SAMANA CALIFORNIA

Samana California is a Samana building in Al Furjan with one- and two-bedroom apartments, sold off-plan from AED 500,000 for a one-bedroom. A one-bedroom at that level is bought almost always to let, so the case for it is arithmetic: the rent it will command against the price and the running costs.

The obvious question is what a one-bedroom at that level measures, and the developer's unit schedule answers it; we ask for that before anything else, along with the projected service charge, because on a purchase of this size the service charge is a large share of the running cost. The two unit types serve different tenants, and the two-bedroom is the more flexible of the pair if you have not yet decided between a single-occupier let and a family one. As with every off-plan sale in Dubai, the instalments go into a regulated escrow account and the purchase is registered with the Dubai Land Department in the buyer's name during construction; we confirm both before a deposit is paid.

To take it further, ask us for the price list by unit type, the floor plans and the current availability. We will add the one- and two-bedroom resale stock we track in Al Furjan so the launch price can be measured against buildings that are already let, and we will put current rents beside it so the return you are buying is a calculation rather than a promise.