Which area for a family of 4 Australians ?

Im moving out to Doha in February, and the apartments that I will be staying in are around 15000 for a good sized 2 bedroom place - located in Bin Mahmoud right next to the place I will be working.

This is paid for by the company, but they may be moving to a accommodation allowance in the future of 15000, so any pointers would be appreciated. Is it reasonable to get a 'villa' in this price range?

First find out which Qtel outlet you will be working for(I meant office location, if possible). Once you know the place then start searching. I will recommend you to stay close to work otherwise believe me after some time you will get fed up commuting and waiting in traffic jams.

Vegas is right "you cant teach experience" Good Luck and welcome to Qatar.

Peace.

Just cause it samll city doesn't mean fast comute...

Can take an hour to get fromone part to another depoending on the route youu have to take...

And don't even get me started on the industrial area...

You can't teach experience...

Sounds like there are a few areas for me to look at and also my budget might need a rethink. The pkg im being offered is 29750 inclusive of salary, housing and transport though so I have to be careful on spending too much on just accomodation. I've also read a few articles that say rent prices are coming down and will continue to drop in early '09, seeing as i get put up for 3 months on arrival, hopefully the rents will continue to drop and I can find something nicer for around 15,000 (nicer than what I've currently seen online).

Also does anyone know of any decent real estate rental websites or is it all done through forums and classifieds in Qatar ? In Australia we have a website http://www.realestate.com.au which allows you to look at the property, its location, floor plan etc but haven't been able to find anything even remotely similar for Qatar.

PS: All The prices in my previous post are for Fully Furnished - For Unfurnished (HArder to find) you should deduct about 2000 QR a month

First of all Welcome (in 6 - 8 weeks) to Doha. Doha is not a huge city and you can actually live in any neighbourhood without any problems. But being acustomed to a western style of life , you may feel uneasy in most of the traditional / old neighbourhoods.

Dafna / Westbay is the new downtown of Doha with a lot of highrise residential and commercial buildings. Most of the western expats choose this area to live. The problem is rents in Doha are way expensive. For 15000 QR you may (underline may) get a 2 Bedroom Flat in these high rise buildings (Actual rents are like 15500 - 17000 QR / month)

Another nice area where foreign expat choose to live is (this is where i live also) is Al Sadd. This area is about 15 min from Westbay by car. The rents are in the range of 11000 - 13000 QR for 2 Bedrooms in new low rise buildings (up to 7 - 8 floors)

For Villas (decent ones) I think you should consider a budget of 20,000 QR and up . (Villas around Westbay will start 30.000 to 70,000 QR / month)

We just did the market research for us very recently so these prices should be up to date.

If you would like to ask more question don't hesitate to PM me.

Cheers,

whiteazz

As you will will working in Qtel, May I suggest that you look near Dafna as this will close to your work. Agian Doha is not so big so even if you other side of the town it not bad commuting.. Take care welcome to doha mate..

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HE WHO DARES WINS

There are no really bad areas in Doha - no where which isn't safe, although saying that you would not want to be in the Industrial area! (too much dust, pollution and traffic.) The Corniche is nice, Al Sadd is a convenient area, Al Wabb is also good - close to Villagio and some nurseries and schools. Qatcom

With that amount? you'll get a nice and comfortable villa for you and your family.. Welcome to DOHA!