"It's Too Far"... Or Is It? Challenging Property Location Myths

**Tim Elliott** (0:00)
This is the Morning Drive at Mira Business FM with me, Tim Elliott. Real estate now, it's too far, is the cry. Or, it's too far, is the cry. Ajay Menon is here, nice to see you.

**Ajay Menon** (0:14)
Nice to see you, it's very far.

**Tim Elliott** (0:16)
It is, I know. Ajay is the CEO of Luxe Vista Real Estate. Lots of investors in Dubai, in the UAE, this is your point this morning. I should, at the outset, I should say, the things that you talk about, often rant about, when you come in here, are inspired by, or they come from within you. And I'm just here commenting. But you're very right about this. I was reading your notes yesterday.
Investors in Dubai, in the UAE, make logical decisions, but cost themselves serious upside through poor geographic knowledge.
That's your contention.

**Ajay Menon** (0:51)
That is correct.

**Tim Elliott** (0:52)
Yeah, I agree.

**Ajay Menon** (0:54)
And when they say, I mean, it's either they miss out a lot of chances, a lot of opportunities, not because of supply, oversupply, not because of the pricing. It's just, you know, it's too far. But far from what? Far from where? Are you talking about Burj Khalifa? Are you talking about what? Dubai Mall?
Let's be honest here. How many times does the average Dubai resident go to Dubai Mall and Burj Khalifa? Once a week?
Maybe two times a month?

**Tim Elliott** (1:26)
Potentially. I mean, drive past it once or twice a month, maybe. Personally. No, I know. I was going to ask you that. Because it's a bit like, I mean, we all do it, I think, to an extent. But if you're buying a property in a place like the UAE, I don't understand how too far comes into it. Because if you're buying to live, okay, you're going to choose the location you want to live in. So that obviously it's in the right place, generally speaking. But if it's too far, then you're going to rent it, then you're not going to live in it anyway.

**Ajay Menon** (1:59)
No, forget that.

**Tim Elliott** (2:00)
The logic is not there.

**Ajay Menon** (2:01)
Again, what is too far? From where? Even if you're living, you are either looking to live closer to your work, most likely that is not happening, because most of the decisions are happening where your child goes to school.

**Tim Elliott** (2:14)
Generally, yeah.

**Ajay Menon** (2:15)
Yeah, generally. So, but then the schools are bound. So, you choose a school accordingly.

**Tim Elliott** (2:19)
School's galore.
No, you're right. So, the too far thing, what's this invisible reference point? I don't know.

**Ajay Menon** (2:26)
It's your psychology. It's basically when they say it's too far, it's not because it's too far.
It's a psychology. The idea is they're going out of their familiar places.

**Tim Elliott** (2:39)
Okay. So, when people talk about Dubai, it used to be, didn't it, that it was, the Burj Al Arab was the... Burj Al Arab, that was kind of the international reference point. It's now changed. A lot of people know Dubai Mall. Most people on earth know Burj Khalifa. So, that's kind of the key reference point. So, what is it about proximity to landmarks like that that carries such weight if you're looking at property? Because that's a multimillion-doom decision, and yet you relate it to a landmark that...
When do you go there?

**Ajay Menon** (3:12)
Yeah, exactly.
Some people like... There are different lifestyles. There is a golf lifestyle, there is a waterfront lifestyle. But again, you don't practically... Many people cannot afford to live in these places. So, then why do you still say, I want to be x kilometers from Dubai Marina, I want to be x from... How often are you going to go there?
When you are actually looking for a property, you are looking at where the infrastructure is, where you can live, have a comfortable life, where you can afford more space.

**Tim Elliott** (3:43)
Yeah, yeah, where the schools are, where's the local shop, where's... Yeah, et cetera. Can I park there? All of that stuff. When you talk about buyers, you evaluate distance, don't you? Emotionally rather than logically. So, that's sort of the comfort map idea, isn't it, really, I suppose.
When somebody shortlists properties, and you see people deliberating over a couple of different properties, how does that manifest itself?

**Ajay Menon** (4:11)
Now, what I try to educate them in the meeting, and I again give them examples. So, if you really look at it, Dubai marina to downtown is about 25, 35 minutes.
Yep. Dubai hills to DIFC is around 30 minutes. It will appear to be close on the map, but if you look at the traffic, it is far away. And from JBC to Business Bay, getting out of JBC is 50 minutes. So we are talking about at least about 30 minutes to 40 minutes to reach Business Bay. But these are all okay, because they don't say that it's too far away, because it's psychologically accepted. People have accepted it psychologically. It's fine. Okay, we're fine. We know it.