The question people keep asking
“Do I really need to add another 4% on top of the property price?” This is one of the questions I see most often from first-time buyers in Dubai. It matters because that money must be available at the right stage and should not be confused with your mortgage down payment or the agency commission.
The simple answer
The DLD fee is the charge for registering a property sale with the Dubai Land Department, the authority that manages Dubai’s property register. For a standard sale, the total fee is 4% of the sale value. It makes the transfer or registration of your property right official.
A practical example
If an apartment costs AED 1,500,000, 4% is AED 60,000. That amount does not automatically include every other cost. Depending on the transaction, you may also pay an agency commission, registration trustee charges, title issuance fees and, when using finance, bank and mortgage registration costs.
Who actually pays it
The official fee schedule assigns 2% to the seller and 2% to the buyer unless they agree otherwise. In normal market practice, the contract often assigns the full 4% to the buyer. For off-plan projects, a developer may offer to cover some or all of it as a promotion. A verbal promise is not enough: check what the contract and cost sheet actually say.
Why Rema Living
Our job is to turn the advertised price into the real cost of the transaction. Before recommending a property, we check who pays the DLD fee, which charges are separate and when each payment is due. To review an investment with clear numbers, you can book a meeting with Rema Living.
What to check before signing
Ask for a written cost sheet with five items: property price, DLD fee, agency commission, registration costs and mortgage costs. Then confirm in the contract who pays each item and when it is due. If a promotion says “DLD included,” make sure the discount is written down and compare the total cost with similar alternatives.