Step by step · Dubai

Buying a home that is ready

18 of 18 steps confirmed with the regulator

A home that already exists and already has a title deed. This is the route most buyers take.

Finding it6 steps

Checks4 steps

Agreeing5 steps

Transferring2 steps

After1 step

Every step, and what proves it happened

Nobody can call a step done without the paper

18 steps

1. Form A — Seller's authority to marketThe owner's written authority for the brokerage to act and to advertise. Filed with Trakheesi. Without it the listing has no basis.Goes through RERA · DLD.

The seller

Confirmed

2. Trakheesi permit issuedAdvertising without it is the fine an agent actually gets. Filed through the RERA Trakheesi system.Goes through RERA · DLD.

Your agent

Confirmed

3. Listing livePhotographs, the permit number displayed, and a price the seller has agreed to.

Your agent

Confirmed

4. Form B — Buyer's agreement with their agentSigned before you spend time on a buyer, not after they offer. It is what makes the commission owed to you rather than argued about — and it is signed here, with no portal to wait on.Goes through RERA · DLD.

You

Confirmed

5. ViewingsRecorded against the listing so the interest is evidence, not memory.

You

Confirmed

6. Mortgage pre-approvalOnly where there is finance. The bank confirms what it will lend before any offer goes in, within the CBUAE ceilings — 80% of value for an expatriate, 85% for a national, and a debt burden no greater than half of income. An offer without it is a wish.Goes through CBUAE.

You

Confirmed

7. Form I — Broker-to-broker commission splitOnly when a second brokerage brings the buyer. Agree the split in writing before the offer goes in — afterwards it is a dispute, and neither buyer nor seller is party to it.Goes through RERA · DLD.

Your agent

Confirmed

8. Offer madeA price, a payment method, and a validity period after which it lapses on its own.

You

Confirmed

9. Offer acceptedAcceptance starts every clock behind it — the NOC, the KYC and the transfer date.

The seller

Confirmed

10. Form F — Contract of sale (MOU)The sale contract between buyer and seller, with the deposit held against it. Filed with DLD · presented at the trustee office.Goes through RERA · DLD.

Your agent

Confirmed

11. Deposit paidTen per cent on signature, held against the contract rather than paid to the seller. Until it moves, either side can still walk; after it, walking costs money.

You

Confirmed

12. Buyer identity and AML checkEmirates ID or passport, source of funds, and screening. Federal, so it is the same in every emirate — and it is what stops a transfer on the day if it is left late.

You

Confirmed

13. Developer NOCThe developer confirms no outstanding service charges and consents to the transfer. Typically ten to fourteen days — start it before a transfer date is agreed, not after.Goes through Developer.

The developer

Confirmed

14. Bank valuationOnly where there is finance. The bank values the property itself, and a figure under the agreed price means the buyer funds the difference or the price is renegotiated — either way the transfer date moves.Goes through CBUAE.

You

Confirmed

15. Mortgage or liability settledIf either side has finance, the bank's letter and any existing mortgage discharge have to be in hand before a transfer date holds.Goes through CBUAE.

You

Confirmed

16. Transfer at a DLD trustee officeBoth parties attend and the balance changes hands. The 4% transfer fee is paid here and the title deed is issued the same day.Goes through DLD.

You

Confirmed

17. Title deed issuedRERA · DLD issues the deed in the buyer's name. That document, not the contract, is what proves ownership.Goes through RERA · DLD.

The government office

Confirmed

18. Handover and utilitiesKeys, meters transferred, and the community handover completed.

You

Confirmed

Somewhere else in the UAE?