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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Investing
How to read a yield, what a return really costs to earn, and which communities suit which objective.
2 articles · about 14 minutes in total
Most Dubai marketing quotes gross yield and calls it yield. It is not the number you will bank. Service charges, cooling, management, voids and leasing fees sit between the advertised figure and the realised one, and in our experience the gap is typically one to two full points. This pillar exists to make that gap visible before you buy rather than after.
The articles here cover net versus gross yield with the working shown, service charges as an investment variable, what actually drives capital growth in Dubai and what does not, the trade-offs between short- and long-term letting, the Golden Visa as a consequence of a purchase rather than the reason for it, and how to match a community to an objective. Where we quote a figure it comes from registered data or from our own managed portfolio, and we say which.
The reading path
Read in order, or go straight to what you need.
2 articles on investing, in the order you will meet each question.
- 01
Net vs gross yield: the number you will actually bank
Most Dubai marketing quotes gross yield and calls it yield. Net yield deducts service charges, cooling, management, voids and other owner costs, and it is typically one to two full points lower. The working, shown.
7 min read
- 02
The Golden Visa through property: what qualifies, currently
Property with a registered value of AED 2 million or more can currently support an application for the ten-year UAE Golden Visa. What the criteria are, how off-plan and mortgaged property are treated, and why the visa should be a consequence of the purchase rather than the reason for it.
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.
Yield calculator
Gross and net rental yield from a price, an expected rent, the service charge and the size — with the working shown, so you can see what sits between the advertised figure and the one you would bank.
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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.
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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.