Glofish
Contacted has summed it all up in one post. Guys that expect to afford a 4-5 bed villa without putting some equity in from a previous sale are either naive, stupid or both. There's no doubt housing is expensive here, but compared to New York, London, Singapore, Paris or in fact any major city, is it not to be expected? Forget the 'can't compare' arguments. Whether we like it or not, Dubai is now a major and expensive city to live in.
So, for all the newbies paying off their debts, take the accommodation provided. No bills, no mortgage, no hassle and a great way to clear debt quickly. Hardly rocket science. For others, such as Whistleblower, buy a place back home and rent it, then you will have something at the end of your time here. Not many other airlines out there give you a free place to live while you can have a mortgage paid off buy someone else back home. Third option is take the plunge and buy somewhere here. Having over $50,000 a year additional cash to help pay off a mortgage is one hell of an incentive to take the plunge. In the UK you'd need to earn an extra $90,000 before tax to get that amount. Think about that!
Whatever you decide, the options are there, just decide what works for your individual circumstance and get on with it. Stop blaming others for apathy or poor financial decisions. For so called intelligent professionals it's embarrassing to read some of these sad and rather pathetic posts.
Harry