now is the time to enjoy your investment. International city is the only available project in the market which offer ready made unit in a very competitive prices reason being international city in on a rise despite all the odds against it. Nakeel has made a bit of mess but I say this is there first project coming to possession so they are bound to make many mistakes. Generally they are getting things under control, Possession is already started and your investment has already have an equity of 40% , rental is in a very high demand and most of Sharja residence are willing to move in International city. I think it will be a complete hit and the owners will see another rise in value and the rental return is high. Since the land registry law in enforced, which will push the prices even high, as now most of banks are looking to finance these unites you local expects which is a complete frustrated tenants force who love to own a place to live in Dubai and like to pay mortgage not rent. I own 5 units in International city and am very happy that I have made a right choice any comments are welcome. Welcome to Home4Uintl.com

[laguna33p]

nice to know that sanairug

[Convivencia]

With all the doom and gloom stories, its nice to see that there is light at the end of the tunnel.

As many poeple on this forum have bought as an investment, how much are completed studios \ 1 beds realistically going for in terms of rent and re-sale. Is there a ready market?

Thanks and hope you (we) finally get to see some returns on our investments very soon.

[wayneis]

I own 5 units in International city and am very happy that I have made a right choice any comments are welcome.

sanairug Lots of negative comments because Nakheel have made a botch of dealing with owners and Real Estate Agents have done / continue the same.

Not only has Nakheel made a mess they are continuing to mis lead the market on completion dates (on time according to Nakheel however ask owners what their thoughts are!)the project was market along with schools,shops post offices, and a massive replication of the forbidden city.

This board has been one way owners can communicate with each other and establish what is really going on in a timely fashion, with out getting the run around or no answer at all.

Could you let us know your experience with Land Registration and costings?

What about the actual size of the building as one owner has discovered a massive difference in the ACTUAL verse what was sold to him size of his apartment.

Nakheel is charging whopping big prices for service charges varying from 10 to 12 AED a sq ft this does not include A/C compare this with other projects in Dubai and what was promoted by Nakheel at the start of the project,

You mention

Possession is already started and your investment has already have an equity of 40%

Where do you get these figures from as you only realize your equity when you sell. Or obtain a valuation from a Bank

I am in the process of selling my Completed 1 bedroom apartment and I can assure you that after nearly 3 years my investment will be lucky to return me 25% BEFORE I include costs break that down to an annual figure and thats less than 10% a year before I include costs.

Those who brought in the last 12 months would be doing OK however your placing the Real Estate Agency Spin and promoting your web site/ company first rather than sharing information.

Originally Posted by sanairug

I can help you rent the apartment, it is going unfurinshed at the momment and the going rates are for Studio is AED 36K To 40K 1 bed 48K to 52K per year. Welcome to Home4Uintl.com

International City - Dubai - Owners Group Forum
This forum is dedicated to those investors that have bought property in the International City project in Dubai. Once all members have registered with this International City forum then it will become private and by invitation only.

[Convivencia]

wayneis did you sell your place after handover (and all the associated extortinate fees) or before?
I'm in a bit of a tight spot with one last payment to make and my options are either to get a loan out then sell or rent the place or sell before handover.

[wayneis]

Sorry to here about that Convivencia I am in the process of selling wont be completed until some time next month, will post details on procedure and costing then.

I put a stop on the Registration process when i decided to sell as this would be money I could not recover. Instead the buyer will be paying all charges and i will get a refund on those i have paid after sale.

What happens is that once you find a buyer you have to phone Nakheel and make a booking to transfer the title to the purchaser.

Charges and costs as you will have read are confusing with Nakheel saying one thing, the Lands department saying you pay less and the Agent/ Building owner will be saying money up front thanks!

I paid every thing up front including 100% payment on apartments and all charges.

What is done here in Dubai as you properly know is the seller sets a price and the buyer is expected to pay all charges including Real Estate Agency Commission. If you have all ready registered your property with the lands department you will not be getting that back as well as any admin charges to nakheel or the UPSA money you would have parted with.

You may want to phone around the banks and see what is available with home Loans as I heard that the mashreq bank will now do loans to people residing overseas, not resident in Dubai, however heard this second hand.

