Relocation to Sohar

Hiii!!!good choice very good location near to main road.

Kam Sani wrote:

Hi there..I'll be relocating soon to Sohar, can you share experiences on accommodation there...Palm Garden, Sohar Garden etc.

Hahahahaha...no thanks

Kami, did you find accommodations in Sohar?

I'll be moving there next week and am looking for myself.  Any leads to pass along?

Thank you.

Karendd3

Hi there @Karendd3, how was your house hunting in Sohar? Did you find a good place? Mind sharing some insights? Thanks!

I just relocated to Sohar last week and got a place in Palm Garden. It is very close to the Lulu Supermarket and Highway.

Hi @richieduke, I'm glad that you were able to finalize your accomodation within a week of relocating to Sohar.

Could you share your thoughts about Palm Garden? Did you look at any other properties prior to deciding on Palm Garden? How's the house hunting process like for you?

Thanks in advance!

@Modjo, The flat was provided by my employer. Palm Garden is a very nice and decent place to live. The flats are very spacious and the facilities are great. There's a gym and swimming pool inside too. The Estate is made up of lots of Expats and staff of ORPIC and ARIES ( a new Brazilian Company in Sohar).

Thanks for the info @richieduke - I will definitely check out Palm Garden when I'm there. How do you find Sohar so far?

modjo wrote:

Thanks for the info @richieduke - I will definitely check out Palm Garden when I'm there. How do you find Sohar so far?

I have found Sohar to be ok. There are a few places to visit, the Radisson Blue have a good evening Buffett there. Dubai is 30 minutes by plane. Feeding is a bit cheap. The locals are friendly and it is a good place to save money. However, the driving here is manic on the highway, everyone wants to be in front of each other on the road.

richieduke wrote:

However, the driving here is manic on the highway, everyone wants to be in front of each other on the road.

I hope my years of practice in Saudi will be useful there 

@Modjo, you will surely be fine.  Most of the expats that have relocated from Saudi confirmed that Saudi driving is even fiercer than that of Oman.

I'm a mother of a 12 year old girl, I'm moving to Sohar with my husband and I was wondering what's the best way to find an apartment for us

Hi @Annavio, if the family finds it acceptable to live outside of a housing compound then you could look at the options in OLX Oman website prior to coming to Sohar.

If the family wants to live within a housing compound then the best way is to approach them personally once you are already in Sohar.

Nonetheless, the best way would still be to look at the options in person when you are already here. Typically for larger companies they will try to assist new joiners to sort out accomodation during the first few weeks as well.

Thank you very much for your kind reply!

richieduke wrote:

modjo wrote:

Thanks for the info @richieduke - I will definitely check out Palm Garden when I'm there. How do you find Sohar so far?

I have found Sohar to be ok. There are a few places to visit, the Radisson Blue have a good evening Buffett there. Dubai is 30 minutes by plane. Feeding is a bit cheap. The locals are friendly and it is a good place to save money. However, the driving here is manic on the highway, everyone wants to be in front of each other on the road.

hi,
which airline did you use to fly direct to Dubai from Sohar?

Hi Modjo,

Would you be kind enough to share some good locations to stay in Sohar? I'm looking for 1BHK up to 2BHK. Close to hypermarkets/groceries. I know Palm Gardens is good, but I'm also exploring other accomodations. Thank you.

Hi @vijaiananth, selamat datang! I hope things will progress well with your prep to come to Sohar.

From what I see/feel during my relatively short time here, the two main areas would be Falaj Al Qabail area and Sohar area.

Falaj is the area adjacent to Sohar city centre closest to Sohar Port (where most heavy industries, Oil and Gas etc businesses are located). People who chose to live in Falaj favor the distance to work, it has fair amount of amenities and shops. People who intend to save more on accomodation costs also favor Falaj area - although some properties like villas and newer/modern apartments have similar rental like those in Sohar.

Sohar on the other hand refers to the city, Palm Gardens is located in Sohar. People chose to live in Sohar to have better access to amenities and shops. It is more lively than Falaj as well. The areas within and surrounding Sohar are more suitable for pedestrian (jogging tracks, seaside, parks, sports facilities etc).

Check out OLX Oman for properties listing and keep an eye for locations marked Tareef, Waqaybah, Corniche, Sohar Souq, Indian School for areas around Sohar city. I usually use my phone internet browser so that I can translate ads in Arabic - sometimes funny translation came up but it'll help. Falaj area would usually just be listed Falaj as the location.

Other residential complexes that I know of includes Sohar Gardens (in Falaj, towards Sohar), Dawood Complex (in Multaqa, nearer to Sohar, Jusoor (Falaj, right outside port area) and Mango Farm (don't know how to explain the location).

Let me know if you need more help. Good luck!

Terima kasih @Modjo. Your elaborate write-up is much appreciated.

Looks like you've already moved on. My best wishes for all your future undertakings.

Great ideas there. In addition, what would be the best way to rent the accommodation? My initial research reveals that normally there is a waiting list for all these accommodation. Also, the management is not contactable via phone/e-mail. Would going via a realty agent helps?

Also, I'm sure some of these compounds do have management fees to maintain the facilities. Do you have any rough estimate of that? I'm very detailed person, so I love to have up to the minutest detail. Hope you don't mind.

Hey @vijaiananth, yeah the management for the complexes are not known to be good at replying emails and would typically accomodate folks who are already in Sohar. The units usually are on high demand so they would have their hands full with people approaching their offices personally. None of those who recently moved into complexes I knew got anything from the management prior to arriving in Sohar - there might be others who did though.

The most you can do with regards to accomodation option in to look online, establish contact with the advertisers and discuss your planned arrival date. If it's close to the date they might be able to hold/reserve the unit for a little while. However, I would recommend to reserve any commitments until you're already here. Typically more established companies will also help their new employees to sort out accommodation, it's also good to wait and see what they have.

About management or maintenance fees I think they're all in but let me check again to be sure. Will get back to you on this one.