Apartment comparison advice

Thanks for the comments,

I worked, many years ago, in the UK Travel Industry, both as an overseas resort manager and in the early days of the Health & Safety Dept for Thomson Holidays (now TUI). I was responsible for bringing resort hotels upto UK standards with regards to Fire & Safety issues. We used to work extensively with retired UK Fire service professionals, taking them out to resort on inspection visits based on UK standards, then using their reports to raise the overall standard. Thought it made sense to do the same here.

Regards

Craig at Mirage

Craig, well done on hiring a Brit. British Standards far exceed NFPA as used here :o)

I don't wish to get into some kind of slanging match here but, based on your initial comments, all of which were based on conjecture and not on personal experience, my original comments still stand.

If you are now saying that these comments were based on your own personal experience then that's fine, it's a free world and you are free to comment as you see fit (within reason).

I don't know when you leased property through my company but since I took over in Nov 2008, we ensure that all properties we lease have all relevent civil defence and Municipality certificates and licences. We especially do not deal with sub divided properties or bed share units which are, in some cases, potential death traps.

I am totally open to constructive criticism, again when based on factual information, do you think as the MD of a Real Estate Company I would be commenting on a social site like Qatar Living if I wasn't prepared for critics?

I cannot speak for other developers & landlords but, we at Mirage ensure that all our own buildings have the appropriate fire systems installed all of which have regular service contracts in place.

We work with a large number of Multi National Companies, most of which expect a high level of safety measures to be in place within their contracted staff accommodations. Because of this, we have recently enlisted the services of a UK Fire Safety expert, to inspect all our buildings and to make recommendations based on UK/EU fire safety regulations, most of which far exceed the local regulations. Once we receive this report we will, where recommended and where physically possible, make any necessary improvements.

The reasons we are doing this are twofold, one because we are actively looking to improve the general standard of accommodation here in Qatar and two because we listen to our clients comments and act where appropriate.

As I said at the beginning, I do not wish to drag this out into a war of words, preferring our actions to speak for themselves.

Kind regards

Craig at Mirage

We've had some business with you & Ramaco in the past on some of the apartments you leased for our employees. So whatever I am saying is actual first-hand information. I understand that you need to defend your principals like Ramaco, but you have to understand that we as former tenants have more concrete things to say about our first-hand experiences with your lease projects with Ramaco. Maybe you don't know that a lot of their apartment buildings have fire protection systems that don't work! Plus other issues that made us leave the place.

Again, if business establishments don't want criticism, then move up act up & serve your customers well-- simple as that! I could raise some concrete proof... wait for what others have to say & show... just wait.

Dear bobarcilla,

For your information Mirage are a completely independent Real Estate Agent, we do not partner with any developer.

As an independent agent we lease both our own properties and those of other landlords/developers, hence the word 'Independent' and the impartial comments regards this compound 'good compound not very well located' I think was the basis of my description.

We offer Ramaco properties for lease just like we offer Al Fardan Gardens or Al Jazi Gardens, etc.

Also to correct your statement that this is Ramacos first attempt at a large compound, this is the largest they have built, however they have a number of smaller villa compounds dotted around Doha called 'Y Gardens'.

Please don''t take this the wrong way, but if you are going to make comments about my company then please ensure your facts are correct and not based on 'hear say'!

Kind regards

Craig at Mirage

Y-Village coordinates is 25° 13.910'N / 51° 24.753'E just beside the Al-Fardan Gardens 5. It is owned by Jaidah Properties & constructed by Ramaco. I knew one of their lady employees & she told me that a handful of laborers died during construction due to accidents. So that says a lot about their construction methods & perhaps quality. I was told that this is their first big property development after several apartment buildings. If you like ghosts walking around your lawn, maybe Y Village is the place to stay. Spooky! Oh and by the way, Mirage is Ramaco's partner agent in some of their properties so that explains the praises. I knew a lot who were dissatisfied with Ramaco apartments coupled by poor service in maintenance.

Hi,

You can contact me on [email protected] or call the office on +974 44 44 44 31 and ask for me. In the meantime take a look on our website mirageproperty.com for an idea of what is available here in Doha.

I Look forward to seeing you in July.

Kind regards

Craig ay Mirage

Hi Craig,

I am from USA and planning to come to Doha during july 2011. Would you please leave your contact (cell, email etc) for me to contact you upon my arrival to Doha?

Thanks,

Hi,

My names Craig, I'm the MD of Mirage Properties.

