Best Places for an Apartment in Riyadh

Hello HafizRahman and welcome to Expat.com

I invite you to browse the forum for gathering some infos while waiting for members to give you some help.

Regards
Kenjee
Expat.com Team

Sulimanya, Olayya, or Hay as safarat is good area for you if you have no problem in living little far from your office, Malaz is also nice

Hi Umair,

Many thanks for your response!

Do these locations have a fairly large expat community living in the apartments? My main office is in Olayya and I would assume most of my Financial Clients will be in Olayya so hoping to secure an apartment in and around there.

What is the typical price bracket in SAR for a 2 bedroom apartment in those areas Umair?

Dear hafiz,
Rent depends upon the condition of appartment and its sorrounding, well furnished or you need to furnish it yourself, etc.
Normally 2 bed appartment with lounge and 2 bathrooms with drawing room (decorated but not furnished), starts from SAR 30k goes to 36k (yearly).
Yes in Olayya you will find expats,
Those expats living in Riyadh for a long time they choose residency little far from main city so that they could get bigger houses, Villas, Home, Big portions in same rate and driving time is not that much.

I have been doing research about changing my living accomodations to something more elaborate. I'm talking with a lot of locals and finding out that you will be able to find something easily. But you just need to dig a little and do your research.
Living on Olaya is good, being close to downtown or shops, is nice. However like above posters have mentioned, you can excahnge that with a bigger villa for a little bit of a drive or commute.
Alternatively you could come over and live in a small hotel or apt first and then hunt around for a place for your family.
Lots of choices

Hi Umar and Canadian_Timmy

Again many thanks for your response. Is the 30k to 36k SAR for a 2 bed apartment in Olaya? That sounds really good.

What area do most expats live in which are a small drive away from Olaya?

Trying to do as much research as I can in regards to the areas I want to look into once I am there.

Hi,

I live in Olaya....quite a good area and if you have car parks,malls,shops everything near by...Here you can rent apartment in building or portion of villa so that it will suit you budget....(24K-36K-2BHK). You can search for it on expatriates.com which gives many options everyday...regarding expats living around your apartment -the possibility is quite high as lots of Indian,Pakistan,Phillipines nationals live in this area. As suggested by other member after landing in Riyadh take furnished apartment for a month or two (monthly payment basis -3-4000 SAR/Month) and then search for apartment as per your requirement...

in riyadh every where its expats living
specially for 2Bed room apt
as locals dont like such small house and also they cant adjust in such small place
as they have big families

if u see map, e.g. google map,
the Adjacent area to Olaya is Sulamaniya, Hara, Muraba, etc
all of these areas are favorite in expats community, so much restaurants, malls, parks,
specialty in Hara u can find so much Pakistani/Indian restaurants

you will not feel alone where ever you live in these 4 areas,
and friends you have to finds
from you office, friends of ur friends etc.
its soo easy to be adjusted in Riyadh

I am living in Sulaymania, with 2 bedroom apartment.  my apartment location are surrounded by restaurants, and commercial buildings.  malls are near 10 min without traffic. I paid 25,000 SR a year.

Magg76 wrote:

I am living in Sulaymania, with 2 bedroom apartment.  my apartment location are surrounded by restaurants, and commercial buildings.  malls are near 10 min without traffic. I paid 25,000 SR a year.

Hi Magg76 - Thanks for letting me know. Do you have broadband access to your apartment? Also, how is the neighbourhood like? What sort of western expats live around your location?

Dear Hafiz Sb.
I think I am too late to suggest anything, its better to spend the first month in some furnished apartment, meanwhile you can visit few areas and search for suitable residence for your family. I did same and now I am here for last three years. if you are looking for nice, newly built, clean and peaceful area you should target exit 4 and exit 5 area.

Best Regards

Akhter

man15 wrote:

Dear Hafiz Sb.
I think I am too late to suggest anything, its better to spend the first month in some furnished apartment, meanwhile you can visit few areas and search for suitable residence for your family. I did same and now I am here for last three years. if you are looking for nice, newly built, clean and peaceful area you should target exit 4 and exit 5 area.

Best Regards

Akhter

Hi Akhter,

Many thanks for your advice. I think I will indeed go about doing that. If you don't mind me asking, what area do you live in and how much are you paying?

Dear Rahman
I am living in Alaqiq area, almost 20 minutes drive from my office at Olaya road, nice peaceful area.
for Furnished Apartment I would suggest you Hotel Qamar Al Khaleej, reason place for short time stay at Olaya road.
they will charge around 5000 for two room apartment for one month.


regards
Akhter

for furnished apartments there is another option i ave used once, i.e.
Farnas Furnished Apartments, Al Barra Ibn Azib, Ad Dhubbat, Riyadh 12623

its on KIng Abdul Aziz Road, near Sohla Market, & bait-ul Shuaia

u can check them, they have reasonable price option

Thanks Guys - this is very useful information.

I guess for the first month, since it will only be me in Riyadh I'll probably stay out of a hotel or a 1 bedroom furnished apartment. Whichever is the cheapest option.

In terms of the apartment, as I am coming from London, I would like the interior to replicate as much as possible the housing we have in the UK. So I will most likely be looking at newly built housings in the areas suggested by Akhter.

Any more tips let me know inshallah.

HafizRahman wrote:

Hi All!

Hope you're all well!

I am due to arrive in Riyadh on 1st March, working as a Consultant for a large Management Consultancy firm. Will also be bringing over my wife and our new born too

Exciting times ahead - God Willing.

I wanted to get some advice on what area of Riyadh should I potentially look for an apartment in. I don't wish to live in a compound and aim to live in my own rented apartment.

i will be moving over to Riyadh from England.

Some of the key things I'm looking for are -
1. Accessibility to shops
2. Good coverage in regards to satellite and broadband services
3. Other western expats also reside there in apartments
4. Fairly new build apartments that must be clean
5. Clean and safe neighbourhood
6. Quite area so I can park a Car somewhere..


There are other criteria, but ideally I want a really nice home for my new family. One where we can live comfortably within the 4 walls but also have other friends we can make outside, who are also expats living in apartments outside of compounds

Any help is appreciated!!!

Bro, Try to get an appartment or villa at a close premesis to your office so you can spend less time in traffic hassle and have more time for your family.

Is the traffic that bad?

Guys,

Been in Riyadh for a week and search for a Mafroosha or a permanent apartment is not going so well.

Saw a place in Sulemaniya and that was for 45000SAR.

In Exit 4 and Exit 5 I could not find any Aqaris (Estate Agent) to show me what places are available.

PLEASE HELP SOMEONE

Near Exit 5 there is a Panda next to Harfi, on main King Abdulaziz road. coordinates are 24.7613158,46.6738571

go along the double road starting from King Abdulazia road and you can find few agent,

otherwise you can visit Moruj and there are plenty of options available.

and on prince sultan bin abdulaziz road (24.6995755,46.7097483) there are soo much aqari and they have some good apartments options. majority are unfurnished but u also can find few furnished.

if you are willing to find some thing in Malaz there you can find good options in reasonable rates

here (24.6813374,46.7185296) a furnished apartments building called Farnas furnished apartments can be a good option

for unfurnished apartments you can try area behind Wooden bakery
or for better option check backside of Marriott Hotel

and check Kuwati askan for bigger size in reasonable rate

How much does farnas charge ?

Just contact me tomorrow I will help you.

Akhter

for Two rooms apt they charge 2500, and for 3 Bedroom 3,500,
for studio 2,000

it remain open 24hours, you can visit any time and see if you like they will show you the options available

try searching for marfroosha on Bookit.com they have many options available.