This answer applies 3 methods from the guide, led by one.
Frame the material question
Start with the decision and the evidence needed to answer it, not with a broad search.
- 1Write the decision in one sentence.
- 2List the claims that could change it.
- 3Name the best available source and date for each claim.
- 4Mark missing or conflicting evidence before drawing a conclusion.
Hold when: Do not turn asking prices into achieved prices. Do not fill a material gap from memory.
Read it in Broker Brain →Give advice the client can inspect
State the conclusion, evidence, uncertainty, alternatives and what would change the view.
Read it in Broker Brain →Answer the real concern with evidence
Find what kind of concern it is and what sits beneath it, answer with evidence the client can check and offer a step they can undo.
Read it in Broker Brain →Frame the decision first
The guide's method, Frame the material question, starts with the decision in one sentence: this unit or not, this project or a ready alternative, now or after the next launch. Then note what shapes the answer: how long the client plans to hold, cash or mortgage, whether they will live in it or rent it out, and whether they hope to sell before handover.
List the claims that could change that decision, the best source for each and its date. Mark anything missing or conflicting before you draw a conclusion, not after.
Check the project before the numbers
DLD's guide for investors, Know Your Rights, lists what a buyer should check before signing an off-plan sale and purchase agreement. Do it for your client and show them where you checked: the DLD website or the Dubai REST app, where RERA's practice guide points agents to confirm a project is licensed and registered.
Under Law No. 8 of 2007, a developer selling off-plan must open a separate escrow account for the project with an escrow agent accredited by DLD, deposit buyers' payments into it, and use them only for building the project and its financing. RERA's practice guide tells agents to instruct buyers to pay only into the project's escrow account.
- 01Is the project registered with RERA?
- 02Is there an escrow account for it, and what are its number and the escrow agent's name?
- 03How far is construction along, and what is the expected completion date?
- 04Is the developer registered with RERA, and does it own the land or hold a development agreement with the owner?
- 05Does the developer hold the DLD and RERA approvals to sell units off-plan in this project?
The full cost, line by line
Use the same headings for every unit, so clients can compare cases and you never start from a blank page.
- 01The price, as stated in the sale and purchase agreement, not the brochure.
- 02The DLD fee for registering the off-plan sale, which the developer registers through the Oqood system. DLD's initial sale registration page sets out the current fee and says the contract must be registered within 90 days of signing; who pays it, and whether the developer covers any of it, is in the agreement.
- 03Any administration or other charges the developer passes on, taken from the agreement in writing.
- 04The agency fee, if your client pays one. DLD says commission is agreed in advance with the customer; put it in writing.
- 05Service charges once the unit is complete: DLD's Service Charge Index gives the rate RERA approved for a building, which you multiply by the unit's area. A new project may have no approved rate yet, so use completed buildings nearby, ideally by the same developer, and label the figure as an estimate.
- 06Mortgage costs if they will borrow, and furnishing, letting and management costs if they will rent the unit out.
- 07The costs of selling, if they may sell before or after handover.
The payment plan against the handover
Put each instalment on a timeline, by date or construction milestone, next to the stated handover. The handover quarter in a brochure is the developer's target, not a confirmed date. Check the project's progress on DLD, read what the agreement says if completion slips, and show the client a delayed case as well as the planned one.
A post-handover plan means paying instalments while also paying service charges, and perhaps a mortgage, so show the monthly outgoings after handover, not just the deposit. Dubai law gives RERA powers over delayed projects and sets out termination events for both sides; for anything about the client's rights under the contract, send them to a lawyer.
Rents and resale from records, not brochures
DLD's open data includes registered rent transactions and sales transactions. Use at least three finished, comparable homes of the same type and size in the same community, each with its source and date. Asking rents on portal listings are a ceiling, not evidence; if you use them, label them that way.
Look at the supply handing over at the same time in the same area, because a wave of similar units completing together affects both rents and resale. Then build the net position: rent after service charges, management and empty months, set against the full cost. Show it as a calculation with its inputs, tested at a lower rent and a later handover.
Present it so the client can inspect it
The guide's method, Give advice the client can inspect, leads with the conclusion the evidence supports, then shows the most relevant source and its limitation, and labels each line as fact, calculation or your judgement. Put each risk beside what the client can do about it: a delay beside the contract terms and a cash buffer, competing supply beside a different floor or a ready alternative.
Your view is an agent's opinion, not a valuation, and legal, tax and lending questions belong with qualified professionals. If the case, or part of it, is posted or shared as marketing, it becomes an advert that needs a Trakheesi permit, so keep material for one client separate from anything public.
What gets in the way
Leading with the payment plan and a headline yield.
Lead with the full cost and a net figure built from registered rents, and present the payment plan as the timing of that cost.
Forwarding the developer's deck as the analysis.
Use it as one dated source for the project facts, then add what it leaves out: the project checks, registered rents, competing supply and service charges.
Leaving out the risks so the launch stays attractive.
Show each risk beside what the client can do about it. Investors return to the agent whose numbers held up.
Filling a gap with a figure that sounds right.
Put a source and a date beside every number, and where you can't source one, say what is missing and how you will find it.
Taking days over each case, so the investor decides without you.
Keep one template with fixed headings and keep your links to DLD's fee pages, service charge index and rent data ready, so each case is filling gaps, not starting over.
Questions agents ask next
What fees does a buyer pay on an off-plan property in Dubai?
The DLD fee for registering the off-plan sale, set out on DLD's initial sale registration page; any administration charges in the sale and purchase agreement; an agency fee if one was agreed; then service charges after completion and any mortgage costs. Check the current DLD fee on its website rather than relying on a figure from memory.
What is Oqood?
Oqood is the DLD portal through which developers register units sold off-plan in the interim register. DLD's initial sale registration page says the contract must be registered within 90 days of signing.
How does the escrow account protect an off-plan buyer?
Under Law No. 8 of 2007, buyers' payments go into a separate escrow account for the project, held with an escrow agent accredited by DLD, and may be used only for building it and its financing. RERA audits these accounts, and part of the money is retained for a year after completion to cover defects.
What happens if the handover is delayed?
Read what the sale and purchase agreement says about delay, check the project's progress on DLD, and show the client a delayed case in the analysis. RERA monitors construction and has powers over stalled projects; questions about the client's rights go to a lawyer.
Can I show a client a rental yield for an off-plan unit?
Show it as a calculation, not a promise: registered rents on comparable finished homes, less service charges, management and empty months, against the full cost, tested at a lower rent and a later handover. Label every input with its source and date.
- Dubai Land Department: Request to register the initial sale (Oqood)
- Dubai Land Department: Know Your Rights for Real Estate Investors
- Dubai Land Department: Frequently Asked Questions (escrow, commission, project status)
- Dubai Land Department: Service Charge Index
- Dubai Land Department: Real Estate Data (sales and rent transactions)