The 4% DLD transfer fee is the largest single transaction cost for buyers in Dubai. It is calculated on the declared purchase price and paid at the time of title deed transfer at the DLD trustee office. Law No. 7 of 2006 mandates the fee on registration but does not prescribe which party pays it — by near-universal market convention, the buyer absorbs the full 4%. Additional transfer-day costs include a AED 4,000 trustee office fee for properties above AED 500,000, AED 250 for title deed issuance, and AED 100 for the floor plan registration fee. For off-plan purchases, the equivalent 4% Oqood fee is paid at SPA signing — not at handover — so the capital requirement lands earlier in the timeline.
sales advisor fee in the secondary market is standardised at 2% of the purchase price, paid by the buyer to their agent. Off-plan buyers pay zero sales advisor fee: developers pay sales teams directly, typically 3%–7% depending on the project and launch incentives. This differential is a material factor in effective acquisition cost. On a AED 2M apartment, the fee saving on an off-plan purchase versus a secondary transaction is AED 40,000. When comparing ready and off-plan product in the same area, factor this into the true cost comparison before focusing on headline prices alone.
Since 2024, RERA classifies sales teams as Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professions under UAE anti-money laundering law — the same DNFBP framework that governs accountants and lawyers. A licensed sales advisor is legally required to conduct Customer Due Diligence on every buyer before proceeding: proof of identity, source of funds documentation, and beneficial ownership information where applicable. This is a regulatory obligation the sales advisor must fulfil, not a discretionary process. A sales advisor who skips KYC checks is in breach of their RERA licence conditions and exposes the transaction to AML scrutiny downstream.
Developers with the strongest sales advisor compliance infrastructure — Emaar Properties (45 active projects), Azizi (53 projects), Binghatti (37 projects), Sobha (32 projects) — maintain approved sales advisor registers aligned with RERA's 2024 off-plan oversight requirements. Working with a sales advisor already on the developer's approved list for your target project removes a layer of post-SPA risk. Review the developer market before committing to a specific launch.