How to Sell Your Property in Dubai

According to your timeframe and personal preferences you may sell your property by private sale off-market and in the open market.

Selling your home off-market means that information about the deal will be available only to a strictly limited number of persons, as buyer, seller, broker, conveyancer. A broker will make a personified offer for each potential buyer from his portfolio without advertising to general public.

Sales in a closed market is not so common and it is our exclusive offer for VIP customers. We understand and highly respect wish to conduct trade confidentially. Our team of dedicated professional agents are keen on disposal of luxury and ultra-luxury homes. In this case the properties are represented to the potential buyers from our database of high-net-worth individuals.

It’s also a perfect method for people, who would like to:

Selling home in the open market you will benefit from variety of buyers that will bring you marketing. Now almost all home searches are started online, so it is worthwhile to get your property listed on real estate portals first. The most popular resources in the UAE and GCC are: Just Property Dubai, Propertyfinder, Bayut, Dubizzle. Due to Dubai’s specifics as a cosmopolitan city, it is effective to set in motion not only local but international clientele as well. Here is a real estate agency with a multi-lingual team of agents and access both and to European and Asian markets would be of much help. As a side note, our personnel speaks more than 10 languages.

Online advertising may be supported on social media, like Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Snapchat and Telegram. Short videos about your property posted on YouTube, TikTok are also an effective and up-to-date tool.

There is no point to ignore old-school ways of promotion like outdoor banners, SMS or E-mails, as they still are having lead in pencil.

Once the offer has been accepted the seller should be ready with all documents for the ownership transfer transaction. Compile all property related papers in advance to let the deal run smoothly. You will need mortgage documents, passport copies, guarantee certificates, Power of Attorney, floor plans and title deed. When the buyer is found, the seller accepts the offer and the parties sign memorandum of understanding, an agreement where property details, selling price, transfer date and other conditions are fixed (Form F, standardised by Dubai Land Department).

The real estate agents will prepare the document and together you may discuss and include additional terms according to your requirements.

On this stage the buyer pays 10% of the price as the deposit to keep the property off the market and to confirm buyer’s commitment to acquire.

Next, the parties (buyer and seller, or their appointed Power of Attorneys) should meet at the developer’s office to apply for No Objection Certificate (NOC), that states no owner’s debts for service charges before the developer. It would be better, if the seller pays all final bills and checks the balance beforehand. NOC issue fees differ from developer to developer and range between AED 500 – 1,500. Certificates are normally issued within 5-7 days.

After the formalities with submitting MOU and NOC issue are settled there comes the time for final stage – ownership transfer, registered at DLD.

The laws of the Emirate allow to sell mortgage financed property. Such a kind of transaction is carried out a bit differently, if compared to a standard one and involves extra-steps. A seller-buyer-lender scheme definitely requires an expert assistance of a broker/layer.

First, the owner of the mortgaged property should find a buyer who agrees upon covering the remaining amount of the loan. As it follows, the less its size the more chances there would be to get new owners for your home. An affected property also gives potential buyers grounds for asking lower price when negotiating and sometimes sellers have to make a discount.

The involvement of the lender obliges the seller to obtain liability letter from the bank, that outlines an outstanding loan amount. Later on, upon transfer, it should be cleared either by the buyer or buyer’s bank. Then a seller applies for No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the developer, an issued. After that the property should be blocked in the buyer’s name to ensure the seller won’t dispose the property to the third party while the buyer clears the mortgage. The participants meet at some of the Dubai Land Department trustee offices and submit the related agreement.

Next step for the seller is to deliver buyer’s cheque to his bank and receive instead property mortgage release notification (clearance letter) and the original title deed. Having these documents and also passport, visa and Emirates ID on hand the seller will visit Dubai Land Department (DLD) registration office and meet the purchaser to settle ownership transfer.

The process of selling mortgaged property normally takes about 6-8 weeks. If the buyer finances property acquisition via new mortgage, then the seller’s mortgage will be cleared only after the buyer’s bank approves the loan and the parties have to wait until that. It should be mentioned, that in this case no property blocking is required, because the buyer’s bank will get the original title of deed instead after it covers the loan at the seller’s bank.

It is legally permitted for the investors to re-sell off-plan properties in Dubai before completion. When it comes to the off-plan homes disposal terms it much depends on the developer. In order to keep the market stable, they eventually prefer to restrict suchlike transactions.

Most of developers allow to dispose properties bai in Duwhen 30%-40% of the total value is paid off. Still, every company sets its own requirements and it is advisable to specify the details about the eligibility.

Adding to that, you may also need to pick up approvals from the Authorities, as Dubai Land Department. Once the seller has covered minimal required amount of payment before the developer and got essential approvals, he proceeds the deal in the same pattern as selling ready homes. As for selling off-plan property under mortgage we recommend thoroughly inspect developer’s policies concerning re-sale prior to completion.

Sale transaction is finalised by registering buyer’s name as the new owner of the property. Before that there should be settled necessary payments, as transfer fee 4% of the property price, title deed fee AED 580, registration charge AED 4000, broker’s commission, pro-rata service charges refund.

Buyer and seller, or their legal representatives meet again at Dubai Land Department or one of its registration trustee’s offices, provide original passports, MOU, NOC, title deed and DLD approves and issues new title deed. Along with that, the manager’s cheque for the sale funds will be released to the seller or its Power of Attorney.

On average an entire sale process lasts for about 3-4 weeks.

With the title deed on hand the buyer should be registered as the new owner by the utility companies (DEWA and air con providers). The buyer will pay relevant deposits and charges and the seller will get his deposit refund back. These are general outlines how to sell your property in Dubai, from the very beginning to the end. Please, note that in practice, terms, policies and charges may vary on case-by-case basis.