What is Buyer's Agent Fees (Dubai)?
A buyer's agent in Dubai costs the buyer 2% of the purchase price plus 5% VAT on resale transactions, and nothing on off-plan, where the developer pays the commission. There is no separate luxury advisory fee scale: the 2% benchmark applies across price bands.
Description
Buyer-side representation in Dubai is paid one of two ways. On the resale market, the buyer pays their agent 2% of the agreed price plus 5% VAT on the fee, settled at transfer. On off-plan, the developer pays the commission to the agent, so the buyer receives the search, analysis and negotiation work without paying for it.
The fee is the same whether the agent showed you one unit or walked you through a six-month search. What varies is what sits behind it: at the thin end, unlocking doors and forwarding contracts; at the thick end, shortlisting against your brief, pricing analysis, negotiation, coordinating the mortgage, conveyancing and transfer, and telling you when to walk away.
Searches for luxury or high-value advisory pricing tend to expect a bespoke fee scale, but Dubai practice does not work that way: the 2% plus VAT convention holds from studios to signature villas, and what changes at the top end is the depth of diligence, not the percentage.
How to interpret
Judge a buyer's agent on registration and process, not on fee discounts. The questions that separate advisors from order-takers: will they show you units listed by other brokerages, will they put a number on what the unit is worth rather than what it is listed at, and will they ever advise against buying.
Portals and a buyer's agent are complements, not substitutes: the portal shows you asking prices, an agent worth 2% tells you which of those prices are real. If an agent only ever forwards their own brokerage's listings, you are paying representation fees for distribution.
A retainer model is a legitimate variant: a fixed engagement fee that commits the agent to the search, credited against the final commission so the total cost does not increase.
Dubai market context
The RERA Form B is the buyer-agent engagement contract and the right place for the fee terms. Before signing, verify the agent's RERA broker registration number (BRN) and DLD broker card; both are checkable, and a practitioner who hesitates to provide them has answered your question.
Because off-plan commissions are developer-funded, off-plan advice is structurally free to the buyer, and the honest disclosure is that the agent is paid by the seller side. The buyer's safeguard is an advisor whose analysis is written down and whose recommendation can be negative.
Frequently asked questions
2% of the purchase price plus 5% VAT on resale purchases, paid at transfer. On off-plan the developer pays the commission, so the buyer pays nothing for representation.
No. Off-plan commissions are paid by the developer. Buyer-side advice on off-plan therefore costs the buyer nothing.
No separate scale exists in standard practice: the 2% plus VAT benchmark applies across price bands. On high-value deals the diligence should deepen; the percentage does not change.
Shortlists against your brief across all brokerages' listings, prices the unit independently of the asking price, negotiates, and coordinates mortgage, conveyancing and transfer. The test of real representation is willingness to advise against a purchase.
Ask for the RERA broker registration number (BRN) and DLD broker card and check them before signing the RERA Form B engagement. Fee terms belong in that form.
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.