Life on the Spot! Life and Leisure in Doha, Qatar

We survived our move from Old Airport to Al Sadd last Saturday. We had to abort our plan of moving on Friday as it became obvious to Mavis and I at 3 a.m. of Friday that we were not going to finish packing. I called up the truck owner I talked to last Wednesday and told him that we had to cancel. He was ok with it but I assured him that we would definitely be moving Saturday morning.
We did finish packing our things though it was already 2 in the morning of Saturday when we did. Although we didn’t have much rest, we had to wake up early to finish some more taks we needed done.

The truck and labor we hired came right on at 9. After trying to fill up the truck, we we’re able to deliver for the 1st batch of furniture and stuff in the new building and had the last of our stuff delivered in the afternoon. I’m not sure what exact time the men finally left but we were able to settle down at about 5 p.m. Not being able to cook or prepare anything for dinner, we had to go to ever trusty McDonalds.

After 3 days of moving in, the living room is still a mess. Well, everything is still a mess but things are taking shape slowly. And as always, my Audio-Video system (AVR, 5.1 speakers, Plasma and Xboxes) were the first to be set up on the first night itself along with the PC. However, I still don’t have any Internet access. I was able to go to QTEL this afternoon and applied for the shifting of their services to Al Sadd. The CS rep told me that they’d send me an SMS after 3 days to schedule an appointment. Hopefully, they’d schedule an appointment before we go on vacation in 2 weeks time. I also need to settle the water and electricity but would do so next week. (I’m posting this elsewhere).

This is definitely one of the most tiring weeks of my life. With what seemed an eternity of packing stuff, the move itself was physically tiring and draining. Not to mention that we have to unpack the stuff again. But the move is worth it. We’re in the middle of everything. I’m 20-30 minutes away from my work place with morning traffic and it is the same for Xiane and Mavis going to DMBS. And we think that this should hold true even if Xiane moves to Qatar Academy next school year. It’s just we are drained and have to prepare for our needed vacation too. Anyway, we’re taking one step at a time each day.

We’ve spent the last 3 weeks hunting for a flat/apartment/villa in Bin Omran, Bin Mahmoud, Clipp, Khulaib, Markhiya, Nasser, Abu Hamour and Salwa Road. It’s been very tiring to say the least as we would, on weekends, usually leave the flat in the morning and end up going home in the evening. We’ve looked at flats, apartments, and villas; fully furnished (FF), semi- furnished (SF) and unfurnished (UF).  Here are some tips and lessons we’ve learned that we can share when you’re hunting for a flat or villa in Doha.

BUDGET AND EXPECTATIONS:
Settle your budget and expectations. Do you want a 2 room flat or a 3 bedroom flat? Do you want it furnished or unfurnished? How much is your budget and what can you compromise with? Essentially, the big bulk of this falls on your budget. In our case, even though we can allot QR15,000/month for our housing, we found it unpractical for us especially that we’re only 3 in the family. If you have a big family and can afford a 12,500QR 3 bedroom villa, then there are a lot of options for you. You can find small but gated compounds for that amount. Otherwise, 2 bedroom flats in new buildings would usually cost you 6500QR (UF with ACs) to 8000QR (FF). 3 bedroom flats start at 7500QR (UF),  8000QR (FF) to 10,000QR for a “high-end” apartment with pool and gym. Once you’ve settled with what you want or need, select your location.

LOOKING FOR ADS:
Once you know what you want, start looking at the ads. You can call real estate agents like:

Al Emadi - http://www.alemadi.com.qa/pages/apartments.html
Al Fanar -http://www.alfanarrealestate.com/
Homes2Rent - http://www.homes2rent.biz/
Century21 - http://www.century21qatar.com/
Zukrof - http://www.zukhrof.com/

 You can look for ads Online through QatarLiving, or through the online classifieds section of Gulf Times. You can also grab some publications that specialize on Real Estate in Doha (RENT) or your local newspapers. You can also go to your Grocery shops which usually have a board intended for announcements. You can ask your colleagues for numbers that they might have called if they have moved recently or if they are in the same boat as you. Make a list and write down contact numbers and type of flats/ villas being offered which fit your wants (location and budget).

Also, if you have car, drive around the area that you’re interested in and I’m sure you’ll find tarpaulins and signage on new buildings ready for occupancy. We’ve probably seen more flats doing this that calling or looking at ads online/print.

SOMETHING FISHY:
So you’re looking at the Ads and suddenly you see an ad that asks you for only 5500QR for a 2 bedroom flat or an 8000QR villa? You can dream on, skip the ad or if you like, give it a try and see the location. However, from what we’ve experienced, 5500QR for a flat gives you irregular and small room sizes and renovated buildings. An 8000QR villa nets you an OLD villa which you’ll dare not live in. Although we found a 9000QR compound villa in Abu Hamour which is new but the rooms are far too small. So don’t expect too much from those kinds of ads unless the real estate prices really goes down that far.

more to follow on next post...