The Dubai Off-Plan
Due Diligence Checklist

Who is this actually for

Do this before anything else. Every question further down has a different right answer depending on who ends up living in the unit, and most people never ask it.

• Who rents or buys in this area — specifically? Not "investors". Are they mid-income families and executives who've been in the country a few years and need real space? Contract workers here for two or three years who want a short commute? Tourists?
• Does this unit suit that person? A small unit has a lower service charge, which looks efficient on a spreadsheet. It's also the first thing a long-term tenant rejects if they need space. Cheap to hold is not the same as easy to let.
• If the area is a commercial hub, how close is it to the metro and to the main office towers? That's what the tenant is actually buying.
• If the area is prime or waterfront, you're likely in short-stay territory rather than long-term rental. Does the building actually support that — amenities, access to the places visitors go, and does the building permit it?
• Is the price high because of quality, or because of land value? In prime districts developers pay heavily for land, so a high price per square foot can reflect the plot rather than what's been built on it. Those are very different things to be paying for.

The developer

• How many projects have they delivered? Not launched. Delivered, handed over, people living in them.
• How late were the last three? Ask for handover dates promised versus handover dates achieved. If they can't produce that, treat it as an answer.
• What do the completed buildings look like now, two or three years on? Go and stand in one. The lobby of a three-year-old building tells you what your building looks like in 2030.
• What are service charges in their delivered projects? A developer who builds cheap amenities that cost a fortune to run has passed you a bill you'll pay every year.
• Have they ever cancelled a project? Cancelled projects are on record with DLD.
• Are they listed and reporting publicly, or private? Not a red flag either way, but a listed developer's financials are checkable and a private one's aren't.
• What happened to the price of their last completed project between launch and handover? This is the single most useful number about a developer and almost nobody asks for it. Launch price, handover price, and what it trades at now.
• What is their after-sales service like, and who manages the building? Ask for the property management company by name, then go and look at what they run. The management company determines the long-term value of your unit as much as the developer does — it decides what the building looks like in year five and what your service charge buys.

The project — legal and escrow

This is the part people skip and it's the part that protects you.

• Is the project registered with DLD? If it isn't, stop here.
• Does it have a dedicated escrow account? Off-plan payments in Dubai must go into a project-specific escrow account, not to the developer directly.
• Confirm the escrow account number independently and pay into that account only. Never into a personal or general company account, ever, for any reason, however it's explained to you.
• Does the listing carry a valid Trakheesi permit number? Every legitimate property advertisement in Dubai must display one. No permit means the advertising isn't compliant, which tells you something before you've spoken to anyone.
• Will the sale be registered on Oqood? Off-plan purchases are registered with DLD through the Oqood system. Get your registration confirmed in writing.
• Can the developer show proof of land ownership or a valid development right? Under Law No. 13 of 2008 and Executive Council Resolution No. 6 of 2010, a project cannot be registered — and marketing cannot begin — without it.
• Has the developer met the pre-sales escrow requirement? Law No. 9 of 2007 requires roughly 20% of the estimated total construction cost to be deposited into escrow, or covered by an equivalent bank guarantee, before marketing or collecting payments. Ask them to confirm in writing.
• Ask about the post-handover retention. Reporting indicates around 5% of escrow funds are held for one year after handover against defect liability. Confirm the current figure with DLD rather than taking a developer's word for it.

The unit — what you're actually buying

You can't walk through it, so the floor plan is the only thing standing between you and a surprise.

• How much of the stated square footage is balcony or terrace? I've seen a 700 sqft studio where 400 of it was balcony — space you pay service charge on and can't use for much of the year. The title deed says 700. A buyer sees 300.
• What's the internal, usable area? Get it separately from the total.
• What does it look out onto — and what could be built there? A clear view today is a podium wall in four years if the plot next door is undeveloped.
• Where is it in the building? Above a car park entrance, next to the lift shaft, facing the road, low floor with no light. None of this is visible on a brochure.
• Which phase is this unit in, and what did phase one sell at? Developers release stock in phases and raise prices each time. If phase two is 15% above phase one and nothing about the project has changed, you're paying for the previous phase selling out, not for anything real.
• At handover, every unit in this project hits the market at once. Is yours one people will want, or the one they'll skip?
• Is it the cheapest unit in the launch? If so, ask why. It usually isn't cheap by accident.
• Would the person you identified in section 1 actually want to live in it? Not "is it a good investment size" — would your target tenant choose it over the unit next door. If the honest answer is that they'd take the bigger one, you're buying the one that sits empty.

