From enquiry to title deed: the steps of a Dubai sale

The marketing agreement and the listing

A broker-led sale starts with the right to market the property. In RERA's guide, Contract A is the agreement to market a property between the seller and the brokerage, and brokers are required to use these contracts in electronic form. The same guide says advertisements need a Trakheesi permit with the permit number displayed, and the DLD ad permit page requires brokers to supply a copy of the marketing contract with the owner for most permit types.^[1][2]

The guide's green list rule also applies before an owner is approached: brokers may not contact owners who are not listed through the Dubai REST app, and a violation is issued if they do. The guide pages reviewed do not set out a price, a commission or an exclusivity term. Those matters sit in the agreement between the parties rather than in anything quoted from the official sources here.^[1]

The offer and the agreement to sell

When a buyer wishes to proceed, the guide describes Contract B as an agreement of desire to purchase a property between the buyer and the broker, and Contract F as an agreement to sell a property between the seller and the buyer. The guide does not use the phrase memorandum of understanding, so this report uses the form names the guide itself uses. It also says all brokers are mandated to use electronic contracts to record real estate sales transactions.^[1]

The guide provides an amicable settlement service for disputes relating to Contract F. If the parties apply through Trakheesi, the relevant department holds a meeting to discuss the breach and tries to reach a settlement between them. If no agreement is reached, the guide says the parties must resort to the judicial authorities. The pages reviewed give no deadline for this process and no figure for any deposit, so none is stated here.^[1]

No-objection certificates and mortgaged properties

For freehold areas, the DLD sale registration page lists a no-objection e-certificate (e-NOC) from the developer among the required documents for individuals, obtained through the Dubai REST app. It also lists the Emirates ID of both seller and buyer, used for identity verification only with no copies taken, or a valid passport for non-resident foreigners. The pages reviewed do not say what the developer checks before issuing the certificate, or give an official fee or timing for it, so none is stated here.^[3]

Where the property is mortgaged, a separate DLD service applies. Its description says the sale procedure is completed after a mortgage release letter from the bank is submitted. Required documents include a liability letter from the bank, or a letter from the developer stating the remaining amount, and three manager's cheques: one in the name of the bank or developer for the debt, one in the seller's name for any remainder, and one in the Department's name for the fees of 4%. After the Department's audit, the bank's indebtedness cheque is delivered to the seller to obtain the release.^[4]

Fees and registration at the trustee office

The DLD describes sale registration as taking place at a Real Estate Registration Trustee office, the only service channel the page lists. The parties submit documents for verification and they are uploaded to a digital vault, an employee enters and audits the transaction data, the fees are paid and a receipt is issued, and the buyer's details are entered so that the request is created. The issued documents are an electronic title deed and an electronic map. Payment methods listed include ePay, Dubai Pay, Noqodi wallet and manager's cheque.^[3]

The page lists the seller's fee as 2% of the sale value and the buyer's fee as 2% of the sale value. Additional listed fees include AED 250 for the title deed certificate, AED 225 for a unified map under Dubai Municipality, AED 10 each for knowledge and innovation fees, and service partner fees of AED 4,000 plus VAT where the sale value is AED 500,000 or more, or AED 2,000 plus VAT where it is lower. The page does not say whether the parties may agree to share these fees differently in a particular deal.^[3]

The page gives a service time of 25 minutes. That describes the transaction at the centre, not the whole sale, and the same page lists as a service term that the company must be registered first. The wider period from agreement to transfer depends on documents, any mortgage release and payment arrangements, and no official page reviewed gives an overall timeline from offer to title deed, so none is stated here.^[3][4]

Remote completion and what the sources do not say

In May 2020 the DLD announced a remote registration system that lets owners complete sales from anywhere in the world. According to the announcement, transaction details go to the registration trustee, who verifies the property, the parties and the amount; the amount is transferred to a guarantee account managed by the Department; the parties are identified by an audio-visual call and other authentication; and the deed transfer is then completed, with money released to the seller. The announcement dates from 2020, so whether the same conditions apply now should be checked with the Department.^[5]

Taken together, the official pages describe a chain of defined documents and checks, but they stop short of a single end-to-end procedure with a fixed duration. Each DLD service page is the authority for its own step, and each carries fees and conditions that the Department can change. The pages also vary in how recently they were issued: the remote registration announcement is from 2020, while the service pages were current when read in October 2026. Anyone mapping these steps into a workflow should therefore re-read the live pages periodically.^[3][4][5]

Questions