A checklist before you buy in Dubai: off-plan and resale

A short practical list to work through before paying a deposit. It does not replace a lawyer, and it removes most of the situations that turn into problems.

If you are buying off-plan

• Land status. On what basis the developer holds the land, and whether the plot is in a zone designated for foreign freehold ownership.
• Project registration with the Land Department. The project must be on the register — a verifiable fact, not a promise.
• The escrow account. Whether a dedicated project account exists, receiving buyer money and funding only this construction. The account number belongs in your contract.
• The developer's record. How many projects have been delivered, and how late against the announced dates.
• Construction progress as recorded by the regulator's inspection, not as described by the sales desk.
• The contract itself. Handover date, grace period, termination and deduction terms, assignment conditions, and what happens if the specification changes.
• The payment schedule in full, with the completion payment stated as a figure and a plan for where it comes from.

If you are buying resale

• Title and encumbrances. Who owns it, whether there is a mortgage, and what has to happen to clear it before transfer.
• Outstanding service charge on the unit. This is the most common late surprise at the transfer counter.
• The developer NOC — obtainable, and at what cost.
• Existing tenancy. If let, the contract transfers with the property, and vacant possession requires notice served well in advance.
• Physical condition — air conditioning, plumbing, water ingress, the state of the building's common areas.
• The owners association — how it functions, what the charge covers, whether major works are pending.
• Registered comparable sales in the same building over the last six to twelve months.

Common to both

Verify the broker's licence number and the advertising permit on the listing. Get every agreement into the Land Department's standard forms rather than a private letter. And read the clause about what happens if you walk away — it is the one clause everybody skips and the only one that matters when things go wrong.