Australia vs Dubai property investment: 10/90 payment plans, tax and rental yield
Australia suits an investor who wants a small entry and low risk, and Dubai suits one who wants rental income, says Valentina, a licensed agent working in both markets. Australian off-plan asks for 10% at booking and nothing more until completion, but the profit is taxed. Dubai asks for more capital and leaves the income tax-free.
How does an off-plan payment plan work in Australia?
The standard plan is 10/90, Valentina says, and it is the same everywhere in the country. The buyer pays 10% at booking and owes nothing else until the building is finished. The remaining 90% falls due at completion.
That structure is the leverage. If the property rises by 20-30% during construction, the gain is measured against the 10% actually paid, so the investor's money doubles or triples. She calls two or three times the minimum she expects.
Australian citizens and residents get one more option. The 10% deposit itself can be split, in her words, into weekly payments deducted automatically from a salary. Someone earning AUD 3,000 might pay AUD 1,000 of it. Foreign buyers pay the deposit in the usual way.
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Oleg Svyatenko, who hosts the interview, notes that Dubai has nothing comparable today. If a 10/90 plan ever existed there, he says, it was a very long time ago. Dubai developers collect instalments through construction.
How much can an investor make by selling before completion?
Her latest case: a buyer signed for a property at AUD 1 million and paid AUD 100,000. Before the keys were handed over, the contract was sold for AUD 1.35 million. The gain was AUD 350,000 before tax on AUD 100,000 of cash, or 350%.
This is how she usually structures a purchase. The investor never pays the 90% balance, because the position is sold a few months before handover.
The risk sits at the same point. If the investor cannot resell and cannot pay, the developer simply does not hand over the keys. Valentina says a delay can sometimes be arranged where the agent and the developer have a good relationship, but it is not a right.
What tax does a property investor pay in Australia?
Profit on a resale is taxed in Australia, and tax on rental income is settled at the end of each year. Valentina says the rate differs for foreign nationals and for local citizens. In Dubai an individual owner pays no tax on rent or on the gain.
Her rule of thumb follows from that. In Australia a smaller sum can earn 100%, 200% or 300% on the money invested, and tax then takes a share. In Dubai more money goes in, and all of the income stays with the owner. The budget decides which trade is better.
Can a foreigner buy property in Australia?
Only new property, for now. Australia has banned foreign buyers from purchasing established homes from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2027. Valentina describes the same rule: buyers without Australian citizenship cannot buy ready property until 2027.
Off-plan remains open to any passport, she says, including those of former Soviet countries. The buyer needs a special foreign investment permit, which carries a fee. Chinese buyers have the hardest time, in her experience, and for everyone else nationality barely matters.
An owner who decides not to resell can keep the finished home and live in it. What a foreigner cannot do is enter the market through a completed flat, which is a common route in Dubai.
Sydney, Melbourne or the Gold Coast: where does she invest?
The Gold Coast, a small city just below Brisbane on the east coast. Valentina has lived and worked in several Australian cities and calls it the most profitable property market among them. She compares it to Miami: beautiful, calm, with a light luxury feel.
Most Australians live on the eastern side of the country, in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne, the three biggest cities and financial hubs. Sydney holds most of the capital and what she calls hyper-expensive property. Melbourne has wealthy residents but, in her view, a very poor property market.
Gold Coast buyers already have capital. Some settle there to live well without working, and others keep a holiday home and fly back to work in Sydney or Melbourne.
Her price guide is AUD 1.5 million, about USD 1 million, for an off-plan one-bedroom with a direct sea view on a good floor. It may stand on the first or second row from the beach. A two-bedroom in Sydney or Melbourne costs about AUD 2 million, and prices there grow much less.
Rental yield: 4% on the Gold Coast against Dubai
Rental yield in Australia is about 4% at best, Valentina says. A good two-bedroom on the Gold Coast rents for AUD 1,200 a week. Rent arrives weekly, and tax is paid at the end of the year.
Dubai is better for resale and for rent, she says without hesitation. A Dubai landlord receives the year's rent in one or two cheques, and the amount is far higher. She describes Dubai as the market for building passive income.
Entry prices point the same way. Oleg concludes that Dubai has the lower threshold for a home, and she agrees that it is cheaper. In Australia the small entry exists through the 10% deposit, not through the price.
Is buyers' money protected the way escrow protects it in Dubai?
Australia uses a trust account rather than escrow. Each developer has a lawyer, called a conveyancer, who receives the deposit into a separate account. The money is released to the developer only when the project is complete.
Valentina considers that probably safer than the Dubai model. In Dubai, payments leave escrow in stages as construction progresses. In Australia the developer sees none of the deposit until the end.
Fewer projects launch in Australia, and each goes through more checks. She estimates that about 90% of launches are good. Her warning sign is a project that looks too grandiose: in her experience such a scheme most likely will not be built.
She puts the chance of choosing badly at 10-20% in Australia. For Dubai her estimate is 50%, and 90% without a good broker. Dubai sells out faster when a launch is well promoted, she adds, while Australia delivers higher quality and steadier income.
How are property agents licensed in Australia?
Brokers are called agents in Australia, and the licence is harder to obtain than in the Emirates. An assistant-level licence, for someone working inside an agency, takes about three months of study and an exam. Until then the person has no right to sell anything.
A full licence, which she holds as the owner of an agency, took a year of study and several exams. She is audited every year and completes annual practical and professional development courses.
Which market suits which investor?
Dubai is about passive income, in Valentina's summary. Rent is many times more profitable there and is not taxed, so it suits an investor who wants a property that pays every year.
Australia is about a minimum of money and a minimum of risk. With the same entry sum an investor reaches a more premium property there than in the Emirates, she argues, and the market has none of the large price swings seen in Dubai.
Her own answer is to combine the two. She compares it to holding two citizenships: each market covers what the other lacks.
Frequently asked
What is a 10/90 payment plan in Australia?
The buyer pays 10% of the price at booking and the remaining 90% when the building is complete. Nothing is due during construction. According to Valentina, the plan is standard across Australian off-plan sales.
Can foreigners buy property in Australia in 2026?
Foreigners can buy off-plan homes with a foreign investment permit. Established homes are closed to foreign buyers from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2027 under a temporary national ban.
Which gives a higher rental yield, Australia or Dubai?
Dubai. Valentina puts Australian yields at about 4% at best, with rent taxed, while rental income in Dubai is not taxed for an individual owner.
What happens if a buyer cannot pay the 90% at completion?
The developer does not hand over the keys. A delay may sometimes be agreed, but an investor who plans to resell should do it before handover.
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