Why Invest in Motor City Sobha Dubai

Welcome to season three of The Dubai Connect podcast. I'm GG Benitez, a certified international property specialist connecting global real estate investors with the lucrative opportunities in Dubai and the UAE. When you can't go to Dubai because it might be a little too hot, Dubai comes to you. Today I have a guest that you've probably seen on my previous podcast. Cassandra is all the way here from Dubai to talk about one of the hottest up-and-coming areas. For those who don't know, Cass, you lived in Beverly Hills for how many years? For seven. But you would never go anywhere else besides Dubai. No, and when I even tell you I want to move to Europe, you said yes, when I'm old and I want to die. When I'm going to be like ninety-nine-plus, she always makes fun of me. So I am excited for you to be here to be able to share this because one of the things that I talk about, Cass, is that it's not like all of Dubai. I mean you can't get defrauded because there's the Dubai Land Department that has all these safety measures in place. But that doesn't mean everything is a good investment. I've heard you say in my previous podcast, do you want to just buy something and have a property in the desert? Yeah, you just have land in the desert. Or something, a building in the desert. No, you have to make the most strategic decisions if you want to have maximum ROI on your investment. We're catering to global real estate investors from North America, the UK, etc. There's this constant evolution of what are the areas to invest in, right? We've talked about, of course, on our previous episodes, the Heartland. You have the Sea Haven that's right there on the water in the harbor. There are all these areas that we've been discussing for the past year and a half. One area that actually was not on my radar until recently is Motor City. The only reason why it's on my radar is because when Sha decides to buy a plot and build in an area, there's a reason. So that is why I invited you on the show today to share with our viewers why they should be paying attention to Motor City and why Sha decided to build in Motor City. May you share with us? Yeah, sure. Okay, so Motor City is already an established community. Basically, people live there. The community is fully finished. It is a very nice green community, twenty to twenty-five minutes from Dubai Mall, Burj Khalifa, Downtown. Twenty minutes from Marina, about seventeen minutes from Mall of Emirates, twenty-five minutes to JBR and beachfront. So anywhere you want to go is like twenty to twenty-five, up to thirty minutes maximum. But the community, when you're going to get to the community, you get a different type of vibe. It's not like this downtown vibe with a lot of tourists. It's suburban. It's the suburbs of Dubai, right? Yeah, yeah. So it's a vibe, you know, like family lives there. So there is a lot of hospitals, a lot of schools. Families live over there. Also, people who work in these hospitals or work in these schools. This type of vibe where everyone is walking at night, you know, all these kids playing in the playground till late and stuff like that. Yeah, so the community is already established. There are a lot of supermarkets. Again, as I said, schools and kindergartens and stuff like that. So there is a promenade where all these people walk and hang out. The thing is, why it can be interesting to our investors is because there is a lack of inventory. So that drives demand, obviously. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So there is a lack of inventory. The whole community is mostly built with townhouses and villas. I will give you one example. A lot of real estate brokerage companies in the area, you know, a real estate agent is usually either a single person or a young family. So they don't want or don't need a villa or this townhouse. Even though there's also a lack of inventory, they don't want it. They want apartments. So all my agents all the time were struggling to get an apartment close to work, close to the office, because it just doesn't exist. Yeah. And there are some buildings. I wouldn't say even mid-rise. It's like kind of low-rise, like six to seven floors maximum. But again, they are kind of old because the last handover was seven years back. But even this old building, one-bedroom, we're talking about sixty-five thousand dirhams per year. So imagine an eight-year-old building in Motor City, which is like twenty-five minutes from Burj Khalifa Downtown, sixty-five thousand dirhams per year. Yeah. So Sha came up with this new project, which is Nimar Orbis. It is basically seven towers, A, B, C, D, E, F, G. They're interconnected by one podium. What we came up with is this idea to make it as a resort, to build it as a resort. Basically, all seven towers interconnect with one podium, and on this podium you're going to have a lot of amenities. There is a massive list of amenities, including multiple swimming pools. Not just shallow swimming pools, but also a lazy river and also beach