What is Buyer's Agent (Dubai)?
A buyer's agent is a RERA-licensed broker who represents the purchaser rather than the seller or developer, engaged under RERA Form B. Their duty is to the buyer's price and terms, not to moving a listing.
Description
Most brokers a Dubai buyer meets are listing agents: they work for the seller under Form A and are paid to achieve the seller's outcome. A buyer's agent sits on the other side of the table under Form B and owes their duty to the buyer.
The work is the buyer's half of the transaction: shortlisting against criteria rather than inventory, price evidence from DLD registrations, negotiation, and process control through MOU, NOC, financing and transfer.
On payment, the Dubai market conventions differ by market: on off-plan the developer pays the selling commission, while on resale a buyer-side fee of 2% plus VAT is the standard structure. Those are the market norms, not a rule every firm follows, and a buyer-side firm may instead be paid a flat fee by the client it represents.
How Oliva uses this
Oliva acts for the buyer under RERA Form B and is paid by the client it represents: AED 30,000, including VAT, in three stages, and the same schedule applies on off-plan and on resale. Stage one is AED 6,000, including VAT, to begin the search. Stage two is AED 12,000, including VAT, on the reservation form or the sale and purchase agreement off-plan, or the Form F MOU on resale. Stage three is AED 12,000, including VAT, on registration at the Dubai Land Department.
Oliva may also receive a commission from the developer on the purchase, and it keeps that commission. What answers the conflict is disclosure rather than its absence: Oliva publishes who pays it on every project, so a client can see before engaging whether the developer pays Oliva on that unit, and the verdict is allowed to be do not buy on a project whose developer pays Oliva. The Oliva Underwriting Report is free and is not credited against the client fee.
How to interpret
The test of buyer-side representation is willingness to advise against a purchase. An agent who never says "do not buy this one" is a channel, not a representative.
Ask any agent two questions before engaging: who pays you on this transaction, and will you show me DLD price evidence rather than portal listings. The answers reveal the actual loyalty.
Dubai market context
Dubai's market is structurally seller-side: inventory-holding brokerages dominate and dual agency exists, so explicit Form B engagement is what creates enforceable buyer-side duty rather than assumed goodwill.
Verification is public: every legitimate agent carries a BRN and every brokerage an ORN, checkable against the DLD broker register before any engagement is signed.
Frequently asked questions
Represent the buyer's interest: independent shortlisting, price evidence from DLD registered transactions, negotiation against the seller, and process control to transfer. A listing agent's duty runs to the seller under Form A.
It depends on the firm, and that is the question to ask. The market convention is that the developer pays the commission on off-plan and the buyer pays 2% plus VAT on resale and secondary purchases. Oliva is on the other model: the client pays Oliva AED 30,000, including VAT, in three stages, and the same schedule applies on off-plan and on resale. Oliva may also be paid a commission by the developer and keeps it, and it publishes who pays it on every project so the answer is on the page before you ask.
Check the agent's BRN and the brokerage's ORN against the DLD broker register, and put the engagement on RERA Form B so the representation duty is documented rather than implied.
This content is for educational purposes only and does not constitute investment, financial, legal, or tax advice. Yields, returns, and market data referenced are historical or estimated and are not guaranteed. Capital is at risk. Seek independent professional advice before making investment decisions. Oliva is a licensed Dubai real estate advisor (DLD Broker Card: 92025, RERA BRN: 1573501). Read our Key Risks Disclosure and Disclaimer.