Cost of buying
The true acquisition cost of a Dubai property at a given price: DLD transfer fee, registration, trustee, agency and mortgage costs, itemised and explained. Off-plan and ready variants, because the fee structures differ.
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International buyers
Buying from abroad — currency, transfers, documentation and the country-specific rules that shape a Dubai purchase.
2 articles · about 15 minutes in total
Most of our clients buy their first Dubai property without visiting, and most of them are buying from India. That shapes everything from how the money travels to which documents a bank will ask for and when. The mechanics of a remote purchase are well established; the places it stalls are predictable, and almost all of them are about money crossing a border with the wrong paperwork.
This pillar covers the practical side of buying internationally: how the dirham's dollar peg affects you, how transfers into escrow and trustee accounts are checked, the Indian Liberalised Remittance Scheme and NRE/NRO routes, the documentation you will need and the order to prepare it in, and where the boundary sits between what we can tell you and what your own tax adviser must. We do not give tax advice, and we say so wherever the question arises.
The remote buying journey
Eight steps, from first call to keys.
01
Brief and budget
A video call of forty-five minutes: what the property is for, how long you expect to hold it, who will live in it or rent it, and what you can comfortably fund. If a mortgage is involved, we introduce a broker now so the budget is real before the shortlist is.
02
Shortlist of three
Within a week you receive three properties with a written rationale for each — why it made the list, who it suits, and what is wrong with it. We include registered comparable sales and two years of service charge invoices where they exist.
03
Live video viewings
Your advisor walks each property on a video call at a time that works in your time zone, opening cupboards, testing water pressure, filming the view and the corridor and the car park. You receive the recording afterwards. Off-plan viewings cover the show unit, the site and the surrounding district.
04
Offer and checks
Once you choose, we negotiate on your behalf and, before anything is signed, check the title, the service charge account, any tenancy and the developer's position. For off-plan we confirm the project's registration and escrow account with the regulator.
05
Reservation and documents
For a ready property, the memorandum of understanding (Form F) is signed and a 10% deposit is placed with the broker. For off-plan, the booking form and first instalment reserve the unit. Identity and source-of-funds documents go to every party now, in one pack, so nothing waits on them later.
06
Power of attorney or remote signing
If you will not attend the transfer, we arrange the power of attorney — notarised in your country, attested by the UAE embassy and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs — or a remote notarisation through Dubai Courts where your situation qualifies. Start this the week the offer is accepted; it is the slowest step.
07
Funds and transfer
The balance is transferred to the trustee's account or the developer's escrow account, with the paperwork that explains its origin sent alongside. On the day, your attorney attends the trustee office with the seller, the fees are paid and the title deed is issued in your name — usually within the hour.
08
Handover and after
We collect keys, arrange utility connection, coordinate snagging on a new unit, and, if the property is to be let, introduce a leasing agent or manager. You receive a handover file with every document from the purchase, and the same advisor stays your contact.
Documentation checklist
What you will be asked for.
Prepare these once, at the start, and send the pack with the first transfer. Requests differ slightly between developers, banks and trustee offices, but the core is the same.
Documents
0 of 10 prepared
A conversation in your time zone.
Our advisors work Dubai hours but speak with clients in London, Zurich, Mumbai, Singapore and New York every week. Choose a slot and the calendar shows it in your local time alongside Gulf Standard Time (UTC+4); an invite and a reminder by email follow.
Our advisors work 9:00–18:00 Gulf Standard Time (UTC+4), Monday to Saturday.
Times shown in your local time zone, with Dubai time alongside.
The reading path
Read in order, or go straight to what you need.
2 articles on international buyers, in the order you will meet each question.
- 01
For Indian buyers: LRS, NRE and NRO, currency and transfers
Indian citizens are the largest group of buyers in Dubai. How a resident of India funds a purchase under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme, how an NRI funds one from NRE or NRO accounts, what the rupee's relationship to the dirham means, and where to take your own advice.
8 min read
- 02
The documentation checklist for international buyers
Every document a remote buyer will be asked for, in the order you will be asked for it — identity, source of funds, the power of attorney and its attestations, the purchase paperwork and what you receive at the end. Prepare it once and the purchase runs on time.
7 min read
Related tools
Work the numbers these articles describe.
Government-set fees and your own figures, itemised. No login, no email to use them.
Golden Visa checker
Whether a property purchase could support a UAE residence visa, on the criteria as currently published — value, ownership, off-plan or ready, and mortgage status — with the criteria stated and where to verify them.
Open the tool
When the reading turns into a question.
Twenty minutes with an advisor on how this applies to the property you are actually considering — drawbacks named first.