edge. You know the swimming pool with the sandy beach? Yeah. So beach volleyball, all these like resort kind of activities. A lot of jacuzzis. There is going to be a big clubhouse with billiards, karaoke, and of course a lot of multiple barbecue areas. Toddler. How fun for a family. Yeah, yeah, yeah, tone. Yeah, even, I mean, it's not just that. Because you were saying that even professionals that work at the hospitals would also want this to be a place that they would want to rent. Not just long-term, this would also be catering to short-term rentals as well. You were talking about before we started filming is that there are people that come out there that have to do short-term rentals for whatever their reason is, right? They, for example, don't want to give checks. Or they don't have checks. Again, if you go back to, let's say, real estate agents, real estate agents, they don't have basic salary and check from the bank. You can order only if you're getting like a basic salary. So what do they do? They rent monthly. For example, sometimes owners don't accept substituted checks from somebody else, from a third party. Yes. So what they have to do is rent monthly. So it doesn't have to be like a crazy price, same as a daily price. Obviously, it can be discussed between owner and tenant, but they rent monthly. So this is also part of short-term. If you're talking about long-term, so my opinion is it's better to get over there a two-bedroom. Even, I mean, they are not expensive at all. The starting price is four hundred fifty thousand. Which is like, you know, let's say in Heartland two, you can get only one bedroom, or hardly max, maximum, one plus study. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So this is like, but again, if you're planning to rent it as long-term, so my opinion, two-bedroom would be better. One-bedroom starting price is two hundred seventy thousand in the smallest one-bedroom. So, for example, the professionals maybe they would be doing the one-bedroom. But families. You were even talking about the schools. It's the British curriculum school. The British curriculum school. The demographic that Motor City caters to is a little bit different than JVC, right? It's considered upper middle class, upper mid professionals, and families. You can tell that by the fact that you have the British curriculum schools there. It's an established community. You have the universities, the hospitals, etc. So that's what you're catering to. But yet look at these prices. I mean, when you compare that to here, San Diego, for example. With regards to the amenities, you're talking about the lazy river and the sandy beach, a lot of courts, tennis courts, paddle tennis, basketball court, half basketball court, big clubhouse again, I'm going to repeat, with the karaoke, billiards. I mean, so we're going to have some fun there. Yes. And so basically the podium at the seventh floor. And then you have, you know, the stairs down. Then you have four floors of commercial areas. Such as a promenade with restaurants, pet stores, boutiques, game zones, and stuff like that. And this is already common. So basically we're going to arrange it as a common use area. So the other people from outside also can come to this promenade. This is like kind of the center of attraction. Let's say there is a promenade, four floors, with restaurants, dining out, boutique, game zones, and stuff like this. This is accessible for the whole community. Then a couple of stairs up and then your own podium. Obviously, nobody can use it. You'll be drawing people, like you said, as an attraction because of the restaurant to the ground floor, but to the building as well. Wow. And is that already exist in other buildings? It is. It exists in Motor City. They have a promenade right now. But in my opinion, it is too overcrowded, old, and overcrowded, because the whole community uses one promenade. As I told you, there's this vibe that, you know, after work, everyone goes outside with kids, with families, and stuff like that. You know, going in and out, like dining in, dining out, you know, supermarkets and stuff like that. So this is like, I've been there because there was my favorite Wings over there. And I don't know why, for some reason, they were only in Motor City, some UK brand. Okay, yeah. So I was all the time going there. They were like, they, not they, was, they, they are still there. They're located in this promenade. Yeah, in this promenade. That's great. And then, of course, I mean Shaowa, the brand, we've talked about this repeatedly. Not all developers are made equally. I have to constantly press on this point because being in the United States, Canadians and North Americans are seeing advertising from all different types of brands from Dubai and the UAE. One of the most important decisions you can make when you're investing in Dubai is who to invest with, the area, okay. It depends on the goals, right? Whether the client is looking to move themselves with their family, they're single, they're looking for