So You're Going to Live in Bahrain....? You Can Negotiate Your Lease!

So before we ever got to Bahrain, I had been told how renting here was different than in the states. You can negotiate what a landlord provides for you! Now I’m not talking, ‘Hey, we lived here for a year already and if you make our rent go up $100 then we are leaving,’ type of negotiating. No. I am talking, ‘Hey, a 55-70” LED HD SMART TV would sweeten the pot,’ kind of negotiating. Crazy, right? I think it might be because so many people decide not to bring their entire household with them an just put a good amount into storage. Unfortunately, for us, we did bring almost our entire household and only put a few things into storage. So we will have lots of extras that we either can't use because they are not dual voltage or just won't have room (unlikely though). We mostly asked for stuff we don't really have anyway.

I can say that even with knowing you could negotiate, I most certainly did not expect the extent of it! I asked around from others what they asked for and what they wished they had asked for and here is the list they gave me:

Pots and Pans

Dishes

Silverware

Workout Equipment 

     -Treadmill

     -Elliptical 

     -Weights

Book cases

Desk chairs

Patio set with an umbrella

Propane grill

Transformers (220V—>110V)

Paint rooms

Gas included for a gas stove

Towels

    -Bath

    -Face

    -Hand

Deep clean villa

Sheets

Comforters

Internet (Best Available)

New toilet seats

Blinds for windows

New curtains

Water filters put on showers

Appliances

    -Microwaves

    -Blender

    -Toaster

Multiple OSN boxes

Full Premier Cable

      -Installation and service fees

New shower nozzles

Lightbulb replacement any/all times

ALL utilities

Periodic pest control

Full size AMERICAN washer and dryer

Dishwasher

Vacuum

Heaters

Screens for windows

     -New or replaced

Rugs

Lamps

Unlimited water

Unlimited electric

Self-igniting gas stove and oven

Extra freezer

Water cooler with hot and cold dispensers

AC vents cleaned

Check water pressure

    -Water pumps may need serviced

Pool table

Dart board

Foosball table

Sewage to be pumped

    -Every two weeks, once a month, etc.

Sitting chairs for landing

Multisystem TVs

    -SMART, LED, HD any size

DVD player

    -Multisystem

BluRay player

    -Multisystem

Surround sound system

Coffee maker

Be allowed to hang items on wall

Here is what we, personally, ended up asking for:

Full set of all metal pots and pans

Dishes (Service for 6+)

Silverware (Service for 6+)

Treadmill or elliptical

5+ bookcases (4+ Shelves)

2 Rolling desk chairs

Stand alone umbrella for patio set

All utilities included

    -Unlimited water

    -Unlimited electric

    -Internet (Best)

Deep clean entire villa

New sheets for master bedroom and one guest room

New comforter for master bedroom and one guest room 

Towels

    -Bath (6)

    -Hand (10)

    -Face (5)

Transformers

    -(2) 1000+ Watts

    -(4) 500+ Watts

Re-paint the green guest room medium to light grey

Appliances

    -Microwave

    -4 slice toaster

    -Dishwasher

Water filter on the master bathroom shower

Lightbulb replacement any/all times

Vacuum

3 small space heaters

Small couch for upstairs office

55-70” LED HD SMART TV for living room

Move current living room tv to first floor office

Move workout equipment to first floor office 

Move one bed out of the guest room

Move bed out of the first floor room

Our list might seem ridiculous but, believe me, it was nothing compared to what some would ask for! I know one family basically asked for a full gym! Crazy! Their landlord even said yes to every single thing, except for the numerous free weights they asked for. I could not believe it. As of right now, we handed in our pre-contract yesterday and we are waiting to hear back from our landlord. I can only hope all goes well! The Realtor even suggested other things and went down the list and told us what she would have to check on and what would pretty much get a yes. There was not really a whole lot that she has to check on, which, of course, is awesome! 

I will do an update once we hear back from our landlord/realtor and tell what we were able to get and what we were not! I will know within the next week or so because we go back to turn in our pre-contract to the housing office on March 10. After that, they do a security inspection 7 days out, and then we go back for our leas signing!! I hope it all goes well!