Purchase price
What you pay for the property, before any fees or mortgage. The starting point of every calculation below.
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Total all-in cost to buy and hold a Dubai property: DLD 4% transfer fee, agency commission, trustee office, mortgage registration, plus recurring service charge and management. Adjust hold years to see the full cost stack.
د.إ375,000 cash · د.إ1,125,000 loan
Dubai typical: 12-20 AED per sqft
Dubai market: ~2% of purchase price
Used only to size the 1% management line
All-in cost vs purchase price
27.8%
د.إ417,638 total over 5 years · on a د.إ1,500,000 purchase
Upfront cost breakdown
Recurring cost breakdown
How this is calculated
Upfront = price × 4% (DLD) + price × agency% + AED 4,200 (trustee) + loan × 0.25% (mortgage reg)
Recurring/yr = service charge × sqft + rent × 1% (management) + loan × interest rate
Total cost = Upfront + Recurring/yr × hold years
All-in % = Total cost / Purchase price × 100
Read: an all-in % under 30% over a 5-year hold is healthy for Dubai. 30-45% is typical. Over 45% means service charge, agency, or interest carry is eating returns — renegotiate or pick a building with lower fees.
Locale: zh. Currency: د.إ.
Reference
Every input and output on this page, explained for any investor profile. Hover the info icons on the calculator itself to see the same content.
What you pay for the property, before any fees or mortgage. The starting point of every calculation below.
Cash you put in up front. The rest of the purchase price is financed with a mortgage.
One-off fees when you buy: Dubai Land Department registration (4%), agency commission (roughly 2%), admin. Total usually 6-8%.
Formula
Purchase price × transaction cost %
Annual fee the building charges per square foot for maintenance, security, pool, gym, chiller. Dubai typical: 12-20 AED per sqft.
Formula
Rate per sqft × unit size
Built-up area of the unit in square feet.
Fee paid to a company that handles tenants, inspections, and maintenance on your behalf. Dubai typical: 5-10% of collected rent.
Formula
Rent × management %
Total yearly running costs: service charge, property management, insurance, repairs. Everything except the mortgage payment.
How many years you keep the property before selling.
Annual mortgage interest rate. Dubai variable rates typically 4.5-6.5% (EIBOR-linked). Fixed offers land 20-50 basis points above variable in most cycles.
How to read the result
Very cheap5/5
Rarely seen in Dubai. Usually reserved for private-bank clients or promotional periods.
Below market4/5
Competitive Dubai rate. Good negotiation outcome.
Market3/5
Typical Dubai resident rate on a standard loan.
Expensive2/5
Above market. Common for non-residents or marginal credit profiles.
Very expensive1/5
Materially above market. Refinance would likely improve your DSCR.
All the interest you will pay over the life of the loan, assuming you hold to maturity.
Annual rent as a percentage of purchase price.
How to read the result
Low1/5
Below Dubai baseline. Rent barely covers running costs; price may be inflated.
Below average2/5
Yield is below the Dubai median. Verify the area fundamentals before buying.
Typical3/5
Middle of the Dubai range. A fair deal, neither a bargain nor a premium.
Strong4/5
Above average. Rental income meaningfully above market.
Exceptional5/5
Top-decile yield. Double-check the comparables; verify it is sustainable.
Developers scored
265
Areas covered
164
Units tracked
26,817
Data points per project
150+
Day 1: First call with the buyer concierge, brief discussed. Day 4: Shortlist of 7 units delivered. Day 9: Viewings (remote, video). Day 11: Offer placed. Day 16: Offer accepted, MoU signed. Day 22: Down payment, KYC, escrow. Day 28: DLD title transfer. Day 31: Keys. I time everything. This is fast.
The headline "asking price" on a Dubai property listing is rarely the all-in cost. A buyer purchasing at AED 2M will typically pay AED 2.16-2.22M after DLD transfer (4%), trustee (AED 4,200), and agency (0-2%). On top, recurring annual service charges add AED 12-50K/year on apartments. The calculator surfaces both layers so you can compare like-for-like across projects and see the real net yield after costs.
We seed the service-charge figure from the RERA Mollak building register when the tower is registered; otherwise we use the area median from the Oliva data pipeline (sourced from DLD's owners-association feed). Adjust manually if you have a specific building quote.
A flat 4% of the purchase price, plus AED 580 administrative fees, payable by the buyer at the Dubai Land Department at title transfer. Non-negotiable.
Industry standard, but negotiable. On large off-plan launches the developer typically pays the broker, so the buyer pays 0%. On secondary sales the buyer usually pays 2%.
AED 6-35/sqft per year depending on tower class and community amenities. We pull the RERA Mollak figure for the specific building when registered; otherwise the area median.
Residential property sales are zero-rated for VAT in the UAE. The only VAT-applicable cost is the agency commission (5% on the commission, not the property).
Yes. Mortgage registration fee is 0.25% of the loan amount, plus AED 290 administrative fee. Always paid by the borrower.
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