# Real estate business climate in Dubai



## sagittarius70 (Apr 22, 2014)

Hi there,

I am considering to relocate in Dubai and work as a real estate agent/broker. I would like to know if the market is currently going well or not, and if it is expected to grow in the coming years or big risks are just hidden behind the corner.
Which market segment is hot? Are average sales persons salaries good enough to make a nice living in Dubai for a single?


Be real and bad enough  just want to know how the reality is!!Thank a lot.


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## rsinner (Feb 3, 2009)

the reality is that Dubai has won Expo 2020 which means that we get gold dust when it rains. 

In other news, the real estate prices have gone up by 25-50% in the last one year alone - though the number of real buyers has not gone up and a lot of speculators are buying and selling amongst themselves.

As a broker, probably there is enough money to be made for a single person to survive on. You will probably just have to be another scumbag among many. Also, you can probably take on loans, spend well on flashy cars and stuff, and run away with bad debt when things go south.

Welcome to Dubai


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## MAW0504 (Oct 6, 2009)

sagittarius70 said:


> Be real and bad enough  just want to know how the reality is!!Thank a lot.


You've effectively just thrown yourself to the lions - be prepared for everyone telling you it's impossible to make a living and that baby vomit is more popular than an estate agent here 

Then check your personal messages.


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## sagittarius70 (Apr 22, 2014)

rsinner said:


> the reality is that Dubai has won Expo 2020 which means that we get gold dust when it rains.
> 
> In other news, the real estate prices have gone up by 25-50% in the last one year alone - though the number of real buyers has not gone up and a lot of speculators are buying and selling amongst themselves.
> 
> ...


Well, you are definitely more sinner than saint  By your words it seem there's no room for serious professionals with a long term market view. Making a little bit of research I was expecting a more robust market and more regulated in order to drive investors expectations in the proper way. Do you think that all the new law decrees will not make any good to the market and foreign money flows are slowing down at the moment because regional speculators are still flipping too much ??


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## sagittarius70 (Apr 22, 2014)

Baby vomit is really really bad


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## sagittarius70 (Apr 22, 2014)

Being Italian mother tongue, do you know if real estate agencies/brokers are interested in italian speakers?In your opinion italian buyers/investors have a tiny or quite decent market share in Dubai. Thx


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## Stevesolar (Dec 21, 2012)

sagittarius70 said:


> Being Italian mother tongue, do you know if real estate agencies/brokers are interested in italian speakers?In your opinion italian buyers/investors have a tiny or quite decent market share in Dubai. Thx


Hi,
How many really rich Italians do you know?
Compared with Russian, GCC, British, Pakistani and Indian buyers - Italians will be very, very low on the list of real estate buyers in Dubai.
Gulf news ran an article about buyer countries on 28/1/14 - details below:-

Dubai: Foreign ownership continues to drive Dubai’s realty, with more than Dh114 billion in transactions last year being attributed to these buyers, according to figures released by the Dubai Land Department. The overall number of transacted properties in the emirate last year was valued at Dh236 billion.
Indian passport holders represented the bulk of the purchases, followed by British and Pakistani nationals. In all, foreign nationals from 162 countries ended up buying real estate in Dubai in 2013. “Investors from around the world are finding that Dubai is offering a particularly attractive climate to undertake property business,” Sultan Butti Bin Mejren, director-general at the Land Department, said.
UAE and GCC nationals combined — totalling 7,548 investors — funded Dh33 billion of the overall transactions, with the former accounting for Dh24 billion. Saudis followed with Dh4.6 billion.
Arab investors from outside of the Gulf added a further Dh12 billion, with Jordanian nationals topping the list at Dh2.6 billion. Lebanese and Egyptians followed.

Cheers
Steve


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## rsinner (Feb 3, 2009)

sagittarius70 said:


> By your words it seem there's no room for serious professionals with a long term market view.


Probably there is, who knows. But people are greedy. And as a broker why would you care? Your job is to get involved in deals whether it is between speculators or real buyers or if it involves shady money. 

As to why the brokers/agents are abused - you know nothing about the market, but you could be an agent a week after landing here (in Abu DHabi it doesnt even take a week). In just the last few days there have been multiple people with no particular skills/industry knowledge who have inquired about coming here. I can bet half of them will end up in real estate. Now multiple that number by 100. People who dont post on expatforum and people from the subcontinent. That is the scale of people becoming "agents".


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## TallyHo (Aug 21, 2011)

There are people who do make a lot of money in Dubai real estate.

But they are at the very top of the profession. And they have extensive connections. And they network extensively to maintain them. 

They won't be po' boys who started from scratch, but people who already had connections with the types of buyers investing in the UAE. The Arabs will only deal with Arab agents, the Indians will deal with Indian agents and so many of the British buyers are British Asians and they'll deal mostly with British Asian agents. In this part of the world there are many cultural barriers that are nearly impossible to overcome so if you want to be successful, especially in the property sector, you have to know exactly who your market is and how you can tap into it.


