What is Buyer's Agent Fees (Dubai)?
In Dubai market convention a buyer's agent costs the buyer 2% of the purchase price plus 5% VAT on resale transactions, while on off-plan the developer pays the commission. There is no separate luxury advisory fee scale: the 2% benchmark applies across price bands. Some buyer-side firms charge the client a flat fee instead of a percentage.
Description
Buyer-side representation in Dubai is conventionally 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 out of its own marketing budget. A third structure is in use and growing: a flat fee paid by the client, the same on both paths, with any developer commission rebated to the client. Which one applies is a question for the firm you engage rather than a market-wide rule, and it belongs in the Form B before you sign 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.
Как Oliva это использует
Oliva does not charge the buyer a percentage. The client pays Oliva AED 30,000, including VAT, in three stages, and the same schedule applies on off-plan and on resale. AED 6,000, including VAT, to begin the search. AED 12,000, including VAT, on the reservation form or the sale and purchase agreement off-plan, or the Form F MOU on resale. AED 12,000, including VAT, on registration at the Dubai Land Department, the Oqood off-plan and the title transfer on resale.
Where a developer pays Oliva a commission on the purchase, Oliva receives it and rebates it to the client in full. Oliva takes the commission rather than declining it, and then hands it over, so nothing Oliva earns depends on which project the client buys. The Oliva Underwriting Report is free and is not credited against the client fee.
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 flat client fee is the other structure you will meet: the client pays the firm directly, in stages tied to the search, the signing and registration, and the firm takes no percentage of what you spend. Ask what happens to a developer commission under it, because rebated to you in full and kept by the firm are different arrangements with the same headline.
Контекст рынка Дубая
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.
Where an off-plan commission is developer-funded, the honest disclosure is that the agent is paid by the seller side, and the buyer should read the advice knowing that. A firm the buyer pays directly removes that incentive at source. Either way the safeguard is an advisor whose analysis is written down and whose recommendation can be negative.
Frequently asked questions
In market convention, 2% of the purchase price plus 5% VAT on resale purchases, paid at transfer, and on off-plan the developer pays the commission. Firms that charge the client directly price differently: Oliva's client fee is AED 30,000, including VAT, in three stages, and the same schedule applies on off-plan and on resale.
That depends on which model the firm is on. Off-plan commissions are conventionally paid by the developer, so an agent on that model bills the buyer nothing. Oliva is on the other model: the client pays AED 30,000, including VAT, in three stages, on off-plan and on resale alike, and where a developer pays Oliva a commission Oliva receives it and rebates it to the client in full.
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.