How do you find a rental aprtment in Qatar?
My company has asked me kindly to move to the Qatar office at the end of this month due to a promotion. I have somewhere to live in for a couple of weeks but need to find an apartment close to the West Bay area soon. I have never been to Qatar before and any help you can offer would be gratefully received.
Kind regards
I would be very interested to find out what you have on offer, can you email me on [email protected]. Thanks for emailing.
Hi,
My name is Craig, i'm the MD of Mirage Properties here in Doha. The company has been established here for 5 yrs and I, myself came to Doha just over a year ago, so know exactly what you're going through. We are a well established, professional agency offering properties for both lease and sale, with a large selection of properties in the West Bay area.
We have 2 bed fully furnished apts in Zig Zag Towers (Lagoon Plaza) available for around QR10,000 and 1 Bed fully furnished from QR9,500. You can check out some of the available options on our website,
mirageproperty.com.
You'll from most comments here on Qatar Living that estate agents generally have built a reputation for not calling you back and giving poor service. We at Mirage like to think we're an exception to this rule. Additionally, contrary to popular belief, you'll find the price you pay through us is the same price you'd pay direct to the landlord, as we are very selective with which landlords we deal with.
Lastly, unlike many agents here in Qatar, if you're looking to lease a residential property we don't charge you the customer, a fee for our services, all of our earnings coming direct from our landlords.
If this sounds of interest then please feel free to contact me and i'll be only too glad to assist you.
We're now closing for the weekend (weekend being Friday here) but I'll be back in on Saturday, so please get in touch.
Kind regards
Craig at Mirage.
Thanks!
If you're resistant to stress, go to Ezdan Tower. Or check carol2008 opinion on this tower...
http://www.qatarliving.com/node/32021
I found my flat from this site. If I still had it I'd PM you the number of the guy who rented us ours, but as it is I don't have it anymore. Let me see if there's any cards at reception when I go home today and if there is I'll PM you the number.
Olive your a star! Would you start with the classifieds on this site or some other site? Where did you find your flat from?
A car's a must for your sanity here as well.
Don't listen to the websites, they're bull. Check the classifieds and call some of the numbers when you get here. I'm paying 10k for my large 2bdrm and I know it's 9 to 10 k for a fully furnished 1 bdrm or small 2 bdrm.
I think renting a car is a must as i will be dowing a lot of travelling around to see some of the companies clients
Looked at the Zig Zag towers but they must be ripping me off as they say 12,000 per flat, can you suggest where to look?
Ezdan is nice, and you'll find an apartment there for less then 12k, but it's not really within walking distance of QFC Towers, especially not in the summer....You'd spend a lot on taxi's.
I know what you are saying but every websote wants 12,000 plus for non furnished, i must not be looking in the right places. Its very confusing all these buildings when you dont understand the layout of the area.
Well there are a few buildings around the QFC Tower, you can look at the ASAS Towers, Sommerset Towers, Beverly Hills Towers, the W and a couple of others, however all of these are pretty pricey and I doubt you'll find a one bedroom for less than 12k, even with the dropping rents. On the bright side, if you go for any of these places you're within "walking" distance of City Center which has everything you'll need and all these places have gyms & pools. I use "" because Doha is not a very pedestrian friendly city, especially not the West Bay area which is one huge construction site. In my opinion I would look at somewhere like the Zig Zag towers where you can get a 1 bdrm for 8 k and rent a car, which you can do for 1200 a month (or less if you ask your company if they can get you a discount), in the long run having the extra cash and the mobility will make your life in Doha a LOT easier.
You will get a decent appt. in those towers and its pretty close to the new QFC... besides, these appts are fully furnished, with a huge common pool and gym... good luck!
That is a good amount for HRA... you should not have a problem getting an appt within that amount... you will even get a decent villa if you prefer within that.
Car is a no so will need to take that out of the budget, the address of the company is QFC Tower Diplomatic Area West Bay Doha. I like the sound of West Bay but anywhere that is close to shops and not in the middle of nowhere. Thanks for you help.
Will you be getting a car? Do you know the name of the building you'll be working in?
They will give me 11,000 towards it, but i want to stay in a nice area but only require one bed flat.
How much is your housing allowance? That's usually the best indicator of where you'll be living.
Thanks for the advice.
The simplest answer would be, "somewhere close to work".
Your prospective company will normally house you in a hotel or residency for the first 1-3 months which will give you plenty of time to look around and get used to the areas/traffic/shopping etc.
This site is great althought there seems to be a lot of flats that you would not rent on it.
QL classified
Thats great thanks, is there anywhere that you would suggest to stay away from?
Google Maps gives you a good idea of the areas:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=doha&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Doha,+Ad+Dawhah,+Qatar&ll=25.294682,51.47953&spn=0.180035,0.493011&z=12
There are large shopping centres with Carrefour supermarkets attached in West Bay and on Al Waab Street.
Time Out Doha has some useful information:
http://www.timeoutdoha.com/
Also not sure where is the best location to move to and where to stay away from? I live in Switzerland at present and want to make sure we are close to shops and not in the middle of nowhere. Any help with this would be great.
Thanks again
mainly newspaper ads, or here in QL..
Thanks will check them out and let you know how i get on.
Try these websites:
http://www.engelvoelkers.com/qatar/en/Properties/search.php
http://mycoreo.com/default.aspx
check out the classifieds...