Arabian Ranches villa renovation: how much to budget and in what order to spend it

When you buy a twenty-year-old villa, you also buy a queue of works. It is predictable, and it is best planned from day one, because the order of spending affects the result as much as the amount.

What comes first

Whatever protects the house, and whatever a tenant notices at the first viewing:

• Air-conditioning equipment. If it is near the end of its life, replace it before anyone moves in: a summer breakdown means losing the tenant and paying for an emergency repair at an inflated price.
• Leaks and waterproofing. Stains on the ceiling and marks around windows point to the roof and its junctions; a leak left for later ruins the finishes you have just paid for.
• Electrics and the distribution board, if the house has never been updated.
• Plumbing and pipework in the bathrooms.

What pays back when you let

• Kitchen and bathrooms. These decide whether the house lets at the top or the bottom of the range.
• Floors and lighting — inexpensive, and they change the impression more than anything else.
• Painting and tidying up the facade.
• A garden in working order: for a family tenant it is part of the house, not decoration.

What barely pays back

• Expensive designer finishes. They narrow the pool of tenants and buyers and do little for the rent.
• Layout changes that move wet areas — expensive, slow, subject to approvals, and rarely reflected in the price.
• A pool where there was none. Count not only the build but the upkeep, which never stops.

How to plan

• A survey before the purchase — it is what gives you the queue of works and the order of costs.
• Build in a contingency: an older house always reveals something that was not visible.
• Agree the works with the community in advance — there are rules on facades, fences and extensions, and they are binding.
• Compare the total with the price of a renovated house in the same community: if the gap is smaller than your estimate, buying a finished one is cheaper.

Based on the Dubai Land Department transaction register and standard community approval practice.