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
Kerstin Brehm, a former cardiac surgeon from Germany, moved to Dubai three years ago for a job as managing director of an international corporation. Since then, she has founded her own company as a career and leadership consultant and bought a property she loves in Dubai Marina.
While she and her husband, Michael, were already renting in Marina Gate when their landlord issued an eviction notice, they decided to stay put and buy a two-bedroom apartment in the same building. They paid Dh2.95 million about 18 months ago and it has since surged in value.
The National takes a look around.
Please tell us about your home.
It's a two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment in Marina Gate, probably one of the newer buildings in the area, so quite modern.
We have a balcony looking over the pool – we are not fully Marina-facing unfortunately, but I can see the Palm and the harbour from my office and my bedroom. So, when I wake up in the morning, I see the sea, which is nice.
It’s not an extraordinary place, but I love it because it's our place. I think we made it home.
Why did you decide to buy?
We were in the same building, but then the landlord gave us notice that he wanted to live in his property. We could still have lived there for another year, but that was kind of the pushing point into deciding we were really searching and looking into buying something.
Why did you choose this neighbourhood?
We had a look at different locations, like Dubai Creek Harbour and Business Bay. But then we realised we were not ready yet to leave the Marina. We actually love our building with all the facilities, so we moved up 10 floors.
We love the view of water everywhere. It’s just so nice to live here and be up at night and have all the lights and the boats. It's always a busy area.
I like living somewhere where it's busy and it has a lot of cafes, a lot of restaurants, a lot to do here. And it doesn't involve the car, so you can walk.
What facilities do you have?
We have two pools. We have a padel court, a gym, a squash court, a sauna. I have never used the sauna, but there's supposed to be one.
What renovations have you done?
We are European and we love wooden flooring, so we did the flooring in a wood optic. We foiled the wardrobes in a brownish colour and then we had a built-in wardrobe in the living room space because there was dead space and I needed more storage.
We also had a dishwasher built in, because there wasn’t one and I can’t live without. We probably spent about Dh25,000 to Dh30,000.
How was the process of renovating?
We had some time overlapping when we already bought the apartment, but we were still renting downstairs, so we weren't in a hurry. We could just say to the workers that the apartment was open. That was quite smooth and then it was all ready when we wanted to move in.
How much is the property worth now?
It was Dh2.95 million. I don’t answer the five phone calls I get daily at the moment, but I think we could potentially sell it for about Dh3.7 million.
How would you describe your interior design?
We brought most of the furniture over when we moved here, so it's from Germany. It's probably a bit of modern Scandi. I would say it's not completely Scandi, though, because I love colour, and so it has a bit of colour here and there, but modern touches.
How long do you plan to stay in this apartment?
You never know, but for now, I don't think we’ll move soon. It's great here. And as I said, I love the area, I love the building, but I’ll never say never. If we have the possibility to have the full-facing Marina view, I’d think about it.
When we moved to Dubai we thought at first we’d be here for maybe two or three years, but now we’ve been here three years and it’s too short. We can’t go back yet.
The most expensive investment mistake you will ever make
When is the best time to start saving in a pension? The answer is simple – at the earliest possible moment. The first pound, euro, dollar or dirham you invest is the most valuable, as it has so much longer to grow in value. If you start in your twenties, it could be invested for 40 years or more, which means you have decades for compound interest to work its magic.
“You get growth upon growth upon growth, followed by more growth. The earlier you start the process, the more it will all roll up,” says Chris Davies, chartered financial planner at The Fry Group in Dubai.
This table shows how much you would have in your pension at age 65, depending on when you start and how much you pay in (it assumes your investments grow 7 per cent a year after charges and you have no other savings).
|
Age
|
$250 a month
|
$500 a month
|
$1,000 a month
|
|
25
|
$640,829
|
$1,281,657
|
$2,563,315
|
|
35
|
$303,219
|
$606,439
|
$1,212,877
|
|
45
|
$131,596
|
$263,191
|
$526,382
|
|
55
|
$44,351
|
$88,702
|
$177,403
|
VEZEETA PROFILE
Date started: 2012
Founder: Amir Barsoum
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: HealthTech / MedTech
Size: 300 employees
Funding: $22.6 million (as of September 2018)
Investors: Technology Development Fund, Silicon Badia, Beco Capital, Vostok New Ventures, Endeavour Catalyst, Crescent Enterprises’ CE-Ventures, Saudi Technology Ventures and IFC
Abu Dhabi GP schedule
Friday: First practice - 1pm; Second practice - 5pm
Saturday: Final practice - 2pm; Qualifying - 5pm
Sunday: Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (55 laps) - 5.10pm
Tips from the expert
Dobromir Radichkov, chief data officer at dubizzle and Bayut, offers a few tips for UAE residents looking to earn some cash from pre-loved items.
- Sellers should focus on providing high-quality used goods at attractive prices to buyers.
- It’s important to use clear and appealing photos, with catchy titles and detailed descriptions to capture the attention of prospective buyers.
- Try to advertise a realistic price to attract buyers looking for good deals, especially in the current environment where consumers are significantly more price-sensitive.
- Be creative and look around your home for valuable items that you no longer need but might be useful to others.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Is it worth it? We put cheesecake frap to the test.
The verdict from the nutritionists is damning. But does a cheesecake frappuccino taste good enough to merit the indulgence?
My advice is to only go there if you have unusually sweet tooth. I like my puddings, but this was a bit much even for me. The first hit is a winner, but it's downhill, slowly, from there. Each sip is a little less satisfying than the last, and maybe it was just all that sugar, but it isn't long before the rush is replaced by a creeping remorse. And half of the thing is still left.
The caramel version is far superior to the blueberry, too. If someone put a full caramel cheesecake through a liquidiser and scooped out the contents, it would probably taste something like this. Blueberry, on the other hand, has more of an artificial taste. It's like someone has tried to invent this drink in a lab, and while early results were promising, they're still in the testing phase. It isn't terrible, but something isn't quite right either.
So if you want an experience, go for a small, and opt for the caramel. But if you want a cheesecake, it's probably more satisfying, and not quite as unhealthy, to just order the real thing.
Global Fungi Facts
• Scientists estimate there could be as many as 3 million fungal species globally
• Only about 160,000 have been officially described leaving around 90% undiscovered
• Fungi account for roughly 90% of Earth's unknown biodiversity
• Forest fungi help tackle climate change, absorbing up to 36% of global fossil fuel emissions annually and storing around 5 billion tonnes of carbon in the planet's topsoil
Sugary teas and iced coffees
The tax authority is yet to release a list of the taxed products, but it appears likely that sugary iced teas and cold coffees will be hit.
For instance, the non-fizzy drink AriZona Iced Tea contains 65 grams of sugar – about 16 teaspoons – per 680ml can. The average can costs about Dh6, which would rise to Dh9.
Cold coffee brands are likely to be hit too. Drinks such as Starbucks Bottled Mocha Frappuccino contain 31g of sugar in 270ml, while Nescafe Mocha in a can contains 15.6g of sugar in a 240ml can.
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FINAL RECKONING
Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Starring: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Simon Pegg
Rating: 4/5
