Our expat housing compound in Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Front of compound

We are unit #7, in front of the gold Toyota Camry. This compound is located just outside Dubai, near Dubai International Airport in the Al-Rashidiya area.

Units like this located on the outskirts of Dubai generally run about 60,000 dirham per year ($16,300 USD) plus a 5% municipality tax (renter pays tax). In the past, companies took responsibility for expat housing and landlords expected the company to pay the full year's rent plus deposit up front. As the practice of expats getting a cash housing allowance is becoming more common, landlords now accept your first quarter's rent plus deposit plus three pre-filled checks to cover the remaining quarters.

The premier location for expats who want to live in Dubai is Jumeira. This is where the nice malls, clubs, and other expat-friendly hangouts are, but housing costs are very expensive.

Front Yard

Our Kitchen

European style fridge/freezer. You can just make out the top of the white cloths washer on the left. It's a front loading model, very common in the Middle East (and Europe too?). After using top loading machines all my life, I now prefer front loading washers even though they hold less.

Our Bedroom

Upstairs are the two identical bedrooms. Each have their own bathroom. Our cat smokee enjoys taking afternoon snoozes on the bed.

Our Bathroom

The tub is hidden behind the door. I miss the king size toilet I had back in the states.

Looking out the bedroom window

In the next couple years there probably won't be any more empty lots left

Standing on top of Mirdif Hill (actually, just a sand dune down the street)

Lot's of construction going on in Dubai. Our compound is on the left, past the trailers. The white fence after our compound is the construction site of a new shopping center and Spinney's grocery store.