Guides to Dubai property

Who can own, what to budget, which forms you sign, and what happens at the registration trustee when the home becomes yours.

What changes when you are not in the UAE: the documents, the power of attorney rules, moving the money, borrowing, visas and tax.

The checks that take five minutes, the forms a licensed broker must use, what commission is by custom, the 2026 ban on cold contact, and the questions worth asking before you sign.

What the Dubai Land Department charges, what the broker, developer and bank charge, who pays each one, and a worked example at AED 2,000,000.

The Central Bank's loan limits, the deposit each one implies, the 25-year term, the 50% debt rule, the fees, and the order to do things in.

A method, not a forecast: work out the yield that is left after costs, read the price data, weigh off-plan against ready, and understand the tax and visa rules that apply.

Payment plans, the escrow law behind every instalment, Oqood registration, what an advert must show, borrowing against an unbuilt home, and handover.

The same decision from both sides: what you pay and when, what a bank will lend, where your money sits, and when you get the keys.

The completion certificate, your title deed, the inspection before you accept, and the years the developer stays responsible for defects.

What the annual charge pays for, who sets it, where to look it up before you buy, and what the law does when an owner stops paying.

The landlord's side of Dubai tenancy law: registering the contract, what rent increase the index allows, the two notice rules, holiday lets and tax.

From the listing agreement to the transfer at the trustee office: the forms you sign, the certificates you need, the fees by custom, and how an off-plan unit is sold before handover.

The law behind a Dubai tenancy, what you pay up front, how much the rent can rise, the notice you are entitled to, and where to go when something goes wrong.

The AED 2 million threshold, how a mortgage or a co-owner changes the count, the silence on off-plan, the two-year investor visa below the line, and where to apply.

Every fee, mortgage limit, ownership rule and Golden Visa threshold on one page, each with its source.

Oqood, Ejari, Form F, NOC, Trakheesi, Mollak and the other terms you will meet, in plain English.

Every fee on a ready or off-plan home, with or without a mortgage, for any price.

Your monthly repayment, the deposit you need under the Central Bank's limits, and the income a loan requires.

Median price per sq ft and sales, quarter by quarter, for each area we cover, from the Dubai Land Department's open transaction data.