“I have a buyer for your apartment”: what that call usually is

Anyone who owns property in Dubai receives this call. An agent explains that they have a buyer for exactly your apartment and asks whether you would consider selling. It is one of the most common approaches on this market and one of the least often literally true.

What the tactic is for

The purpose is usually not a specific buyer but a listing. An owner who engages with the premise agrees to a valuation, then to a listing agreement, and the agent has acquired stock. The "buyer" was the opening.

That is not fraud and it is not unusual in any market. But it changes the negotiation: you believe you are responding to demand, and you are actually being recruited as supply. Those are different positions, and they produce different prices.

How to test it in one question

Ask what the buyer's budget is, what else they have viewed, and whether they are represented under a signed buyer agreement. A real buyer has a number, a shortlist and, usually, a Form B in place. An agent with a genuine client answers immediately; an agent without one moves the conversation to a valuation.

A second useful question: are they asking about your specific unit, or about any two-bedroom in the building? The first suggests a client with a requirement; the second suggests a canvassing round.

When the call is genuine

It happens, and more often in specific circumstances: a building with very little stock available, an unusual layout, a floor or view that rarely comes up, or a buyer assembling adjacent units. In those cases the agent will name the constraint immediately, because it is their strongest argument.

What to do either way

Do not name a price on the call. Whatever the reality behind it, the situation is a negotiation that has started without you preparing for it, and the first number spoken anchors everything after.

If you might sell, get registered comparable sales for your building over the last six to twelve months first. If you would not sell at any sensible price, say so plainly — it saves both sides a week and, in the cases where the buyer is real, prompts a serious opening offer rather than a valuation appointment.