Furnished or unfurnished

Unfurnished. You can pick up some good deals at the Friday market. HYou will not like the cheap furniture that comes in most furnished apartments here.

Whe is the Friday market at ?

JenniferMartin wrote:

Hello,

I have two children, and I don't think a furnished home would be good for us---I don't want to pay for accidental stains on something.

However, there seems to be more furnished homes than nonfurnished home.

Obviously I need to decide before we pack up and move what we should or should not bring. Is it most common for those living in Bahrain to rent a furnished or unfurnished home?

I think you may find that unfurnished is easier to come by than furnished - I have friends who really struggled to get furnished.

You will have to decide before you leave what type of property you want.  Furniture is expensive here and lots of it is very arabic but you will need to bear in mind that what looks lovely in your home in your country of origin may not look right in the villa's in Bahrain.  There is quite a lot of second hand furniture for sale by expats leaving and/or moving to larger villa's.

I think it's completely up to you. You will get plenty of options for either. Once you tell your need to broker they will show you accordingly, here good part is that brokers don't charges to tenants so you can deal with multiple brokers in get the perfect one for you.
If you are looking for really long term and ready to manage with empty home and filling it slowing with furniture of your choice then its good to go with unfurnished on , otherwise you can get nice furnished appts too , with nice furniture and sometimes brand new too.
I recently moved to Bahrain , for myself I preferred to take a very nice fully furnished  one with new furniture/bldg, obviously I'm paying little more for that , but   I thought once things will perfectly settle down for me then I will look around for move.
One suggestion: when you go for rental agreement, try to negotiate with diplomatic clause and agree with 1 month notice for leaving the house, in that way you will not be bound to continue in same house for a year and can change anytime.

Regards,
Akhil

Whe is the Friday market at ?

Yeah, where is the Friday market here?

Where is the Friday market at ?

We moved at the beginning of the year and I would highly recommend renting something furnished especially to start with. As scottrace said the furniture here is expensive and of poor quality. I have 3 kids and they have already broken 2 chairs and a painting. The landlord didn't seem to care and the watchman said we would never be asked to pay so don't worry about your kids giving the furniture a hard time. Fully furnished also includes utilities, tax and often satellite tv. Check out www.bahrainpropertyworld.com to get some more ideas.

Where is the Friday market at ?

I dont think we will find the answer? Do you think its central market Although i dont think they do furniture there... i could be wrong

Superboo wrote:

Where is the Friday market at ?

There used to be a big one in Isa Town, close to Lebanon Center and Home Electronics but it burnt last year
It was a really great place to get lost in on Fridays

Yet you have a lot of second hands furniture's shops downtown Manama, behind the souq.


Cheers

Olivier

I am guessing the Friday Market is the one in Isa Town which I believe has recently reopened.

Have never been but am advised that if you are at all interested in animal welfare its a pretty distressing place to visit.

Silver356 - you have a very understanding landlord - I know some friends who have had their deposits withheld for no reason at all so it will all depend on who the ultimate landlord is.  I agree the best place to look is on the property website to get an idea.  You can negotiate all inclusive deals on properties without furniture and that is the best way so you are not faced with unexpected bills.

Hi Jennifer,

First of all; you need to make a slight difference between 'unfurnished' and semi furnished. Unfurnished means: nothing at all, while semi-furnished at least saves you the time and money to find yourself the necessary white goods, curtains and floorings.

Furthermore: yes, a lot of properties are furnished (mostly apartments), but there are also a lot of semi furnished homes for rent. It also depends on the area, just as the style and condition of the furniture. There is also the possibility to add an amount to the rent of the semi-furnished homes and choose your own furniture. As a relocations executive at Coreo.com I can offer you this (won't cost you anything!!). Also yes; you can find tons of properties at bahrainpropertyworld, but beware for disappointments; it is a bulk website on which every agent dumps his properties and leave it there just to be visible. More than often the property of your interest is already rented out...

Personally; when we came to Bahrain, we decided to go for a furnished house, since we didn't felt like going out shopping while we still have our own furniture back home in the Netherlands. But; that's all up to you.
If you need any information or help on your relocation; just mention it!

When you come to Bahrain, simply enter into the building and ask the watchmen to see if there are any flats for rent. More often than not, the answer will be a yes. As many people said, I also suggest to go with a furnished one unless you really want to have your own taste and planning to stay here for a long period.