I'd suggest you take a short term rent, say 1 month, to allow you to look around Doha before committing to a long term contract.

Regards your choice of properties, we've have been dealing with Ramaco properties for a number of years and can tell you that the quality is good, Y Village, once opened, will be a great compound. However, the journey to your workplace would be at least 45 mins each way, as you couldn't find a compound that's much further from your workplace.

I can't comment on Bilal towers as we don't deal with them but I hear the quality is good, but as most have said, the area is not the best.

Lagoon Plaza or (Zig Zag) as they are known, has developed a bit of a poor reputation, mainly due to early problems with maintenance and the issue with district cooling (Qatar Cool). Although District cooling is common in the UAE, it's a fairly new concept here. It works well but is an additional utility cost on top of your electricity and water bills.

Zig Zag is in a great location and will soon have a large mall and outdoor cafe/restaurant area (developer says will open in May but expect Sept, after Ramadan)

We have apts available in Zig Zag within your budget and many landlords are prepared to negotiate on the Qatar Cool cost.As a rough guide Qatar Cool should cost just over QR5 per sq mt per month. As an example a 98sq mt 2 bed apt would cost around QR500 in total cooling charges, however some landlords will include the supply costs within the rent and leave the tenant to pay only the consumption charge, this being a small part of the overall cost, approx 10-15%.

I hope that helps and if you require further advice or wish to see a wider selection of properties please feel free to come back to me.

By the way, unlike many other agents, we don't charge you a fee for finding you a property!

Kind regards

Craig at Mirage

in West bay no such prices for compounds. Not too many compunds there either. Mostly towers... Only may be somewhere in Golf Club area, but it's again pretty far. I think your best choice with your location and budget is either ZigZag or Ezdan. Although both of them are not the best quality, as actually everything in Qatar. At least you will be close to your office. By the way, I think in Ezdan you can rent for short term, such as 1 or 2 month. And then you will have time to look around, and find somthing that you like.

The office is in west bay. Would it really take up to 40 mins to travel there? That's not ideal. I thunk I'd like to live in a compound as I feel like there is a bit more freedom than a huge tower block. Is there anything like that in westbay? Y village isn't even open yet as it is a new build.

Does anyone know of any similar apartments in close proximity to westbay for a max of 8k per month?

Thanks!

Qatarisun has a very good point. You should consider your work location. As for the duration of the contract, best to choose a place and then negotiate a deal you are most comfortable with. You don't have to sign for 24 months but you may have to commit to at least a year. But you can try negotiating - you never know it might work.

where is your office? your options are in completely different sides of Doha. If your office is in West Bay, you better take ZigZag tower, as you will spend at least 30-40 minutes coming from this Y-Village (still not sure where it is exactly, looks like new development, and sounds pretty far.)and going back there. Do you need it?

I don't like A-Ring becuase this is old bad area. Everything is old and ugly there. Simple.

You need to know where our office is.

Sorry I believe it's 'ramaco' and not ramco

I have not visited them yet no. I'm moving over in 2 weeks and have viewings set up. Y village seems to be my top pick at the moment. It's developed by ramco, how are these guys to deal with? The issue I have is the 24 month contract, it seems pretty restrictive. What if after 6/9 months I hate living there due to various issues?

Bilal is on A ring, what's wrong with this area?

Thanks!

This is in addition to electricity. You're charged for aircon 'capacity' and usage on top of what Karhama charges for electricity. I'm not sure how they calculate the amount but for further details, google Qatar Cool or search for it in QL.

what do you mean "additional charge for the aircon i.e. Qatar cool'?

you have to pay for electrisity, dont you? what is qatar cool?

Just curious... have you checked out these places already? They have very different things to offer in terms of size, view, location, amenities etc. If renting anywhere around West Bay/Dafna area (which includes the zigzag), the one thing you need to watch out for is the additional charge for the aircon i.e. Qatar cool. In some cases, the landlord takes care of it. More often, they don't. Depending on the size of the apartment, I must warn you it is not a nominal charge.

it also depends on the area you want to live in. It looks like all of them are in the opposite sides of the city. I personally eliminated Bilal studios al asmak for the area reason. Is it somewhere on A-ring road, correct? I simply hate this area. Zig Zag sounds better in terms of area, but again i have heard so many negative responses regarding this place, that I cannot advise on it. Not familiar with Y village.. is that a compound? building? who is the owner?