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## TallyHo (Aug 21, 2011)

Probably the best evidence we're in another bubble.



rsinner said:


> In just the last few days there have been multiple people with no particular skills/industry knowledge who have inquired about coming here. I can bet half of them will end up in real estate. Now multiple that number by 100. People who dont post on expatforum and people from the subcontinent. That is the scale of people becoming "agents".


Joseph Kennedy, father of JFK, made a fortune in the American stock market in the 1920s, and he said that when taxi drivers started telling him what to invest it, he knew it was time to get out of the market.


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## Mr Rossi (May 16, 2009)

A high chance you'll be commission only.

A high chance you'll be responsible for finding your own properties to sell or rent.

Vendors listing properties with multiple agents, which means other agents benefiting if you take a mop to the place and get it remotely in a viewable condition.

Other agents ripping off your photographs online and phoning you with fake viewings.

Vendors listing properties for sale and then deciding it's not for sale after you've put serious work into closing with a buyer.

Vendors caught up in a myriad of financial problems, unpaid service charges, DEWA, loans etc and not actually able to sell.

The list goes on.


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## JonGard (Aug 18, 2013)

A friend of mine is a real estate agent Downtown.

He gets a tiny basic and then commission.

Last month he made 3500AED. Given you're going to have to sort your own car, medical, bills and housing, you've a massive challenge ahead.

Admittedly some months he has good months, but they just cover the money he's owed from the bad months.


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## sagittarius70 (Apr 22, 2014)

TallyHo said:


> Probably the best evidence we're in another bubble.
> 
> 
> 
> Joseph Kennedy, father of JFK, made a fortune in the American stock market in the 1920s, and he said that when taxi drivers started telling him what to invest it, he knew it was time to get out of the market.


just to reverse the concept, "buy when there's blood in the streets" said once baron Rothschild  The problem is, you never know when you reach a top or a bottom in a market trend. When the experts call for a bubble on a double top in an uptrend, the high probability pattern is just a resistance level breakout and a rally for a new top.
Calling tops or forecasting bubbles is the hardest work for analysts.


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## sagittarius70 (Apr 22, 2014)

JonGard said:


> A friend of mine is a real estate agent Downtown.
> 
> He gets a tiny basic and then commission.
> 
> ...


How much you should make to pay all monthly costs, house+utility bills, car, health care insurance, food, and money left to go out and having fun.


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## sagittarius70 (Apr 22, 2014)

Mr Rossi said:


> A high chance you'll be commission only.
> 
> A high chance you'll be responsible for finding your own properties to sell or rent.
> 
> ...


Go on with the list .., so many pitfalls, I see. Any hints to be smart enough??


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## sagittarius70 (Apr 22, 2014)

Stevesolar said:


> Hi,
> How many really rich Italians do you know?
> Compared with Russian, GCC, British, Pakistani and Indian buyers - Italians will be very, very low on the list of real estate buyers in Dubai.
> Gulf news ran an article about buyer countries on 28/1/14 - details below:-
> ...


You are saying that the market is community driven and the Italian community is accounting just for a very very small percentage, so it would be really hard work for an italian guy to survive. What about yields? What is the best RE market segment to invest to get the best yield from house rentals?


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## sagittarius70 (Apr 22, 2014)

TallyHo said:


> There are people who do make a lot of money in Dubai real estate.
> 
> But they are at the very top of the profession. And they have extensive connections. And they network extensively to maintain them.
> 
> They won't be po' boys who started from scratch, but people who already had connections with the types of buyers investing in the UAE. The Arabs will only deal with Arab agents, the Indians will deal with Indian agents and so many of the British buyers are British Asians and they'll deal mostly with British Asian agents. In this part of the world there are many cultural barriers that are nearly impossible to overcome so if you want to be successful, especially in the property sector, you have to know exactly who your market is and how you can tap into it.


If I had a good network of investors in Italy, it means I would be on the buy-side only, but you are telling me that good deals are just between same nationality counterparts. Thus, it would be not easy to find offers fair enough if I had to negotiate with indians, pakistani or GCC sellers.


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## QOFE (Apr 28, 2013)

My suggestion is to do some serious googling, have a good read and do your own analysis. I would be very vary of getting into real estate in this country. Estate agents are at the top of the list of detested professions here. There are so many cowboys around who do not care/know about rules and regulations. Some will barely lift their bum out of their chair or bother to answer the phone/reply to emails to actually work for the high commission their company get paid by tenants. The commission is meant to be 5% of the annual rent but a lot of the greedy little shysters are now trying to force people to pay up to 10%.

Below are a small selection of links to start with. 

Property - Middle East Business News, Gulf Financial & Industry Events & Information - ArabianBusiness.com

How will Expo 2020 impact Dubai real estate? | GulfNews.com

Abu Dhabi warned rising rents could drive low-paid workers out of UAE | The National

Burj Khalifa residents could get locked out of lifts over outstanding service fees | The National


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