Licensing, costs and how your data is handled

Who you are dealing with

• Broker: Oleg Svyatenko
• BRN: 60317 — Broker Registration Number, issued by RERA
• ORN: 11899 — Office Registration Number, Insider Real Estate
• Brokerage: Metropolitan Premium Properties, Dubai, UAE
• Regulator: Real Estate Regulatory Agency (RERA), part of the Dubai Land Department

Every practising broker in Dubai must hold a BRN and work under a licensed office with an ORN. Both numbers are verifiable through the Dubai REST application and the Dubai Land Department’s public services. If anyone offering to sell you Dubai property cannot produce both on request, that is the end of the conversation.

Trakheesi advertising permits

Trakheesi is the Dubai Land Department’s advertising permit system. Every individual property advertisement — portal listing, social post, brochure — must carry a permit number tied to that specific unit and to a signed listing agreement with the owner.

The purpose is to stop the practice of advertising units that are not genuinely available in order to generate enquiries. A permit number is provided on request for any unit discussed here, before any viewing or reservation. Asking for it costs you nothing and tells you a great deal about who you are dealing with.

Escrow protection on off-plan

Under Dubai Law No. 8 of 2007, every registered off-plan project must operate a project escrow account. Buyer payments go into that account rather than to the developer directly, and funds are released against verified construction progress rather than on request.

Practically, this means two things. First, always pay into the escrow account named in the sale and purchase agreement and never to any other account, whatever reason is offered. Second, the construction completion percentage held by the Dubai Land Department is independently verified, which makes it a better source than a developer’s progress update.

What a purchase actually costs

Budget roughly 7–8% of the purchase price in transaction costs, none of which can be added to a mortgage:

• 4% — Dubai Land Department transfer fee, on the transaction value
• ~2% — agency commission, plus VAT where applicable
• AED 2,000–4,000 — trustee office / registration trustee fee
• 0.25% of the loan + AED 290 — mortgage registration, if financing
• Bank fees — arrangement fee and property valuation, if financing
• Developer NOC — on a resale, typically AED 500–5,000
• Assignment fee — on an off-plan resale, set by the developer and often several percent

Ongoing, you pay a service charge billed per square foot by the owners association, and utilities through DEWA and the district cooling provider. There is no annual property tax in the UAE and no personal income tax on rental income — but that does not change your obligations wherever you are tax resident, which you should confirm separately.

Information, not advice

Everything published on this site — articles, video breakdowns, area guides and calculator output — is general information from a licensed broker. It is not individual investment, legal or tax advice, and it does not take your circumstances into account because it cannot.

Property returns depend on many factors and are not guaranteed. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Every figure produced by the mortgage calculator is indicative and must be confirmed with your bank and your conveyancer before you rely on it.

Personal data

Any information you send — name, phone number, email, or the details of what you are looking for — is used solely to answer your enquiry and to keep you informed about properties matching that brief. It is never sold, never shared with third parties for their own marketing, and never published.

Processing is carried out under UAE Federal Decree-Law No. 45 of 2021 on the Protection of Personal Data. Where the visitor is located in the European Union or the European Economic Area, processing also complies with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), on the legal basis of your consent and of steps taken at your request prior to entering a contract.

You can ask at any time for a copy of what is held, for it to be corrected, or for it to be deleted. Write to svyatenko.oa@gmail.com and it will be actioned.

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Anti-money-laundering

UAE real estate transactions are subject to anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorist financing requirements. Brokers are obliged to identify the parties, verify identity documents and, for cash transactions above the reporting threshold, file reports with the relevant authority. Expect to provide a passport, proof of address and evidence of source of funds. This is a legal requirement and it applies to everybody, including me.

Questions

If anything here is unclear, or you want a licence number, a Trakheesi permit or an escrow account detail verified before you proceed, ask.