Staying with kids

Hello there,

We moved to Doha 2 weeks ago from The Netherlands.

I managed to get a place at Busy Bees nursery for my 19 months old son. (He's been on a waiting list since April). My husband works for Q-tel at West Bay. We are looking for a compound villa at the Al Waab area, preferably in any of the Beverly Hills Gardens.

Could you advise which agency to call? Do you know any trustworthy estate agent?

I already had a few pretty bad experiences dealing with people on the phone, taxi companies, ordering food etc...

Any advice is much appreciated.

Agree with others.

I just made the move last week along with the wife and kids. I didn't even start looking for a house until I found spots in a school for he kids. This should be your priority as there seems to be a lack of school spaces in Qatar.

We're an Indian family with 3 kids moving from Singapore. We are looking to build out a network of international families with kids in the primary and kindergarten years. We are also reaching out via dohamums and Doha home educators groups.

Hi Angelo, are you Italian and do you have kids? I am trying to re-create a network of Italian mums/families here in Doha - I just moved here after 6 years in Copenhagen (where we had a good network of Italian families) :-)

Just in case you are interested, please let me know. We live now in Al Waab, but will be moving in Al Jazi when our container arrives.

Kind regards/ciao

Lorenza

helpful comments. I get there sometime in september, and will bring the wife and kids late november or early december - hopefully will have found a place by then.We dont have a school fixed yet, so we're probably flexible with the location.

It appears that the suggestions are to go with a compound villa vs an appartment. i will keep that in mind.

Hi gctodoha,

Thanks for the references. I will search and give the agents a call. Did you mean the agent's fee is 2 months rent? It seems quite high but if they are professional and helpful then it's worth the money.

I'm hoping if you know any compound around Landmark or education city location. My children's school and husband's job are up there.

Thanks a lot.

We found Al wadi 3 but by absoltue pure chance - i was driving around with my Maps app on iphone on and saw this amazing pool in a compound went in saw it loved it of course long long loong wait list

but by pure chance i saw a break lease two weeks later and called the woman literally stalked her every two hours until she gave in the eve and let us see the place...

but all the agents- - good or bad would tell u that no way the wait lsit too long etc etc

which is true

so even though the agents are good

they cant keep calling every day the same places - or they wont coz they r too busy...so it sup to u how determined u r...

al jazi 1 and 2 fully booked, the only one i thinkthat i vacant there is lavender village iwhich i dont like the feel of

the problem is nice compunds have long wait lists..u literally need to drive up to gate and get managements no and call them yourself every few days

if u want a good contact

google

Zeeshan at Fookis - he is very very helpful and wont ask u todrive around to inspect places without letting u names etc first so u can do your own research first

and his fees are flexble 2 months, 10 per cent or none at all

got a lot of valuable advice from him which i apperciated

Nelson Park Property mgmt - we used carla and she is from sydney and so knew what we wnated - the issue being of course there was nothign that we wanted available

but give her a go too

but they will cahrge 2 months

hope that helps

also if u can let me know your budget maybe i can advise which ones to follow or leave alone

been here less than 2 mths but learning a lot...

Agree with gctodoha. Location really depends on your workplace and school. I'm in the process of looking for one as well. Does anyone know if there are any good compound north of Landmark area, along Umm Salal? What about any good agent to work for? I can't stand calling many jokers advertise on QL. Their ads barely indicate much while they want half month commission!

Depends on schools too ... Do u know where they will be going?

Yes it is true u can get nice villas in compounds in gharafa and al waab for that price

The issue is availability

Demand is crazy and u r going to have to call literally everyday to secure one

So focus on being near the schools and that will narrow your calls to certain areas

Oh and the managements will not call u back u have to keep calling them

We have been doing this for las two months and got miraculously lucky with our villa In an amazing compound

But that too took about 13 calls to secure ....on the same day

is better to choose a compound; usually tehre you will find plenty other kids to play with.

14 K is a good amount to take a nice 4 bedrooms villa in compound in Al Waab or Gharafa areas with pool, playground, club house etc etc.

Good luck.