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Oleg Svyatenko
RERA-licensed · ORN 11899

Oleg Svyatenko

I sell property in Dubai and I make videos about it. Those two things are connected: the videos exist because almost everything published about this market is written by people trying to sell you a specific building, and I wanted a body of work that survives being checked.

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How I work

I represent the buyer. That sounds obvious and in this market it is not: a very large share of Dubai brokerage is developer-led, which means the agent is paid by whoever is selling and the shortlist you receive reflects that. When I show you three projects, the reason those three are on the list is that they fit what you told me — and I will tell you which of them I would not buy myself.

Every recommendation comes with the evidence attached. Registered transaction history from the Dubai Land Department, the actual service charge rather than the developer’s estimate, the assignment fee if the unit is under construction, and a written note of what could go wrong. If a projection depends on an assumption, I will name the assumption.

I do not use artificial urgency. If a unit genuinely has competing interest I will say so and you can verify it; if it does not, there is no reason to decide today. The deals worth doing survive a week of thinking.

What I actually transact

Off-plan from the tier-one developers — Emaar, Select Group, Meraas, Omniyat — where the payment plan and the launch allocation matter more than the brochure. Resale in Peninsula, Madinat Jumeirah Living, Dubai Hills, Creek Harbour and Downtown, where the work is finding the seller with a deadline. Off-market units for buyers who want a real discount rather than a repriced listing. And increasingly commercial: offices around DIFC and Business Bay, where the yields have been better than residential for several years and almost nobody is looking.

I also work outside Dubai when it makes sense for the client — Abu Dhabi, Ras Al Khaimah, and occasionally further afield. There is a section of the channel on Oman, Georgia, Bali and Saudi Arabia, mostly written to explain why the UAE is usually still the right answer.

Credentials

The route here

  1. 2026

    English channel and this section of the site

    Started covering the same market in English: every major project filmed on site, each clip with a written breakdown that can be checked against Land Department data.

  2. 2025

    Insider Real Estate — my own practice

    Own brokerage practice under the Insider Real Estate brand, ORN 11899, with Metropolitan Premium Properties. AED 15m transacted during the year.

  3. 2024

    Team leader, AX Capital

    Ran a team at AX Capital. The largest sale the team closed was a villa in Nad Al Sheba at AED 20.5m.

  4. 2023

    Broker, AX Capital

    AED 22m of transactions over the year, specialising in off-plan from the tier-one developers alongside secondary-market resale.

  5. 2022

    The Capital Dubai — moved to the emirate

    Learned Dubai the slow way: viewings, cold calls, and every district in the emirate walked and driven rather than read about.

  6. 2022

    The Capital, Kyiv — property consultant

    First in the office by commission volume in July 2022, the month before the move to the UAE.

  7. 2017–2021

    Legendary Shop — founder and director, Dnipro

    A woodworking manufacturer exporting to the United States and the EU: five people, USD 400,000 of annual turnover, and the production floor as well as the sales side.

  8. 2013–2017

    Shop.Derma — founder and director, Kyiv and Dnipro

    An online pharmacy-cosmetics business across two offices, USD 675,000 of annual turnover, named Bioderma’s best regional online distributor of 2014.

Education

  1. 2014–2017

    Lomonosov Moscow State University — first-class honours

    Political science. Winner of the Lomonosov 2017 university olympiad in the subject.

Languages

Outside work

Contact

Everything on this site is general information from a licensed broker, not individual investment, legal or tax advice. Property returns are not guaranteed and past performance is no guide to future results.

AED 100M+
turnover 2022–2026
50+
personal deals
4 years
in Dubai
RERA
licensed
Questions

Working with a broker: the questions people actually ask

Who pays you — me or the developer?

On a new-build purchase the developer pays the commission, and the price is identical whether you buy through me or walk into the sales office yourself. The difference is that the sales office can only show you its own towers. On a resale the commission is the Dubai standard of 2% plus VAT, paid by the buyer. There is no charge for a shortlist, a viewing, a valuation or an "address unlock" — anyone asking for one of those is not a broker.

How do I check that you are actually licensed?

I am a RERA-registered broker, ORN 11899, working in Dubai since 2022. The registration is verifiable in the Dubai Land Department register, and every legally advertised listing in the emirate carries a Trakheesi permit number tied to a named broker — ask for it on any property, from anyone, and check it before you transfer a dirham.

Can I buy without coming to Dubai?

Yes, and a good share of my transactions run that way. Viewings are done on a live video call with the camera on, not from a photo set; documents are signed by an attorney under a power of attorney; registration happens at a trustee office without you. The power of attorney is notarised at a UAE consulate in your country and legalised here. I will still push you to come for the handover if you can.

Whose side are you on in the transaction?

The buyer’s, and it is worth being blunt about why that needs saying. A large share of Dubai brokerage is developer-led, so the list you are shown reflects who is paying, not what fits you. When I put three projects in front of you, I will also tell you which of them I would not buy myself and what would have to change for that to be different.

Do you only work on expensive property?

No. The practical entry point in Dubai is around USD 150,000, and that budget is a solvable brief: a studio in a district with real rental demand is underwritten exactly the way a penthouse is. What changes the answer is the purpose — letting, resale or living in it — not the size of the cheque. If the budget and the goal do not meet, I will say so before the shortlist, not after it.

How quickly do you reply, and in what language?

Usually within the hour during UAE business hours, on WhatsApp or Telegram, in English or Russian. Send the budget and what the property is for — that is enough for a substantive first answer without a call: which two or three districts fit, what is in stock now, and what to avoid in your particular scenario.

Ask a question

Telegram is the fastest way — I answer personally.

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