Due diligence: six checks before you buy property in Dubai

Six checks before you buy property in Dubai

Decide what the home is for, check the developer, look at what will be built around it, test the numbers on a bad year, know who will buy it from you, and finish the purchase properly.

Glossy brochures and promised returns tell you what a seller wants you to see. These checks are what to look at instead. They apply to off-plan and to completed homes.

1. Decide what the home has to do for you

   Pick the job first, then the property.

   • How long will you hold it: 3, 5 or 10 years? A short hold needs a home that is easy to sell; a long hold can wait for an area to mature.
   • Which matters more, rent each month or value over time? A small flat in a busy rental area tends to give more rent; an established area tends to hold value better. You rarely get the most of both.
   • Is a residence visa part of the plan? The 10-year Golden Visa for property owners needs property worth at least AED 2 million. See Golden Visa.
   • Ask a tax adviser at home how rent and a later sale will be taxed where you live. Dubai has no income tax on rent; your home country may.

2. Check the developer, not the brochure

   Has this developer finished what it promised, on time and as shown?

   • Look up the developer's last five projects. Were they handed over on the date in the register? Do they look like their renders?
   • For off-plan, check that buyers' money goes into the project escrow account. The Dubai REST app from the Dubai Land Department shows a project's status and completion percentage.
   • Visit a building the developer finished five or more years ago. Look at the lobby, lifts, pool and gym. That is your building later.
   • Ask for the service charge history of the developer's older buildings, not just the estimate for the new one.

3. Look at what will be built next to you

   The view and the rent you see today can change.

   • Walk round the plot. An empty plot next door can become a tower; the sign on the hoarding often gives the permitted height (G+20 means ground plus 20 floors).
   • Count the homes being built nearby. If the number of similar flats doubles in three years, rents and resale prices come under pressure.
   • Check the Dubai 2040 Urban Master Plan for new roads, schools, metro lines and parks that will change the area.

4. Test the numbers on a bad year

   If it still works when things go wrong, it is a sound buy.

   • Handover 18 months late: can you keep paying the plan and your current rent?
   • Rent 20% lower than the agent says: does the rent still cover the costs?
   • Mortgage rate 2 points higher: can you still pay?
   • Six months with no tenant: can you cover the mortgage, service charge and bills?
   • Work out net yield, not gross: take off the service charge (per sq ft, per year), a management fee if an agent runs it (often around 5% of rent) and money for repairs.
   • Add the buying costs to year one: the Dubai Land Department transfer fee of 4% of the price, the trustee office fee, agency fee and mortgage fees. See buying costs.

5. Know who will buy it from you

   Do not buy what you cannot sell.

   • Describe the next buyer in one line: "a young family who wants the park and a school nearby", or "a professional who drives to Media City".
   • Decide when you would sell: at handover, or after holding for five years or more.
   • Check that banks lend on the building. If a buyer cannot get a mortgage on it, fewer people can buy it. Non-residents can usually borrow only around half the price.
   • Ask a lawyer whether to buy in your own name or through a company. It changes tax, inheritance and resale later.

6. Finish the purchase properly

   Most losses come from the last steps, not the first.

   • If you cannot be in Dubai, plan a power of attorney early. It must be notarised and attested, which takes time.
   • At handover, pay for an independent snagging inspection, and have the developer fix every defect before you take the keys.
   • Decide what tenant you want, a company lease or a person, before you list the home. Register the lease with Ejari.
   • Keep every receipt and contract. You need them to sell later and to settle service charge disputes.

Fees and rules: Dubai Land Department; Golden Visa threshold: UAE Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security. The checks are our own, informed by public checklists from Dubai brokers, including one by Steven Leckie. This is information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Checked 12 October 2026.

The same checks with community data

The community pages add what the sale records show for each check: