Lease agreements

Hi @AndrePrevin, good to see you're getting to the next step after the medical situation earlier. I will soon be going through the same process in Sohar.

I was thinking to either get an accommodation in Dawood Complex or a standalone villa outside the compound - any thoughts on these options?

How's the quality of the standalone villas compared to the ones in the compound? And any general tips on house hunting in Sohar?

Hi Modjo

I think the villas/apartments in complexes is better since you have access to facilities as well.

I haven't actually seen many standalone villas. Mostly it was apartments.

The quality varies quite drastically.
Some of the standalone villas are nice and you're looking at around RO400 to RO500 rials but these are hard to come by.
The stuff that is more readily available are small/ish apartments around RO150 to RO200 rials but I would personally not take one of those.

It depends on you and your requirements.

In terms of house hunting start as early as possible and search as extensively as possible. Use your company PRO to help you search but also try and befriend one or two of the taxi cab drivers who can take you around and show you places.
Also check OLX and OpenSooq

I can comment on the post dated cheques aspect.  In most countries of the GCC, a bounced cheque is a serious offence which can land you in jail - very different from other countries, I know.   So as a consequence, it is treated as more of a guarantee vs. EFTs or standing instructions (which do exist btw).

Also depends on your relationship with the landlord.  I pay my current one in Bahrain via electronic transfer.  In the UAE, I wrote cheques but not post dated.   In Saudi, it was post dated cheques.

Thanks for the pointers @AndrePrevin, I am exploring options via the websites but I still want to have a look at the complexes before deciding.

How many complexes are there in Sohar? I know Sohar Garden (which is similar to Dawood Compound, I think?).

Btw the last I heard about post dated cheques was when my father spoke of them many many many years ago.

How old are you @XTang? 

Positively ancient @modjo