I am considering purchasing a studio apartment in Dubai as a
buy-to-let investment.  I am resident in UK and have contacted a
company called emmenproperties (
www.emmenproperties.com) who have told of 3 studios in the Dubai
Lagoon each costing £52,000.  They give a guarantee for 10% yield
rental income for 3 years following completion plus capital
appreciation over that period.  I am interested in making this
purchase with a 25% deposit with the remainder financed by a bank in
Dubai.  Apparently the property is adjacent to a business district
with a high demand for workers so therefore renting the property will
be very easy.

My questions are:

1. Does anyone have experience using emmen properties? and if not how
can I check their credibility?

2. Would this be a fair market price to pay for a property such as this in Dubai?

3. What finance would be available in Dubai and what is the most
competetitive deal for a 75% finance of this property?

4. Are there any particular problems, issues or scames that I
particularly need to be aware of?

If anyone could recommend any better property deals of this type I
would be interested

For the 3rd question I would like a breakdown of the best finance
options available.

Many thanks

Simon

For any investment property, consider:

Taxes: What property taxes will you owe upon purchase and yearly?  

Community fees: Are there fees associated with owning/living in the
community or town?

Maintenance: What are the chances you'll have to replace the roof or
do other major repairs in the next couple years?  Can you afford this?
 Is this risk worth taking for the profit you're expecting to make?

Cost of Renting the place out:  How much is emmenproperties going to
charge you to rent out the property?  Normal fees in the US are
approximately 50% for the first month and 12% every other month (the
first month means... the first month of every new tenant)... but of
course you're not dealing in the US so these costs could easily be
much higher or lower.
If you have 3 tennants in 3 years then this (50%/12%) would cost you
about 5 1/2 months rent (1/6th of the total rent you'll collect during
the 3 years) for them to manage the property/tennants for you.  This
does not include any maintenance costs you'll incur.

Cost of buying/selling the property:  These costs vary alot, but in
general you will owe the cost of the broker, financing, inspections,
appraisal, titling fees, and probably several more that I've left out.

Greetings Simon,
I could not access the website for Emmenproperties, only getting a
blank with a blue field surrounding.  On another site I found a link
that gave the same, and on this site: 
http://www.uksmallbusinessdirectory.co.uk/cat_count.asp?strBusinessCatergory=Property%20investment
 I found the following:
Company Name :  	  Emmen Properties Ltd
Contact Name: 	Junaid Mailk
Company Address:     	Regus House, 268 BathRoad
Town: 	Slough
County: 	Berkshire
Post Code: 	SL1 4DX
Telephone: 	0870 735 1240
Description: 	Emmen Properties Ltd is offering properties in Dubai. We
cater for home buyers and large investors. Our portfolio consists of
1,2,3 bedroom apartments & villas to commercial land and complete
residential/office towers
Date of Entry: 	13/06/2005 11:17:05

That is not very confidence inspiring.  Emmen Properties is obviously
just an agent and not a principal.  Do you have any information on the
actual seller?

When looking for information about Dubai real estate, I was disturbed
that so many (all that I saw) for this sized units provided no floor
plan.  That suggests to me that there is a lot of speculative
advertising, and maybe speculative investment and construction.
This is also suggested by the guaranteed rental income for three years.
This was offered in Germany when there was much real estate
construction in the new, eastern states.  In effect, you pay for this
in the price (either hidden or as an option).  Sounds good, but
whoever is guaranteeing only has to pay the difference to a lower,
actual rent, but then  - as happened in Germany -  the new owner is
left with the problem.
I cannot see how anyone can guarantee a capital appreciation unless
they provide a buy-back guarantee, whereby one would have to be
careful of the fine print and who the guarantor is  - if he will be
around in three years.  Indeed, one has to ask how "capital
appreciation" is defined.

Yes, I am very sceptical, sceptical of any package deal for selling
real estate sight unseen.  What assurance do you have that the
property is where it is said to be?  What kind of worker(s) will/would
be renting?  Maybe several non-local construction workers, each
chipping in enough to make a good rent, even maybe enough so that you
only need to see part of it?  Will they be there in three years?  How
will you manage renting after that?

Okay, I am envisioning a worst case scenario, but it raises some valid
questions.  Sorry to sound like a wet blanket.
Regards, Myoarin

Thankyou very much for your comments.  I am beginning to doubt the
credentials of Emmen properties after lack of information that they
have been able to provide.  I have always been somewhat sceptical
about the guarantees made for rent and appreciation although Emmen
properties claims to have their guarantees backed up by Dubai's
largest bank.  Thankyou myoarin-ga  for highlighting the potential
problems in using these guarantees.

I am currently looking for some alternative agents who may be able to
offer similar property investments in Dubai as the projections for the
property market do look very promising despite the logistical
challenges.

Rodney,
Comments with email addresses are very likely to be removed by G-A. 
All communications should be here.
Regards, Myoarin