My Own Home takes you inside a reader-owned property to ask how much they paid, why they decided to buy and what they have done with it since moving in
Shruti Krishnan and her husband Pradeep bought their two-bedroom home for Dh1.2 million ($330,000) in Dubai South two years ago.
However, the process of choosing their house was so stressful, she decided to start a fresh career in real estate, selling property in the same area to make it easier for new buyers.
While it felt like a risk buying into a developing community so far out of the bustling city, she believed Dubai South was only going to get bigger and better, a foresight that has since proven correct.
The National took a tour.
Tell us about your house
It's on a single row, it’s called Pulse Townhouses. It was the flagship project of Dubai South.
It’s actually a town home rather than a town house. We have a duplex and own the ground and first floors, and have a garden to ourselves, but our neighbour owns the building’s roof terrace.
As a community, it’s nice, and the house is really spacious. We have a private entrance, too, so nobody has to come into the community to reach our home.
Why do you love Dubai South?
The reason we chose Dubai South was because, number one, the airport – this was before the news of the plans for the new Dh128 billion terminal at Al Maktoum International Airport.
I knew somewhere down the line the Dubai government was not just going to let it be.
Proximity wise, it’s well connected to the Emirates Road and Expo City, so we knew something was going to happen.
We took that leap of faith.
Today I believe in the product so much because I’ve seen it grow, not just from a real estate perspective, but also as a homeowner.
What facilities do you have access to?
We’ve got a gym and pool, then we’ve got badminton, padel, lawn tennis and basketball. We also have a splash park – all of these are there, but at a subsidised rate that you pay.
You’ve got two parks here, which have a jogging track. It’s a pet-friendly community, so you can take your pets out for a walk and they can play on the grass.
There’s also a skating area for kids.
Have you carried out any renovation?
We haven’t done any structural renovation, but the house is still completely different to when we bought it. We have put up this textured wallpaper that is washable. We have our feature wall in the rooms, even the bathrooms. We’ve got three different themes in our bathrooms – the land, water and sky.
We changed the colours in the kitchen – all the cabinets were ivory, but we use a lot of turmeric while cooking and didn’t want stains. So we had those wrapped to match the colours of our dining and coffee tables.
We spent about Dh65,000 on everything. Instead of hiring one interior designer to do the entire thing, we saved money by going individually to different companies. We did a lot ourselves.
Do you see a financial advantage owning over renting?
Yes, definitely. As Indians, we used to want to put our money into India. We would say that we want to build a home over there if we have to go back.
But now, if you ask me to ever go back to India, I’m not going to be comfortable. I’m too comfortable here, too settled in Dubai, so for me it makes more sense to own a place here.
And I know on the basis of this property I can get a 10-year visa, so I know there are options for me to stay here, unlike before.
What’s the best part of living there?
It’s a developing community and investing here was one of the best decisions. It’s always better to invest in a developing community rather than a developed community.
You don’t just get capital appreciations, but also get to be a part of that community and see it go from nothing to something.
