Yes, foreigners can buy property in Dubai. In fact, Dubai is one of the most investor-
friendly cities in the world and offers many opportunities for real estate investment.

Yes, It is very common and successful practice, many investors do not visit Dubai for the transaction. If you are purchasing an off-plan property, you are paying directly to the developer. Most of developers have online payment links or you can send the money via SWIFT transfer to the ESCROW account.

If it is a purchase from a secondary market, then you can write notarized Power of Attorney and have an agreement with the Real Estate agency to represent your rights in the transaction.

There are 3 additions to the price of the Property:

1. Dubai Land Department Fee which is equivalent to 4% of the property cost and it is paid at the time of purchase. (Other Emirates have just 2% fee).
2. Administrative fees which may vary in amount depending on a Developer or the Real Estate Agency policy.
3. Commission to the Agency 2%, if you are buying an off-plan property from developer you are not paying this fee.

The purchase of the property is quite easy in terms of requirements to the buyers, there are no bank statements needed from the banks.
To buy property in Dubai, foreigners must have a valid passport and some developer require a second document (ID or driving license). In addition, buyer must provide residential address in home country and contact information.

There are several comparative criteria’s:

1. Freehold and Lease hold property.
Freehold is a free ownership of the property.
Lease hold is a property which buy just for 99 years, after which ownership rights return to
the government.

2. Off Plan and Secondary Property.
Off plan – is a property you purchase from developer, and it is under construction and
developer provides interest-free payment plan for the time of construction (usually – 2
years).
Secondary is any property you purchase from a private owner.

3. Types of properties available for purchase in Dubai are apartments, villas,
townhouses, and commercial properties.

There are numerous reasons why purchasing with an agent is more beneficial:

• There are more that 80 developers in Dubai and each of them tells only advantages of

its own project and when selling an apartment to you, as an example will not mention
where is a service floor so you won’t know that you might have a lot of noise on the
floor.

• Also, it is hard to know the entire market and learn all projects from each developer and understand which developer is more reliable but experienced and qualified. Broker can assist you to make the best decision.

• You do not have to pay commission to the Agent/Broker, developer does.

(NO, you will not have a discount if you are coming alone to developer, Developer won’t be able to give a discount, they are not interested in changing prices as far as it will affect their statistics of their project prices and decrease the volume, also it is partially illegal for them).

Here are just part of the points which we consider while choosing the project for you:

1. Community they are building in
2. Their reputation on the market and if they delayed any project before
3. Infrastructure of the area
4. Remoteness from the main infrastructure facilities
5. Surroundings of the land plot
6. Quality of the project and building materials

In Dubai there are no taxes, the only fee you need to pay to the government of
Dubai is 4% fee on the date of Purchase.

When you are selling the property, it is TAX FREE.
Renting the property in TAX FREE.
Estimated annual ROI is 6,8 to 7,8%.
Service Charge for Apartments/Condos approximately 15 AED/SQ Ft
Service Charge For Townhouses/Villas Approximately 4 - 8 AED/Sq Ft