Dubai Property Due Diligence Checklist: 24 Checks Before Signing

Most Dubai purchase problems are discoverable before signing. This is the checklist — 24 items, grouped by stage, covering ready and off-plan.

A. Verify the seller and the property (ready purchases)

1. Title deed. Obtain a copy. Confirm the seller's name matches their passport exactly, confirm the property description, and confirm the registered area.

2. Encumbrances. Check for an existing mortgage. If there is one, the seller's bank must attend the transfer to release it against settlement — this is normal but must be coordinated.

3. Caveats and disputes. DLD records can show restrictions. Confirm none exist.

4. Seller identity and capacity. Original passport and Emirates ID. If a company is selling, confirm the signatory's authority via trade licence and board resolution. If a power of attorney is used, verify it is validly notarised, attested and unrevoked, and covers this specific sale.

5. Outstanding service charges. These block the NOC. Confirm the account is clear or agree in writing who settles it.

6. Registered area versus marketed area. Confirm whether quoted square footage is built-up area (including balcony) or net internal. This changes your price per square foot materially.

B. Verify the building and community

7. RERA-approved service charge for the specific project, in writing.

8. Three-year service charge history. Look for the trajectory, not just the current number.

9. Owners' association accounts. Total budget, reserve fund balance, arrears rate, and management company identity.

10. Planned major works. Chiller replacement, façade, lifts, waterproofing. Ask directly and get it in writing.

11. Chiller arrangement. Is district cooling included in the service charge or billed separately? Who pays it, owner or tenant?

12. Building age and defect liability status. Under UAE law, developers carry a 10-year structural warranty and a 1-year warranty on mechanical and electrical installations from completion. Know where the building sits in that window.

13. Owners' association rules. Particularly restrictions on short-term letting, pets and alterations, if any of those matter to you.

C. Verify the market position

14. Recent transactions in the same building via DXB Interact — last six to twelve months, same unit type. This is your price benchmark.

15. Current competing listings. How many similar units are for sale and for rent in this building right now? This is your liquidity and void risk, visible.

16. Forward supply within 2km over 36 months. Your future competition.

17. Achieved rents, not projected. Portal listing history and, where possible, actual Ejari data.

D. Verify the tenancy (if tenanted)

18. Ejari contract. Registered, with expiry date and current rent.

19. Rent versus market. If passing rent is above market, income falls at renewal. If below, the RERA rental index caps how quickly you can raise it.

20. Security deposit — confirm it will be transferred to you.

21. Notice requirements. If you intend to occupy, you must serve 12 months' notice via notary public or registered post, and only for permitted grounds. You cannot remove a tenant on purchase.

E. Additional checks for off-plan

22. Project registration and escrow. The project must be registered with RERA and have a project-specific escrow account under Law No. 8 of 2007. Verify the escrow account details independently and pay only into that account. Never pay a developer's general operating account.

23. Developer track record. How many projects completed and handed over? What happened to prices in those buildings post-handover? Were there delays, and how long? A developer with three delivered projects and a two-year average delay tells you what to expect.

24. The SPA itself. Read it, or have a conveyancer read it. Specifically:

• Handover date and whether a grace period applies (often 12 months).
• Compensation for delay — most Dubai SPAs give the buyer little.
• Specification schedule — what exactly is included, and the developer's right to vary it.
• Payment schedule — amounts, triggers and consequences of late payment.
• Buyer default provisions — what the developer can retain. UAE law limits this by percentage completed, but the amounts are material.
• Assignment rights — can you sell before handover, what percentage must be paid first, and what is the transfer fee?
• Area variance clause — most SPAs permit a variance of ±5% in delivered area with no price adjustment. Some permit more.

The five checks that matter most

If you do nothing else:

1. 1RERA service charge for the specific building. The most common expensive omission.
2. 2DXB Interact transaction history for the building. Tells you if you are overpaying.
3. 3Escrow account verification on off-plan. Protects against the worst outcome.
4. 4Developer's completed-project record. The whole of off-plan risk.
5. 5Tenancy status and rent versus market. Determines your actual income.

Who should do this

You can do most of it yourself — DXB Interact and the RERA index are free and public.

For anything above AED 1m, engage an independent conveyancer at AED 6,000–10,000. They review the contract, verify title, coordinate the NOC and represent your interests. The agent is paid on completion; that is not the same alignment.

For off-plan, or any transaction involving a company, a power of attorney, or an existing mortgage on the seller's side, independent legal review is close to essential.

A note on time pressure

"Three other buyers are looking at it" is the oldest technique in the business. Sometimes it is true. It is never a reason to skip the checks above, all of which can be completed inside a week.

A property you lose to due diligence cost you nothing. A property you buy without it can cost you years.