Something worth investigating as I have read various versions in the Gulf news and Emirates Today news papers If you place a tenant in your apartment then decide to sell the New Owner can not boot the tenant out on the street, the tenancy contract will have to run its course.

[sanairug]

1 Bed room Ready unit you can sell in todays market fm 410K to 460K depending on the location and the floors. the lower end is France and Greece the higher end is England. genrally any unit can sell over night for 435K net to you apart from France and Greece. Studio are from 290K to 330K same story France and greece are lower end England is the highest. you can move easy ly for 315K let me know if you want to sell i have some ready invertors in my panel. Welcome to Home4Uintl.com.
Rental is Studio from 36K to 40K 1 Bed 48K to 52K per years rent paid in two cheques and you will get 5% to 10% security deposit.

[sanairug]

To Waynies,
I totally agree with you what Nakheel is doing is not fair the service charges are very high and the way they are dealing with unit owners are another mess specially they made transfer of unit very complicated. Make sure you will take the building owner at the time of transfer other wise you will not be able to transfer the unit. Half the staff in Nakheel office is unaware of the law them self let alone they help you with any information. But here is the facts.
Look at it this way that Free hold property market in UAE is very young there is no set law for doing any thing here on top Real estate agents made a mess by passing wrong information around, every thing is in a making phase, that cause frustration among those who are over seas and belong to an establish real estate markets. Dubai Property market need more time to establish. They are doing what in there hands. I visit Nakeel office at least twice every week and I see they are trying there best but they can not come over it yet as law is changing every day and this will take time to settle. Now come to your investment return. Originally 1 bed flats booked from 3K were you have only paid 15% to 20% on the booking today your property is worth 430K that is more then 40% return. don't forget you have paid in installment.

[wayneis]

sanairug Wish I was going to get 40% no way here is a break down

Took my agent 2 weeks to get a cash buyer, if you can find one over night give me a call!

Original Apartment 1 bedroom 350,000 AED September 2004
Going to Net 430,000 AED so thats 80,000 AED before costs

Installments paid did not follow Nakheel recommended schedule so I was paying to the Agent and funding his Building project

Payment Schedule
10 % reservation
10% 2 nd Month
10 % 3rd Month
10 % 4th Month
15 % 7th Month
15 % 11th Month
15 % 15 th Month
10 % 19 th Month
5 % 23 th Month Completion date however was told that completion would be finished by 21st Month Reality Completion date 32nd Month

I paid 95 % of payments 11 months ago !
Of course the Agent I purchased from advertises 30% Annual Capital gain.

Agent promised to Buy back apartments any time, however when something sounds too good to be true then it usually is.
Agent refused to buy back apartments
Promised that a UPSA would become available with in 2 months (this would allow bank to lend funds) My Contract with the agent had a clause that if the UPSA was not issued with in 120 days then the contract would be void. ( He would not acknowledge this or any correspondence from my law team which )

My Lawyer said my contract was a clear case of fraud and eventually the Agent spent 2 Days in Jail. Dubai Police Prosecutor said it was not a criminal case however I would have had to take it to the courts as a civil case. This just would have cost to much money as I had spent around 25K on legal fees. Agent still has glossy 1 page adds and a flash web site and operates from a Villa in a residential area of Dubai that has no Visable sign age indicating it is a Real Estate business. Trade license indicates business located else where.

I eventually received a UPSA from Nakheel dated 17 Months AFTER my initial deposit

Reality less than 10 % Capital Gain per year BEFORE taking costs into account

[sanairug]

Your case is a bit complicated fist of all what is UPSA? secondly it looks that you being stuck with a wrong person. There are many stories in International city; I hope that your property is not belonging to ARY building. I sell every week no of units in International city and have no problem the only thing which delay the final payment is the transfer date which Nakheel take 4 to 5 weeks and the other problem is until the buildings are handover you need to have the building owner present in the Nakheel office and that is causing a chaos. Most of the building owners now charge AED5000 show up fee to cover there admin cost some come for free and rest simply say sorry no time. But i always look at it this way if you organize better before time then there is no problem at the date of transfer.