What to Check When You View a Villa in Summer

Many people avoid viewing in summer. We think it is the best time to do it. When it is 44°C outside, a villa has nowhere to hide: weak air conditioning, poor insulation and badly placed windows all show up within minutes. Here is what to look at.

The air conditioning, room by room

Ask the agent to make sure the AC has been running for at least an hour before you arrive, then walk every room, including the upstairs bedrooms and the maid's room. Upper floors that stay warm are a sign of undersized units, poor roof insulation or ducts that need cleaning. Find out whether the house uses split units, a central system or district cooling, how old the units are, and when they were last serviced.

Ask for last summer's DEWA bill

A July or August DEWA bill tells you more than any listing. A four-bedroom villa with a pool can easily run to several thousand dirhams a month in peak summer. A bill far above that for the size of the house points to inefficient cooling, a leaking pool or single glazing.

Which way it faces

West-facing glass takes the full force of the afternoon sun. Look at where the main living room and bedrooms face, whether the windows have solar film, and whether deep eaves or pergolas shade them. A north-facing garden stays usable for much longer in the warmer months.

The question is not "is it hot outside?" but "is it cool inside, everywhere, without the AC fighting?"

Signs of condensation and damp

The difference between indoor and outdoor temperatures causes condensation around AC vents, window frames and in cupboards against outside walls. Look for black spots, bubbling paint and a musty smell, especially in wardrobes and under sinks. It is usually fixable, but it tells you how well the house has been looked after.

Water, pool and garden

• Run the hot and cold taps upstairs: cold water from roof tanks can come out almost hot in summer, so ask whether the tanks are insulated or chilled
• Check the pool pump, filter and any cooling system, and ask how much water the pool loses in a week
• Look at the irrigation timers and whether the planting is drought-tolerant
• Ask about pest control, including when the last termite treatment was done

The roof and the outside walls

If there is access to the roof, go up. Look at the condition of the waterproofing membrane and the AC condenser units, and check whether the roof has been insulated. Hairline cracks in rendered walls are common and usually cosmetic; wider ones running diagonally from window corners deserve a closer look by a surveyor.

After the viewing

If you like the house, book an independent snagging or condition survey before you sign the Form F. It costs a few thousand dirhams and gives you a written list of issues to negotiate on. We can recommend surveyors who know the communities you are looking at.

Written by Omar Haddad

Omar grew up in Beirut and moved to Dubai after studying architecture in Montreal. He spent four years with a developer in Dubai Hills before moving to the buying side, so he knows the estate plot by plot, including which clusters sit under the flight path and which villas were upgraded at handover.