Buying vs. Renting a property in Dubai
The Big Question “Is it better to rent or buy my own home in Dubai?”
This article will help give you an informed approach, or at least an insight of how to think about Buying versus Renting a property in Dubai. Just to make things simple, we will discuss buying as an end user, which means you are buying a property for your personal use. We will have a different article about the guide for buying for the purpose of investment in a property in Dubai.
To be honest, there is no simple right or wrong answer to this, as it all depends on your personal motivations. Such as where you are in your life? what is the economy doing at that moment in time? and what is rents versus buying doing to housing prices?
The good news is that nowadays in Dubai it is not difficult to buy a home. With the current easy mortgage process, and the rent to own options offered by the developers, the dream of owning is not a dream anymore.
Financial considerations:
When you rent a property, it is very straight forward, you need to pay the yearly rent as per the tenancy contract, and any small amount for minor maintenance, as agreed in the contract as per the landlord. All major repairs are covered via the landlord’s side.
On the other hand, if you buy your own property, you may pay the whole amount in cash, or you will need to apply for a mortgage. This means you will pay an interest on the amount of your home loan. On top of this, there is a service charge which is paid by the owner to the building management for the general maintenance of the building. There will also be small amounts for maintaining the property in case something gets damaged or broken.
Stability factor:
In some markets you may get a great deal on a rental property of which the owner takes care of it, also it’s in a good neighborhood, but maybe the owner decides to sell, or they wish to move into the property themselves and you will need to make arrangements vacate the premises.
If you buy a property, as long as you pay the mortgage on time, and you cover the maintenance service charges, you’re pretty much guaranteed that your asset will remain trouble free.
Rental fluctuation:
Another reason that you may wish to buy is that rents in the region are unpredictable. It is true that the rents are in decline at the moment, but it can increase at any time, especially in Dubai which is known for its rental appreciating market. When if you own your home, you will have scheduled payments over a fixed length of time. Once paid, you don’t have to worry about the craziness of what rents may or may not do due to the regional fluctuation.
Customization:
There are many properties that look really attractive when they have used neutral fabrics and furnishings, along with upgrades or changes to a bathroom and kitchen. Alternatively, do think before you go ahead and paint that wall purple, or customize rooms to your personal taste, your buyer may not share the same. When you buy a property, you can easily make some small improvements, but be mindful that these could result in some disasters when it comes to selling.
Reasons for renting a property in Dubai instead of buying:
Often, this is a result that you are not sure that you are settling down in Dubai, or you don’t want to commit to a specific neighborhood and you want to have the flexibility and ease of renting. However, the facts remain, that the longer you stay in Dubai the more of your own cash you will spend in rental with nil return.
In Conclusion:
After all, there might be many other reasons for you to prefer Renting over Buying, and vice versa, but only you can decide if it is better to rent or buy your home. Always discuss this through in depth with the professionals.
Get in touch with us now and we will help you arrive at an informed decision.
Please also take note that you can benefit from our free mortgage consultation and financial planning service.
