The questions we are asked most.

Yes. Any nationality can own freehold property in Dubai's designated freehold areas, which include almost every community we work in — Palm Jumeirah, Dubai Hills Estate, Downtown, Dubai Marina, Dubai Creek Harbour and the rest. Ownership is registered with the Dubai Land Department and you receive a title deed in your own name. A small number of older districts remain leasehold or restricted; we tell you which before you look.

Freehold gives you outright ownership of the unit and a share of the land, available to all nationalities in designated areas. It is registered with the Dubai Land Department, can be sold, let, mortgaged or inherited, and has no expiry. Leasehold, by contrast, is a long lease — often 99 years — on land that stays with the freeholder.

For a ready property: an offer is agreed, a memorandum of understanding (Form F) is signed with a 10% deposit held by the broker, the developer issues a no-objection certificate confirming service charges are paid, and the transfer takes place at a registration trustee's office where the balance is paid and the new title deed is issued the same day. With cash, six to ten weeks from brief to keys is typical; a mortgage adds two to four.

Not as a matter of law. Once the memorandum of understanding is signed and the deposit paid, withdrawing without cause usually forfeits the deposit. This is why we do the checking before the MOU rather than after: service charge accounts, the title, the tenancy and the survey all happen first.

Every registered off-plan project in Dubai must hold buyers' payments in an escrow account regulated by RERA, and the developer can only draw on it against certified construction progress. Your purchase is also registered on the Land Department's interim register, Oqood, in your name. Those two mechanisms are the real protection, and they have held through two downturns. We only put clients into projects that are properly registered.

The first number is the share of the price paid during construction, in instalments tied to booking and building milestones; the second is the share paid on handover. A 60/40 plan on AED 1.9 million means AED 1.14 million spread over the build and AED 760,000 at completion. The DLD registration fee of 4% is payable on top, at the start, and is not part of the plan.

Most sale and purchase agreements give the developer a grace period beyond the anticipated completion date — often six to twelve months — before any buyer remedy applies. Delays of a quarter or two are common and we plan for them; long delays and cancellations are handled by RERA, with refunds from the escrow account. Read the completion and termination clauses before you sign, or let us annotate them for you.

Usually, with the developer's no-objection certificate. Most developers require a minimum share of the price to have been paid — frequently between 30% and 40% — before they will consent to an assignment, and charge a fee for the NOC. The buyer takes on the remaining instalments. Whether there is a market for the contract depends on how the project and the district are trading at the time.

Yes. Roughly 60% of our clients buy their first Dubai property without visiting. Viewings happen on video with an advisor walking the property live, identity checks are done by video call or through a notarised power of attorney, and the transfer can be completed by an attorney on your behalf. We tell you the two places where remote purchases tend to stall and start both early.

A power of attorney lets someone in Dubai sign for you. If it is drawn up abroad it must be notarised in your country, attested by the UAE embassy there, and then attested by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the UAE — a chain that can take several weeks. Dubai Courts also offer remote notarisation by video for some documents, which is quicker when it applies. We will tell you which route fits your situation.

Several UAE banks lend to non-residents, generally at a lower loan-to-value than residents — often around 50% to 60% of the price — and subject to their view of your income and country. Rates and terms move. We introduce you to a mortgage broker early so that the budget is real before the shortlist is.

Yes, and it is the second place remote purchases slow down. Transfers into a developer's escrow account or a trustee's account routinely trigger source-of-funds checks. Prepare the documentation once — statements, proof of origin, the sale agreement — and send it with the first transfer rather than waiting to be asked.

Budget roughly 7% to 8% on a ready property: the Dubai Land Department transfer fee of 4% plus a small administration charge, the agency fee of 2% plus VAT, the registration trustee's fee (around AED 4,000 plus VAT on properties above AED 500,000), and the developer's NOC fee, which varies from a few hundred to a few thousand dirhams. A mortgage adds a registration fee of 0.25% of the loan, a valuation fee and the bank's arrangement fee. We work all of it on the actual price before you make an offer.

By convention in Dubai the buyer pays the full 4%, although the regulation describes it as shared and it can be negotiated. On off-plan purchases it is paid at Oqood registration; on ready property, at transfer. Some developers run promotions that absorb it on launches, which is worth checking but should not decide the purchase.

An annual charge per square foot for the shared parts of a building or community — security, cleaning, landscaping, lifts, the pool and a reserve fund — approved each year by RERA. Villas in established communities often pay AED 3–6 per square foot; apartment towers AED 12–28 depending on age and amenity load; hotel-branded residences more. District cooling is frequently billed separately. Ask for the last two years of invoices, not the projection.

There is no annual property tax, no personal income tax on rental income and no capital gains tax on the sale of a property held by an individual. A 5% municipality fee on the annual rent is charged to tenants through their utility bill. Your home country may tax rental income or gains from a Dubai property; take advice there, and we are happy to speak to your adviser.

Property worth AED 2 million or more can support an application for the ten-year Golden Visa under the rules as we understand them today. The value is assessed on the price registered with the Dubai Land Department, and the property must be held in your name. The criteria are set by the immigration authorities and have been revised more than once, so treat this as guidance rather than a guarantee, and confirm the current position before you rely on it.

Recent revisions have allowed off-plan purchases from approved developers and mortgaged properties to be considered, provided the registered value meets the threshold and the required documentation is in place. Because these details change, we check the current requirements with the relevant authority at the time of your purchase rather than repeating what applied last year.

Applications based on more than one property have been accepted where the combined registered value meets the threshold, but the rules on this have varied. If the visa matters to you, tell us at the brief stage: it changes which properties we shortlist and how the purchase is structured, and it is far easier to plan for than to fix afterwards.

Buy the right property, and let the visa be a consequence of it. The mistake we see most often is a purchase chosen to hit the number rather than because it was a good home or a good investment. If the shortlist that fits your objective also clears the threshold, that is a happy outcome; if it does not, we will say so.

From registered transactions, not asking prices. Every sale in Dubai is recorded with the Land Department, and we start with the last six to ten sales of the same unit type in your community, adjusted for floor, view and condition. You get a range and the three comparable sales it is based on, reviewed by a person rather than generated by a tool, with no obligation to list with us.

Your title deed, a copy of your passport and residence visa or Emirates ID, a no-objection certificate from the developer confirming service charges are paid, and — if there is a mortgage — a liability letter from your bank. If the property is let, the tenancy contract and Ejari registration. We will list the exact set for your property before it goes to market.

Yes, and investors often prefer it. The tenancy survives the sale and the buyer becomes the landlord. If the buyer wants vacant possession, Dubai tenancy law requires twelve months' notice to the tenant, served through a notary or by registered post, on the grounds of sale — so a family buyer needs to know the position at the first viewing, not the last.

Once a buyer is found, four to eight weeks to transfer, longer if the buyer has a mortgage. Your costs are the agency fee of 2% plus VAT, the developer's NOC fee, any mortgage settlement charges, and your share of the trustee's fee if agreed. The DLD transfer fee is by convention paid by the buyer. There is no capital gains tax.