Plain guides to buying in Dubai: what the Golden Visa needs, how service charges eat a yield, and what the Land Department actually requires at transfer.
Yes. It qualifies as long as the equity you’ve paid reaches AED 2 million, and your UAE bank confirms it with a No Objection Certificate (NOC). The NOC must come from the bank itself — a broker statement or developer printout won’t be accepted.
Yes. The Dubai Land Department looks at the combined value of everything you own — it can be spread across one title deed or several. Nothing requires the full amount to sit in a single deed.
Yes, as long as the developer holds a Dubai Land Department-approved escrow account — a protected account that holds your payments until the project is finished. You can apply once developer statements show at least AED 2 million has cleared into that account; you don’t need to wait for the final title deed.
No. UAE Central Bank rules stop lenders from financing the 4% Land Department transfer fee or the agency commission. Both must be paid in cash at transfer, which is why even a mortgaged purchase needs a large cash reserve on the day.
Service charges. A prime Downtown tower costs about AED 24 per square foot a year under the Mollak index. On a 4,500 sq ft home, that’s roughly AED 117,000 deducted before you count any rent. That gap is what separates an advertised 8% gross yield from a realistic net one.
There’s no minimum stay. Unlike a standard residence permit, which lapses after six months outside the country, the ten-year Golden Visa has no annual residency requirement at all.