short-term rental returns, long-term, or capital appreciation, etc. And what their budget is. And it's the developer that you work with. Sha is one of the most reputable developers in the entire UAE. Awards, I just saw a news article that just came out about your founder being like the wealthiest Omani citizen. Yes. And he's the palace maker because of the quality. I mean, you, quality, and I've been in your experience center. I can show some video of me walking into the experience center to talk about that. A lot of people will call me and say, but this looks good. I said, sure, that looks good on the surface. But what happens when you pull away that first wall? What's behind that? That matters in an investment. Because when it comes time to resell, how are you going to be able to resell that product for maximum capital appreciation and capital gains if it's a brand that doesn't have a reputation for good quality? Sha has probably one of the best reputations in the entire Dubai. And also, let's say, early, we were talking about this, real estate agents, for example, people who don't have salary. So they'll have to rent monthly. It's still considered as short-term. So when it's short-term, the whole responsibility of the apartment is on the owner. Let's say I'm a real estate agent. I rented short-term every month. I have something like a leaky AC. I call you every month. You have to fix it from your pocket. After this, your net return goes down. But not with a brand as reputable as Sha, and you're not only known for your quality but your customer service and the strength of the retail market. Because the brand awareness and the strength of the resale market for those looking to invest. With this price per square footage in Motor City being so affordable, right? Somebody who wants to get in on what's happening right now in Dubai, and the fact that we know this is an established community, not in the desert, not in the desert, established community. That's a huge difference. Because having been established, I could compare it to another town that I'm thinking of right now, that's another city that's established. But that's part of the most expensive part of building a master community. And it's already established. So we're not talking about five to six years out. We're talking about right upon handover. This is already an established area. So that's going to really help with that sale profit margin and the proposed plan of Dubai. It's not my own proposed plan. My personal plan, it is a plan of Dubai. So right, like, basically, you're going to attach the map. So on the upper right corner, basically, it is walking distance. Proposed plan of Dubai is going to have a metro over there. Perfect. So connectivity. Also, connectivity regarding the Sha plot for Motor City or this project. It is the first junction when you come into Motor City. From nine to six, as I told you, mostly professionals live there. So from nine to six, it might be traffic, you know, in the morning, evening. It's like in any family community, any family community. So but this is the first junction. So you will not have to stay in traffic if you're a professional working, let's say, nine to six or nine to seven. Yeah. And it is just two hundred meters distance to E-11, one of the main highways in Dubai. This is between Ukkaz Road and Al-Udra Road. So basically, Ukkaz Road, Barahi has traffic compared to Hassel. Hassel always. Yes, I've been there. Always. They're always, yeah. This is again, a comparison to, let's say, JVC. You asked me JVC. It's Hassel Street all the time. This is unoccupied. Kim, more or less like Barahi. Is the price per square footage comparable to JVC? Motor City is a little bit more. Yeah, no, it's not more. It's not more. So in JVC, basically, we have different ranges because you have the small private developers and you have also reputable developers over there. So it's like so it's different. It's literally from zero to you know, yeah, there's a wide range because of all the different developers. Yeah. But the thing is, JVC, it is over supply. I mean, I don't say that there is no demand. Quality, not over supply for quality. But there are a lot of apartments. There are also villas and townhouses, but there are a lot of apartments. So what's going to happen by twenty twenty-seven? By the way, the completion of this project is end of December twenty twenty-seven. So what's going to happen by twenty twenty-seven, it is already over supply, based on today, twenty twenty-four. Yeah, very. Motor City, I just told you. I mean, if you want your investment to be safer, it's the same price range. The same price range. If you want no traffic, you want a safer investment, yeah, and better quality, just go with Sha. If you want to make your journey longer and want to study some projects in JVC, you can. Share some of the projections if we can. What would you say, upon handover, is the projected capital appreciation for your project? The Sha project in Motor City? Okay, I would say ten percent per year from the