Ready apartment or off-plan
A ready apartment can be rented out or moved into straight away, and you see exactly what you are buying. The trade-off: you pay the full price at once (or with a mortgage), not in instalments as with off-plan. If a developer payment plan suits you better, read how to buy off-plan in Dubai.
The steps
- Choose and agree the price. View the apartment, check the building, its service charge and the documents.
- Sign Form F with a deposit. Form F is the standard Dubai Land Department sale agreement. The buyer usually leaves a deposit of 10% of the price, held until the transfer.
- The seller gets the NOC. The developer confirms there are no outstanding service charges on the unit. This is the seller’s job.
- Mortgage, if any. Your bank values the apartment and approves the loan; if the seller has a mortgage, it is settled on the transfer day.
- Transfer. At a Real Estate Registration Trustee office both parties sign, the fees are paid and the Title Deed is issued in the buyer’s name.
All the buyer’s costs
- Dubai Land Department fee - 4%. Under the rules 2% is paid by the buyer and 2% by the seller, but market practice is that the buyer pays the full 4%. On an AED 800,000 apartment that is AED 32,000.
- Trustee office: AED 2,000 + VAT if the price is below AED 500,000, AED 4,000 + VAT from AED 500,000.
- Title Deed: AED 250, plus small AED 10 fees.
- Agent commission: on resale usually about 2% of the price. This is an agreement, not a law.
- Mortgage: registration is 0.25% of the loan amount, plus the bank’s own fees and valuation.
After you buy, there is an annual service charge for the building. It is calculated per square foot and depends on the building.
Sources: Dubai Land Department - Property Sale Registration, Mortgage Registration.
In short
On top of a ready apartment’s price, budget about 6-7%: the 4% fee, about 2% for the agent and the paperwork. You can calculate the exact total in the free calculator. Already looking at budgets? See apartments under AED 600,000.
Want help finding and checking a ready apartment for your budget? Message me on WhatsApp - Svetlana, real estate consultant in Dubai, 20+ years in the UAE.
