Long-term expat Meagan da Silva and her 42-year-old husband rented in Dubai’s popular Arabian Ranches neighbourhood before deciding to buy a home along the same road.
Now in their fifth year living in the city, the couple, who are South African with Portuguese and British heritage, own a four-bedroom house in the Alvorada sub-community. Ms da Silva would not be drawn on how much she paid for her home but similar properties are listed for above Dh13m on Property Finder.
Ms da Silva, a teacher aged 37, showed The National around the home she also shares with two daughters, 9 and 6.
Please tell us about the house
Our home has four bedrooms and five bathrooms, plus an internal nanny’s room and an external driver’s room.
The house is approximately 4,700 sq ft inside, on an 8,000 sq ft plot.
Before Dubai, we mostly lived in condos and apartments. We knew that when we eventually bought, we wanted more space and a garden for the children.
One of the things we love is our children can safely run between neighbours’ houses, ride their bikes and scooters and play with friends without worrying about busy roads.
Why did you decide to buy?
We’ve been expats for around 13 years and wanted something tangible, somewhere that felt like home and gave us some roots.
Before Dubai we lived in Singapore, where buying property as an expat is much more difficult and expensive. Dubai felt more achievable and accessible.
At the time we bought, mortgage repayments and rental costs had started to even out, so it made more sense to put money into our own property.
The market was also climbing and we felt positive about Dubai’s future. We’d been thinking about buying, but our landlord giving us notice was probably the final push we needed to take the plunge.
Owning has also given us more stability. We’re not worrying every year or two about lease renewals, rental increases or being asked to move.
We found the buying process fairly straightforward. Everything felt transparent and secure.
What drew you to this property?
We’ve always found Emaar very good to deal with. The homes feel solidly built and we’ve had no major building issues. Whenever we’ve logged a maintenance issue the problem has been resolved quickly.
Knowing the community well beforehand gave us confidence when buying.
We looked at quite a few communities within Arabian Ranches, but we always came back to Alvorada. It feels like a more personal community and it’s divided into four sub-communities, each with their own amenities and security.
What made you choose this neighbourhood?
We already knew Alvorada because we’d rented there for two years before buying.
We absolutely love Arabian Ranches. One of the biggest attractions is how green and established it feels. Emaar does a great job maintaining landscaping and communal areas.
We also chose Ranches because of location. It’s very well positioned for schools. Another factor was Alvorada’s location within Arabian Ranches itself. Ranches is a very large community and, depending on where you live, it can take 8-10 minutes just to reach an exit.
Alvorada is positioned near the Al Qudra/Umm Suqeim/Studio City traffic lights, which means we can get in and out of the community quickly. With two young children, that convenience makes a real difference; school drop-offs take us around 12 minutes.
It’s also convenient for everyday life. Alvorada is close to Motor City, Waitrose, Spinneys, and Dubai Hills Mall.
Property values have performed well over the years and we’ve often been told larger plot sizes compared to some newer developments are part of the reason. Emaar is also continuing to invest in the community and is currently building a much-needed gym.
What upgrades have you made?
We were fortunate the previous owner completed two extensions and had built a substantial service block outside which includes a tank room, pool room, store room, and a large driver’s room.
We updated most of the house to make it work better for our family. We widened doorways, removed some internal arches and columns to create a more open layout, replaced the AC units and ducting, renovated the kitchen and bathrooms and removed downstairs ceilings to increase ceiling heights.
We deliberately kept one set of original arches and the original Alvorada wooden staircase because we love the character and charm they bring. The aim was to create a light, bright and open family home.
We’d probably describe the style as minimalist Mediterranean, although in reality it’s just a busy family home, well lived in and filled with furniture we’ve owned and collected over the years.
Our favourite addition has been the outdoor living space. We added a concrete pool and a large pergola, which has effectively become another living area.
It includes an outdoor kitchen, TV area, fireplace, dining space, traditional South African brick braai and lounge seating.
What facilities do you have in your community?
One of the reasons I love Arabian Ranches 1 over some communities is the way each sub-community is set up.
Each has its own security gate and isn’t used as a through road, which keeps traffic much lower than you might expect for a community of this size.
My daughters can ride their bikes, scoot to the park and visit friends without us worrying about busy roads.
Each sub-community has its own swimming pool, playground and basketball court. Some also have tennis courts and sand play areas.
We also spend a lot of time at the golf club. The Ranches Souk is currently being upgraded and we’re seeing more brands move in.
What financial advantages are there to owning?
For us it came down to two things.
Mortgage repayments had become similar to rental costs, so it made more sense to invest in our own property.
Secondly, it gave us stability. We no longer have the uncertainty that comes with renting.
The rise in Dubai property prices since we bought has obviously also been a positive, but the main reason was creating a home and putting down roots.
The property has increased in value; renovating it, adding the pool and creating the outdoor living area have all helped. Those additions have definitely changed the way we live and enjoy the house.
Do you plan to sell or rent it when you move?
We’re extremely happy in our home and love what we’ve built as a family. We see it very much as our home rather than purely an investment property, although we’re always open to opportunities.
One thing we are certain about is that if we ever decide to move, we’d stay within Arabian Ranches.
Do you plan to buy more property?
We’d definitely consider buying again.
The biggest lesson we learnt was probably to spend more time choosing the community than the house itself. We viewed 30-plus properties before finding ours; a lot of that time was spent figuring out exactly what we liked.
My advice would be to spend time in the communities you’re considering. Go for breakfast, visit the cafes, use the facilities and drive around the different neighbourhoods.
Once you’ve figured out which community and which type suits you, the search becomes much quicker because you can focus only on relevant home