total cost of the apartment, starting from today. If they're going to buy today, they're going to buy tomorrow, starting from tomorrow. Yeah, so what are we now? Twenty twenty-four? Yeah. Around thirty percent by handover? By handover. But on the total project, which you're only invested at that point sixty. Is it a sixty-forty payment plan? It is sixty-forty as part of the promotion. Right now. But I think for the whole summer, it's going to be sixty-forty. Yeah, maybe from September, again, we're going to go back to baseline. Basically you're making thirty percent on the total purchase price, but you've only invested sixty percent. Yeah. Basically, fifty percent on your invested money. Yeah. And then long-term rental returns, what do you anticipate it to be? Okay, so as of now, what I can say, let's say that buildings which are already seven years and eight years old, I told you there because I checked it when my agents couldn't find a place. Like no, how come you cannot find an apartment in the area? So I was doing this with them. So it's sixty-five thousand for one-bedroom. Sixty-five thousand for one-bedroom means it is around eight percent for the old one. For old one, low-rise, six-year-old one, mid-rise, and high, yeah, high, mid, sorry, mid, amenities. Yeah. No, there is, all, of course, basic amenities. But it is old. So maybe what I'm saying is now you have that, that has all these beautiful upgraded resort amenities, resort amenities, plus it's newer. So they already get eight percent on the old one. They're like seven to eight. So it's sixty-five thousand dirhams. So if one-bedroom, let's say, one million. Yeah, it's like seven and a half, sorry, six and a half to seven. Six and a half to seven. Yeah. This is what we have now in the old kind of old building. And that's the thing about it being a developed area. We can actually look on the portal such as Property Finder and check what is the history of the rental returns. Okay. And then you do still anticipate some short-term rental return opportunities as we expressed as well? And I mean they will not be huge or something, because because it is not like, let's say, on the beach, right on the beach or something. But it's still like, I mean, there will still be demand there. Going to be demand there. Property taxes, no. Capital gain tax, no. Capital appreciation taxes, no. And in a city where the population is expected to double in the next ten years, there are all these initiatives. In fact, the most recent one, which I think attributes a little bit to what Sha's entire vision is, is about the quality of life initiative of making Dubai more green as well, right? And pedestrian friendly. Sha, all of your developments are really green, pet-friendly, and pedestrian-friendly. Pedestrian-friendly. I think with the quality of life initiative, it's that twenty minutes. The goal is within twenty minutes of every resident to have access to green parks, places to be able to walk outdoors, etc. I mean, that's part of what I love so much about Dubai is that it's not just about investing your money just to make money. But they are creating this life for people that want to move their lifestyle. Yes, it's beautiful. Kind of a stone jungle lifestyle. It is like more green. You know, but friendly, community lifestyle. Which is why we have a woman who could live in Beverly Hills but tells me, okay, I come and visit for a little bit, but I want to go back to Dubai. And but I thank you for taking the time to come visit and be able to share with our audience. Because, of course, like I said at the very beginning, it's important to know what are the up-and-coming areas to try to get in when they can. So this is the time. This is the right time. Right time. Honestly, I also invested in Motor City. You did? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, because I was completely not interested in this area. But when I started to check it, to get to know better, I went there. My agent was struggling to find an apartment for rent. So it just made so much sense. Yeah, you know, because I'm a type of downtown girl. I never go. I like I never go more than ten minutes from downtown. But yet you would see yourself living in Motor City as well, right? Sorry, you would see yourself living in Motor City? Absolutely, yes. Like, yeah, yeah, absolutely, yes. Because I was so surprised. Because in like, in my head, it was like something similar to all these areas to me, something similar like JVC, JVC, Motor City. But they're all actually different. Hmm, yeah, they are different. Yeah. And Motor City I like the most. Okay, yeah. Well, we like it now. We thank you for sharing. We will share with our episode some of the photos and videos, etc. I encourage you to reach out to me now to start your investment journey. This is a great entry point as well since the pricing is just so incredibly affordable. I thank Cassandra for joining us. I ask you to please like, subscribe, follow, comment, and wait for the next episode of The Dubai Connect podcast. Thank you.