For property owners
Most owners of Dubai property do not live in Dubai. We handle the sale end to end for overseas owners: pricing against registered transactions, the Trakheesi-permitted listing, the developer NOC, and the transfer itself by power of attorney if you cannot fly in.
The process
Six steps, and one of them surprises nearly every owner: until you sign Form A, no agency can legally advertise your unit at all.
We price the unit against registered DLD transactions in your building and the live competition on the portals — not against asking prices, which in a moving market are the last thing to adjust.
Form A is the contract between you and the agency. Signing it lets us pull a Trakheesi advertising permit for your specific unit, which is what legally puts it on Property Finder, Bayut and Dubizzle with a permit number, our ORN and the agent BRN displayed.
Professional photography, the listing across the portals, and the unit put in front of the international buyers already in our pipeline. You get the enquiry volume and the viewing feedback, not a monthly silence.
The MOU between you and the buyer is Form F, created in the Dubai REST app. The buyer typically places a 10% deposit cheque with the agency at this point.
Service charges must be clear. The developer then issues the e-NOC through Dubai REST — usually a few working days, and the step most likely to slip if there is an outstanding balance.
Both parties attend a Real Estate Registration Trustee centre with Emirates ID — or a passport if you are a non-resident — the fees are paid, and the electronic title deed is issued. The appointment itself takes about 25 minutes.
The numbers
The famous 4% DLD transfer fee is officially 2% from the seller and 2% from the buyer. Dubai contracts almost always put the whole 4% on the buyer, but that is market practice, not the rule — and it is negotiable while you are still agreeing Form F.
| Cost | Amount | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| DLD transfer fee | 4% of the sale value | Officially split 2% seller / 2% buyer. In practice Dubai contracts almost always place the whole 4% on the buyer — it is negotiable, and worth negotiating before you sign Form F. |
| Registration trustee fee | AED 4,000 + VAT | AED 2,000 + VAT when the sale value is below AED 500,000. Paid at the trustee office, where the transfer itself takes about 25 minutes. |
| Title deed and map fees | AED 250 + AED 250 | Title deed issuance and the villa or apartment map, plus AED 10 knowledge and AED 10 innovation fees. |
| Developer NOC | AED 500 – 5,000 | Set by your developer, not by the DLD. Issued as an e-NOC through the Dubai REST app once service charges are cleared. |
| Agency commission | 2% + 5% VAT | The market standard. Who pays it is contractual: the buyer pays under Form B, the seller under Form A, and on resale it is genuinely negotiated. |
| Mortgage settlement | Bank tariff | If the unit is mortgaged, the bank issues a liability letter and the loan is cleared at transfer. This is what stretches a financed sale to six weeks or more. |
Government fees verified against the Dubai Land Department's Property Sale Registration and Property Valuation service pages, September 2026. Developer NOC fees are set by each developer.
If you live abroad
The DLD accepts a valid passport instead of an Emirates ID for non-resident sellers, and a notarised power of attorney lets a representative sign and attend the transfer for you. The part that catches people out is the timing: a POA issued outside the UAE has to be notarised, legalised and translated before it is usable, and that runs longer than the sale.
We start the POA in parallel with the listing, keep the proceeds route clean for your bank's source-of-funds checks, and hand you a transfer file your accountant at home can work from.
Questions owners ask
A cash buyer to a cash seller typically transfers in two to four weeks once an offer is agreed. If either side has a mortgage, expect six to ten weeks — the bank liability letter and the buyer's final loan approval set the pace, not the paperwork.
Find out what your unit is worth today and what it would take to sell at that price. No obligation to list with us, and no automated estimate pretending to be a valuation.
Request My ValuationAlready looking to buy instead? See current listings or read the quarterly yields report.