What it actually costs to sell a property in Dubai
Almost every brokerage in this city publishes the 2% commission and stops there. It is the smallest problem a seller has. The costs that decide whether a transfer happens on the day it is booked are the developer's no-objection certificate, the service charge ledger sitting behind it, and the bank if there is still a mortgage on the title.
The short answer
A Dubai seller pays roughly 2.1% of the sale price in agency commission, which is 2% plus 5% VAT, plus a developer no-objection certificate fee of AED 500 to 5,000 and any service charges outstanding at transfer. The 4% Dubai Land Department transfer fee is customarily paid by the buyer, not the seller.
- Agency commission
- 2% of the sale price plus 5% VAT, payable on completion
- Developer NOC
- AED 500 to 5,000, paid by the seller, not issued while anything is outstanding on the unit
- DLD transfer fee
- 4% plus AED 580 admin, customarily the buyer's, but the contract decides
- Trustee office
- AED 4,000 plus VAT on a sale above AED 500,000
- Mortgage exit
- Early settlement capped by the UAE Central Bank at 1% of the outstanding balance or AED 10,000, whichever is lower
What actually comes out of a Dubai sale, in the order it is paid
The order matters more than the total, because these costs do not arrive together. Two of them can be settled before a buyer is anywhere near the file. One applies only if a bank is involved. Only the last of them is paid in the room on transfer day, and by then it is too late to be surprised by any of the others.
The list below assumes a completed, ready property sold on the secondary market. An off-plan resale before handover runs on a different track, because the developer's own transfer rules and the interim register stand in place of a title deed.
Service charges, cleared to the day
The owners association account has to be settled to the transfer date, not to the last invoice issued. Request a clearance statement in the first week of the listing: it is the figure most sellers have never checked, and it is what the certificate below waits on.
The developer no-objection certificate
AED 500 to 5,000 depending on the developer, paid by the seller, and issued only once the developer is satisfied the unit is clear. There is no published schedule for it, so confirm the figure in writing rather than assuming last year's.
Mortgage settlement, if there is one
The outstanding balance plus the lender's own settlement and release charges, both stated on the liability letter. Early settlement is capped by the UAE Central Bank at 1% of the outstanding balance or AED 10,000, whichever is lower.
Agency commission
2% of the sale price plus 5% VAT on the fee, so 2.1% in practice, payable on completion rather than on listing. It is a market convention and not a regulated rate, which means it is negotiable and belongs in writing before the property is advertised.
The trustee office and the transfer fee
AED 4,000 plus VAT to the registration trustee, and 4% of the price plus AED 580 to the Dubai Land Department. Both are customarily the buyer's, and both are paid at the transfer appointment itself.
Who really pays the 4% transfer fee
Everyone in Dubai will tell you the buyer pays the 4%, and in the overwhelming majority of transactions the buyer does. That is convention, not law. The Dubai Land Department registers the transfer once the fee has been paid and takes no view on which side of the table it came from.
Which is worth knowing in two situations. In a slow segment, a seller offering to carry part of the transfer fee is a concession with a precise number attached, and often a cheaper one than the price reduction a buyer would otherwise ask for. And when a buyer proposes to split it, the seller should read that as a price adjustment of up to 2% and answer it as one.
Whatever is agreed goes into the memorandum of understanding in figures. A sale that arrives at the trustee office with the fee unresolved does not complete that day.
The no-objection certificate is where sales stall
The NOC is a short letter from the developer confirming it has no objection to the transfer. It costs a few thousand dirhams at most. It is also, by a distance, the most common reason a Dubai sale with a signed contract and a funded buyer fails to complete on the date everyone had booked.
The developer will not issue it while anything at all is outstanding against the unit. Service charges are the usual cause, but the list is longer than most sellers expect.
Service charge arrears
Including the current quarter, and including any amount in dispute. A disputed invoice still blocks the certificate for as long as it is being disputed.
District cooling and utility accounts
Chilled water is billed separately from service charges in many communities and has to be settled separately. Closing the DEWA account is a further step again.
Unapproved alterations
A removed wall, a glazed balcony, a changed kitchen layout that was never submitted for approval. The developer can require the unit reinstated before it will sign.
Open handover or snagging items
In a recently handed over building, an item still logged against the unit can sit on the developer's file long after the owner has forgotten about it.
A validity window
Most developers issue the certificate valid for a limited period. A transfer that slips past it means applying again, and paying again.
