What it really costs to buy a property in Dubai

A property advertised at AED 2 million does not tell you how much money must be available on transfer day. Some of the price may already have been paid as a deposit. A lender may fund another part. Neither changes the total agreed price, and neither automatically covers the costs around the purchase.

Put the money into three columns: payments towards the property, costs of completing the purchase, and money needed after you receive the keys. Give each payment a date. This makes it harder to count a deposit twice or spend your furnishing budget on an unexpectedly early fee.

Dubai’s sale registration fee is 4% of the contract value. The fee rules split it equally between buyer and seller unless they agree otherwise. Read the actual agreement: if you accept responsibility for the full 4%, that is the amount your budget must carry.

The DLD sale-registration service also lists a service-partner charge of AED 4,000 plus VAT for transactions of AED 500,000 or more, or AED 2,000 plus VAT below that threshold. Title, map and other applicable charges depend on the transaction. Request an itemised completion statement rather than treating a rounded percentage as the whole bill.

For a financed purchase, DLD lists mortgage registration at 0.25% of the mortgage amount. That is the loan amount, not the property price. Ask your lender for its valuation, arrangement, insurance and other applicable charges, including when each must be paid.

Keep the bank’s offer beside the purchase agreement. Check what happens if the valuation is lower than your agreed price, or approval takes longer than expected. A funding gap has to come from somewhere; a promise that finance should be available is not money you can use on completion day.

Agency remuneration should be written into the agreed terms, with any applicable tax shown separately. Ask who is responsible for developer clearance costs, adjustments for service charges and any other completion expenses. These are questions for your specific transaction, not a reason to assume one standard all-in percentage.

Then budget for the home itself: moving, utilities, repairs, furniture and recurring building charges. An empty apartment that needs work and a furnished home ready to occupy can have similar asking prices but very different first-year cash needs. Keep a reserve you can still access after buying.