The money

• Work out the total, not the monthly. A "1% monthly" plan on a three-year build is 36% plus fees before handover, and 60%+ due on completion. That's a 40/60 plan described differently.
• Compare it against a conventional plan on the same unit. Easy payment plans are rarely free — the cost is usually inside the price.
• Add DLD 4%. On the purchase price, payable at registration. This is the buyer's cost.
• On an off-plan purchase direct from a developer, you don't pay agency commission — the developer pays it. Don't budget for it, and don't let anyone add it to your costs. (On a secondary or resale purchase it's different: there the buyer typically pays around 2% plus VAT.)
• Add Oqood registration and admin fees. Ask for the current figure in writing — it's small next to the DLD fee, but it's real.
• What's the service charge estimate at handover? Get it per square foot. Multiply it out. Then ask what it was in their last delivered project versus what was estimated.
• Is cooling district or DEWA? District cooling means a separate bill with a standing charge that runs whether the unit is occupied or not. Chiller-free means it sits inside your service charge instead — easier to rent, higher annual cost to you.
• If you're using a mortgage: can you actually get one on this project, at what LTV, and does the bank lend on off-plan with this developer?
• What is the highest price per square foot this area has ever achieved, and what's the lowest? That range is your room to appreciate. If you're buying near the top of it, there may be very little left — no matter how long you hold.
• Check the achievable rent against the RERA rental index and the DLD rental calculator, not against what an agent tells you. It gives you the range the area supports, and it resets periodically — so it also tells you how the ceiling has been moving.
• What happens if you miss a payment? Get the penalty and termination terms in writing before you sign anything. Law No. 19 of 2017 caps what a developer can retain if you default, and it scales with how far along construction is: up to 25% of the purchase price if the project is less than 60% complete, up to 40% at 60–80%, and the full amount above 80% — with a court order required before they can resell. A 30-day written notice must come before any cancellation. Know which band your project is in before you sign.

The exit — before you're in

Most people plan the purchase and not the sale. The exit is where the return actually happens.

• Can you sell before handover? Many developers require a minimum percentage paid before permitting transfer — commonly somewhere around 40–50%, but get the number for your project.
• What does the developer charge for a transfer? It's usually a fee plus a No Objection Certificate, and it can be meaningful.
• If you plan to resell before handover, work out the buyer's side of it. They have to pay you everything you've already paid in, plus your premium, in one go — while the developer is offering them the same product for just a down payment. Your premium has to be smaller than the developer's phase-to-phase increase, or there's no reason for anyone to buy from you. The only thing you're offering above that is an earlier handover date.
• What are comparable units in the same project reselling for right now? Compare that against what those units originally sold for, before you assume you can exit at cost.
• How much competing supply lands in this area the year you complete? Around 146,400 units are scheduled across Dubai for 2027. Your handover year matters.
• If you had to sell in year one after handover, who buys it? If you can't answer that, you don't have an exit.

The thing nobody checks

Who else is buying in this project?

An unusually easy payment plan attracts buyers who couldn't otherwise afford the property. Some of them default. When enough do, the developer's cash flow suffers, construction slows, and handover slips — for everyone, including you.

You can pay every instalment on time and still get your building late, because of who was buying next to you.

• How aggressive is the payment plan? A plan demanding real money upfront filters for buyers who can afford it.
• How fast did phase one sell, and to whom? Investors flipping, or end-users moving in?
• What proportion of the project is already sold? Very slow sales and very easy terms together is worth pausing on.

Red flags — walk away

Any one of these on its own is worth stopping for.

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  Payment requested into anything other than the project escrow account
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  A guaranteed return, in writing or verbally. Nobody can guarantee rent, occupancy or resale — and DLD has been fining brokers over this
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  Pressure to sign today, "last unit", a price that expires this evening
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  No Trakheesi permit number on the advertisement
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  Vague or absent handover date, or a date with no penalty attached
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  The agent can't answer the service charge question
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  The SPA isn't available to read before you pay a booking fee
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  The developer's last three projects were all significantly late and nobody wants to discuss it
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  You're offered money back out of the agent's commission. That money exists because the developer is paying above the going rate to move stock that isn't moving. Ask what the commission is on that project compared to the others you've been shown

The questions — word for word

Send these. A good agent answers them in an afternoon.

1. What is the project's escrow account number, and can I verify it with DLD?
2. What is the Trakheesi permit number for this listing?
3. What are the promised and actual handover dates for the developer's last three completed projects?
4. What is the internal usable area of this unit, excluding balcony?
5. What is the estimated service charge per square foot at handover, and what was the estimate versus the actual in their last delivered project?
6. Is the cooling district or DEWA, and if district, what is the standing charge?
7. Which phase is this unit in, and what was the price per square foot in phase one?
8. What percentage of the project is sold, and what is the payment plan on the remaining units?
9. What is the minimum I must pay before I can resell, and what does the developer charge to transfer?
10. What is the contractual penalty if handover is late?
11. What did your last completed project sell for at launch, at handover, and what does it trade at today?
12. Which property management company will run this building?
13. What is the highest price per square foot ever achieved in this area?
14. What percentage must I have paid before you'll permit a resale, and what's the transfer fee?
15. What commission is the developer paying you on this project, and how does that compare to the others you've shown me?