What a mortgage adds to the sale
If the property is mortgaged, the bank sits between the seller and the transfer and sets the pace. The sequence is fixed, and the timings belong to the lender rather than to you.
The liability letter
The seller asks their bank for a letter stating the exact settlement figure and the charges attached to it. It is issued with an expiry date, and everything downstream is timed against that date.
Settlement of the balance
Paid by the buyer, by the buyer's bank, or by the seller in advance if the funds are there. Who pays it and at what point is a commercial term that belongs in the contract, never an assumption.
Release and the original title deed
The bank issues its clearance and releases the deed. This takes days rather than hours, and longer across a long weekend.
Then, and only then, the NOC
A developer will not issue its certificate on a unit the bank still holds. A mortgage therefore adds its whole timeline in front of the certificate rather than alongside it.
A worked example on an apartment sold at AED 2,000,000
Numbers show the shape of this better than percentages do. The example below is a mortgage-free apartment with a current service charge account, sold on the conventional basis where the buyer carries the Land Department fee.
Agency commission: AED 42,000
2% of 2,000,000 is 40,000, plus 5% VAT on the fee.
Developer NOC: AED 500 to 5,000
Set by the developer, not negotiable, and payable whether or not the sale then completes.
Service charges to the transfer date: varies
The pro rata amount from the last settled period to the day of transfer. In a well run building this is a known figure. In a badly run one it is the surprise.
Seller's total: roughly AED 43,000 to 47,000
About 2.2% of the price, before anything the contract shifts onto the seller.
The buyer's side, for context: about AED 84,780
AED 80,000 transfer fee, AED 580 admin and AED 4,200 to the trustee office including VAT. Worth knowing, because that money has to be available on the day, and a buyer who has not budgeted for it is a buyer who postpones.
What we do before a property goes on the market
Every cost above is knowable in week one. Most of them are discovered in week nine, with a buyer waiting and a certificate refused.
So a listing with us starts with the ledger rather than the photographs. We pull the service charge position, get the developer's current NOC requirements and fee in writing, and where there is a mortgage we establish the settlement figure and the lender's release timeline before the property is advertised. The seller gets one page with every cost on it and a date the transfer can realistically happen.
It is unglamorous, and it is the part that decides whether the transfer happens on the date in the contract. Everything else in a sale is easier to fix than a refused certificate on the morning of the appointment.
Selling, answered straight
The questions that come up most often on this, with the figures rather than a brochure answer.
The buyer customarily pays the Dubai Land Department transfer fee of 4% plus AED 580 in admin, but that is convention rather than law and the contract decides. The Land Department registers the transfer once the fee has been paid and does not require it to come from a particular party. Any split other than the standard one has to be written into the memorandum of understanding in figures.
The developer's no-objection certificate fee is set by each developer and generally falls between AED 500 and AED 5,000, paid by the seller. There is no published schedule, so the figure should be confirmed with the developer in writing at the point of listing. The developer will not issue the certificate while service charges, utility accounts or unapproved alterations remain outstanding against the unit.
Yes. The outstanding balance is settled as part of the transaction and the lender releases the title deed before the developer will issue its no-objection certificate. The seller requests a liability letter from the bank stating the settlement figure and the charges attached to it. Early settlement is capped under the UAE Central Bank's mortgage regulations at 1% of the outstanding balance or AED 10,000, whichever is lower.
Yes. The 2% plus VAT commission is a market convention rather than a rate set by the Dubai Land Department or RERA, and it is agreed in the listing agreement before the property is advertised. What it buys should be agreed at the same time: photography, portal placement, viewing management and the work of clearing a unit for transfer vary considerably between firms charging the same percentage.
A cash sale on a mortgage-free property with a clear service charge account commonly transfers within two to four weeks of the memorandum of understanding being signed. A mortgage on either side adds the lender's timeline in front of that, because the developer's no-objection certificate cannot be issued until the seller's bank has released the title deed.
More on how Dubai property actually works.
Get the answer for your property
This page is general by definition. The version that matters accounts for your building, your service charge and the contract in front of you, and that is a conversation rather than an article.
What we will tell you
- Which end of the district
- Within one community the gap between two towers, or two streets, is routinely wider than the gap between communities. That is the part a portal map cannot show you.
- What the service charge does
- Read per square foot against the buildings beside it, because it comes out of the return every year and rarely appears in the pitch.
- What is still to be built
- The plot next door, what is approved on it, and which views are temporary. Worth knowing before you pay for one.
- What actually transacted
- Recent sale and lease prices in the specific building, rather than the asking prices still sitting on the portals.