Is there anyone here who lives in or knows a reasonable amount about Dubai?
We were looking through a Sunday paper yesterday (in the UK) and saw many advertisements for apartments for sale in Dubai. Many of them were 2 bedroom (ideal) and selling for only £65,000 or so. Now, this doesn’t seem much at all for an apartment in a new development (with a pool, gym, 24 hr concierge etc…) so we got interested.
We began (half seriously) discussing the possible purchase of one. It would be great for holidays in the sun and could be rented out much of the year due to the great (predictable) weather. We already have an apartment in Puerto Banus (Spain) so one further afield would certainly be of interest.
What I would like to know is: what are the major pitfalls? I would assume that foreign nationals can own property due to the fact they were advertising in a UK paper. But are there many other strict laws or taxes we would get hit for? Is there likely to be any legal complications with such a purchase? Is it okay rent out privately held property. (I can think of no reason why not, but you never know!) What sort of place is Dubai? Is there sufficent nightlife / restuarants / bars to keep things interesting, or would we be confined to the complex at night? Is it (relatively) safe?
I realise this is a little vague as we are only floating the idea about at the moment and this is really my first starting point for any research I may do into this area. Any help / advise / anecdotes / warnings will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks all.