My Own Home: Couple buys Dh6 million four-bedroom Al Furjan villa they’ve been renting for six years

My Own Home takes you inside a reader-owned property to ask how much they paid, why they decided to buy and what they have done with it since moving in HR professionals Nadeem and Roopa Sharma Hasan have kept their feet firmly planted on the property ladder over the past 25 years, setting up home in several areas of Abu Dhabi and Dubai with their son, daughter and three cats. They have bought a number of houses over the years, but are now living in a home they own for the first time. Two months, ago they bought the four-bedroom villa in Qourtaj, Al Furjan they had been renting for six years. Roopa, who works for Dubai Electricity and Water Authority and is a published author of self-help books, said it was an emotional decision, as much as a financial one, as the family is attached to it after so many years. The National takes a look around. Nadeem Hasan: It’s about 6,600 square foot, a four-bedroom villa, which has got a room downstairs, a maid’s room, a driver's room, a garage, three rooms upstairs and a terrace. Roopa Sharma Hasan: For investment, plus emotional attachment to this locality. We've been here forever. It was my dream house. In 2009 I started my life coaching and neuro-linguistic programming process, and I visualised a house like this. I never knew that Nadeem had actually manifested this house. About a year or so ago, he put the address on Google Maps, saying "Roopa and Nadeem’s house". He showed me the day we bought the property. Nadeem: It was an emotional decision. We put in all our money and everything to buy this house, and we are happy to have it. Nadeem: We bought it for approximately Dh6 million. We did the deal with the owner a long time ago, while the market was still moving up . We signed the agreement. So, now, it is worth even more than that, somewhere touching around Dh7m. Roopa: We have a circle of friends, so there's lots of networking. We are both very social, and my best friend lives nearby. There is community living here. You’ve got access to the major roads, like the 311, Sheikh Zayed Road, 611. It takes about three to five minutes maximum, and you will be on any of these roads. We’ve got the Etihad Rail station coming up here, right next to us. We can walk down to that probably in 15 to 20 minutes. Nadeem: We’ve got two metro stations right next to us as well. Infrastructure-wise, I reckon this is the best community in the whole of Dubai. It’s also quite green, there is lots of parking, the community roads are quite wide. Nadeem: It's full of light. Every room, nook and corner of the house has a light airiness. It's very special. Roopa: It’s a very peaceful area. My folks, who are from Delhi, asked when they visited if we live in the jungle – I said, "No, it’s called peace". Nadeem: We’ve got a children’s park and a walking track. The mosque is within walking distance. All the religious centres for Christians, Sikhs and Hindus are nearby, about a five or 10-minute drive from here. You’ve also got a club here which has got different coffee shops, lawn tennis, padel tennis, an Olympic-sized swimming pool and gym. Nadeem: Since it was rented, we haven't done any renovations yet, but we have got plans to have one outhouse, which will have a television and an A/C, so my friends can come from outside without disturbing Roopa. We will do wooden flooring on the terrace and a patio where you can sit and have friends come over, and a jacuzzi. We have just finished the maintenance, so we have done all the painting and everything. We have also got a fire pit in the garden. Roopa: I’m planning to have fencing that allows you to have a gate, so a pet cannot go outside, and we will get a dog. Nadeem: It’s classical mixed with modern colours. Our dining table is solid stone and needs about five people to lift it. We have this sofa that was made in Turkey and we imported it about 10 years ago. We were looking for a low coffee table and going around furniture shops in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, then we went to a shop in Sharjah and found this giant table from Kashmir, and Roopa said why don’t we chop off the legs. That’s how we got our coffee table and it fits in so well in this place – it has more of a royal look. Roopa: He said the highlight of this house is not the house, but this coffee table. My house help was complaining we have too much stuff. I like to pick pieces from here and there when we travel, but also my daughter is not very happy with it and says that we should just minimise more. My artefacts are clutter for them, so now I'm just not buying anything any more. In fact, I'm trying to give it away. Nadeem: We will be staying here as long as we can, until we get bored because it's too big a house for us. Sometimes Roopa gets scared to enter the house if I'm not there in the night. So, we'll see how it goes. We are still contemplating. Roopa: In the UAE, we will be here as long as we shall live. Nadeem: Dubai is more than a home to us. It has given us respect and a career. It has given us everything we were looking for. And with all the pro-resident policies being introduced, like the golden visa , that sense of insecurity has gone. When we retire, we will have one house which we will rent that will help us earn money and go around the world, and one house we will stay in. We’ll choose at that time which one is which.

My Own Home: Couple buys Dh6 million four-bedroom Al Furjan villa they’ve been renting for six years

Nadeem and Roopa Sharma Hasan have an emotional attachment to their Dubai home, which is also a great investment