Based on true events :)
Dubai—Lifecycle of an apartment.
Once a long long time ago, a person decided to make money helping the needy in Dubai. Let’s call her the Broker or B. B rented an apartment, and decided to sublet it after furnishing it. Thus she will be helping the short term travelers and new people to Dubai. She got a nice apartment for 12000, furnished it and rented it out.
Initially there were 3 people in the apartment. Let’s call them C, D and E. C&D shared a room and gave 3000 each, E had a single room and gave 5000. This gave B 11000. Thus the minute she rented out the third and last room, she will move to profit. The third room was the smallest. As the largest room went for 3000*2 = 6000, the next room for 5000, she expected the smallest room to go for 4000. Thus she will get 15,000 as rent. She pays 12,000. A nice profit of 3000 per month for her work and furnishing.
Fortunately or unfortunately, a group of 3 people decided they could somehow fit into the tiny room. They were willing to pay 1800 each. This was slightly more than what B expected. She was happy. Then she felt if the tiny room is giving so much, then should not the big room give more? She was happy with the setup. You may call it her greed, but I think it was smartness to recognize the market dynamics. Common it made sense …small room goes for less than big room.
So she re-negotiated with the C&D. finally they agreed to take in a third person (lets call him S). B got higher rent, she was happy. And everything went nice for a few days. Now the people in the tiny weenie room felt that 1800 was too high, they could afford only 1500. B was not in favor of reducing rent. So they agreed to bring in a fourth person. So know it was 4*1500 == 6000 for the tiny room. Now B felt the middle room where E was staying was undervalued. If the tiny room gave 6000, that room should give 7000. E resisted and then finally agreed. Now it made sense that the big room should give 8000. So she started pestering the C&D to take a fourth person……
That’s how the ghettos in Dubai with 10-12 people in a 2BHK are built
Now what happened one day S asked C how these ghettos was built. C called D&E and all 4 soon were talking about the good old days. They then remembered that the rent has not changed for B. So they decided to find new apartments for themselves. First E found one and flew away. Bit later C, D and S also got a better apartment.
Initially the 4 guys in the tiny room were happy….they could take a bigger room. But the new tenants who came refused to pay 6000 for the tiny room. The house had a few empty rooms. DEWA and internet cost went high as number of people sharing reduced. The “4” realized that the others were paying 3000-5000 per head and not 1500 like them and they could not afford it.
Will this lead to a rationalization of rent? Will this lead to the “4” adding another 8-10 to the house to keep rent low. Will it see bunker beds like in Pilipino dwellings? Those I do not know, but I do know how the ghetto got built in the first place…..I do know why the rents in Dubai are so high. It is due to us and our brethren. We are to blame for it and not the brokers. We and especially my sloth J
-->link to the original blogger.. Lord Chaos :)As a sequel I want a write a piece, the teaser for which goes like this:
Did C, D and S finally move off ....
OR did they end up getting deeper into this shit….. what finally triggered their exit?
Did the small room remain empty or is the market full of pathetic creeps who far outnumbered people like C,D and S?
Watch out this space...Read the story of their exit...
a tale of sufferings, subversion of privacy, soul searching and finally bold heroic decisions to regain a more humane life :)
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