Who can buy
Foreign nationals can own freehold property in designated areas across Dubai, which covers most of the communities people actually want: Palm Jumeirah, Downtown, Marina, Dubai Hills, Creek Harbour, JVC and more. There is no residency requirement to buy, and no restriction on the number of properties you can own.
The costs beyond the price
Budget 6–7% on top of the purchase price. The Dubai Land Department transfer fee is 4% plus an admin charge. Agency commission is 2% plus VAT and is paid by the seller on our mandates. Where you see an agency line in a buying-cost estimate on this site, that is the market-standard figure for a transaction where the buyer is separately represented, and we will tell you which applies to your deal before you offer. Trustee office fees run AED 4,000–4,200 depending on price band. If you are mortgaging, add roughly 0.25% mortgage registration plus bank arrangement fees.
Financing, and the number that catches people out
Residents can usually borrow up to 80% loan-to-value on a first property under AED 5m. Non-residents are capped nearer 50–60%, which means a non-resident buying at AED 5m needs AED 2–2.5m of equity, not AED 1m. If you are relocating and have not yet started your UAE job, you are a non-resident on the day you buy. The mortgage calculators on our listing pages let you set the deposit percentage for exactly this reason: move the slider to your real position before you plan around the monthly figure.
The transaction
Once terms are agreed you sign an MOU (Form F) and pay a 10% deposit. That deposit should be held by the registration trustee, not by the agency, a trustee is a DLD-licensed third party and the money is not ours to touch. If any agent asks you to pay a deposit into a brokerage account, ask why in writing. The seller then applies to the developer for a No Objection Certificate. Both parties attend a trustee office where the balance is paid and the title deed is issued the same day. A cash deal typically completes in two to four weeks; a mortgaged deal in four to eight.
Buying from outside the UAE
You do not need to fly in. The route is: a notarised and attested power of attorney naming someone to sign on your behalf, video viewings plus an independent snagging or survey report commissioned by you rather than by us, funds moved bank-to-bank into the trustee account, and the trustee appointment attended under the POA. Hana Tanaka runs this desk and is the named point of contact from the first call to the title deed. The POA is the step that takes longest. Allow two to three weeks for notarisation and attestation in your own country before you need it.
Off-plan is different
Off-plan purchases register as an Oqood rather than a title deed, and the 4% DLD fee is usually paid at booking. Payments go into a DLD-controlled escrow account, and the escrow account number for each project we sell is published on that project's page. Check the project's escrow registration and construction status before committing.
What we do
We run the comparables, negotiate, manage the NOC and trustee appointment, and sit with you at transfer: or stand in for you under POA if you are not in the country. For the legal drafting we instruct an external conveyancing firm and we name them before you engage; we do not pretend to be lawyers.
This guide is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Rules in Dubai change. Confirm the live position with us or a qualified advisor before acting on it.
