Investor Tools
Buying Costs Calculator
Every fee, itemised
Investor Tools
Buying Costs Calculator
Every fee on top of the purchase price — DLD transfer, trustee registration, agency commission, VAT and (if financed) mortgage costs — itemised in one place.
Total acquisition cost
Purchase price plus every transaction cost itemised below.
- DLD feesAED 60,580
- Agency + VATAED 31,500
- Trustee & NOCAED 5,500
- Legal feesAED 15,000
- DLD transfer fee (4%)AED 60,000
- DLD admin feeAED 580
- Trustee office registrationAED 4,000
- Agency commission (2%)AED 30,000
- VAT on agency commission (5%)AED 1,500
- Developer NOC fee (estimate)AED 1,500
- Legal / conveyancing feeAED 15,000
- Total transaction costsAED 112,580
Figures reflect general Dubai market practice (DLD, trustee office, agency and lender fees) and are estimates only — exact amounts vary by developer, trustee office and lender. Not financial or legal advice.
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What you actually pay, and to whom
The purchase price is the number everyone quotes. The transaction cost is the number that decides whether you can complete. These notes set out exactly what the calculator adds up, where each figure comes from, and which of them are firm.
What the calculator computes
This tool does one job: it takes a purchase price and totals the one-off costs of getting the property into your name. It is not a valuation, a mortgage model or an investment appraisal. Every line is either a percentage of the price, a percentage of the loan, or a flat fee, and the whole calculation runs in your browser from the inputs on the form:
- DLD transfer feepurchase price × 4%
- DLD admin feeAED 580, flat
- Trustee registrationAED 4,000, flat
- Agency commissionpurchase price × 2%
- VAT on commissioncommission × 5%
- Developer NOCAED 1,500, flat estimate
- Legal / conveyancingAED 8,000 below AED 1m, AED 15,000 at or above — optional toggle
- Mortgage registration(loan amount × 0.25%) + AED 290 — financed purchases only
- Valuation feeAED 3,000, flat — financed purchases only
- Loan amountpurchase price × (100% − deposit %)
- Costs as % of pricetotal transaction costs ÷ purchase price × 100
A worked example, using the tool’s own default
The form arrives at AED 1,500,000, no mortgage, legal fee included. That gives an AED 60,000 transfer fee, AED 580 of DLD admin, AED 4,000 to the trustee office, AED 30,000 of agency commission with AED 1,500 of VAT on top, an AED 1,500 NOC and an AED 15,000 legal fee — approximately AED 112,580 in total, or about 7.5% of the price, taking the full acquisition cost to roughly AED 1,612,580.
Switch the mortgage toggle on at a 20% deposit and the loan is AED 1,200,000, so registration adds AED 3,290 and valuation AED 3,000: total costs of about AED 118,870, roughly 7.9% of the price. That is the number to hold in your head. Buying costs in Dubai land in the region of seven to eight per cent of the price on a standard resale, and they are payable in cash, on the day, on top of the deposit.
The percentage moves with price rather than staying fixed, because three of the lines are flat. On a smaller purchase the fixed fees weigh more heavily relative to the price; the legal fee also steps down below AED 1,000,000. Change the price and watch the pill beside the headline figure — that percentage is the fastest read on this page.
Reading the lines one by one
DLD transfer fee. Four per cent of the price, charged on the transaction and paid at the trustee office at transfer. It is the single largest cost here by a wide margin, and it is not a fee you can shop around for.
Trustee office and DLD admin. Flat registration charges for processing the transfer. Small, fixed, unavoidable.
Agency commission and VAT. Modelled at 2% of the price with 5% VAT on the commission. Commission is a commercial term, not a tariff, so treat this line as a reference point rather than a quotation; whatever is agreed, VAT applies to it.
Developer NOC. The no-objection certificate the developer issues before a transfer can proceed. AED 1,500 is a placeholder: this is one of the most variable lines in the whole list, and some developers charge multiples of it. Ask early, because it is a cost you discover rather than negotiate.
Legal and conveyancing. Optional in the calculator and on by default. Independent review is worth its cost on anything non-standard — off-market deals, corporate sellers, tenanted units, distressed sales, or a title you have not seen documentation for.
Mortgage registration and valuation. These appear only when the mortgage toggle is on. Registration is charged as a percentage of the loan, so it shrinks slightly as your deposit rises. The valuation is the bank’s, not yours, and you pay for it whether or not the number it returns suits you.
Where the model deliberately stops
This is a transaction-cost calculator and nothing more. It does not include your deposit, ongoing service charges, chiller or utility connections, property management fees, furnishing, or any service charge apportionment negotiated on a resale. It assumes a standard ready-property transfer, so off-plan purchases — where the developer’s own administration fees, the payment schedule and Oqood registration change the shape of the costs — are not what these lines describe. It also assumes an individual buyer: an offshore or free-zone company purchase carries its own structuring costs that sit entirely outside this list.
Risk warnings worth taking seriously
- These are estimates, not a quotation. The percentage lines are dependable; the flat fees are realistic placeholders. Trustee charges, NOC fees, valuation fees and legal fees all vary by counterparty, and the calculator says as much in its own disclaimer.
- Costs are cash, and they are not financeable. Transaction costs are paid on top of your deposit, not rolled into the loan. Model them beside the deposit when you work out the capital a purchase actually requires.
- A valuation below the agreed price costs you cash. Where a lender is involved it will lend against the price or its own valuation, whichever is lower. A short valuation does not reduce what you pay the seller — it increases what you have to find yourself, on top of everything on this page.
- Off-plan is a different cost structure. Developer administration charges, Oqood registration and staged payments do not appear here. Do not carry a ready-property total across to a launch and assume it holds.
- Costs erode short-term returns. At roughly seven to eight per cent of the price on the way in, transaction costs are a real hurdle for anyone intending to sell quickly. Any yield or appreciation figure you model elsewhere should be read against the capital consumed here.
- Confirm before you commit. Every figure on this page is a planning number. Before signing anything, get the actual NOC fee from the developer and the actual fee schedule from your lender and conveyancer.
Who this calculator is for
It is for the buyer working out how much cash a purchase really needs before making an offer; for the investor testing whether a deal still works once acquisition costs are counted against the return; for anyone comparing two properties at different price points, where the flat fees shift the percentage; and for owners weighing a sale, who want to understand the cost a buyer is carrying on the other side of the table. Use it to budget and to negotiate from an informed position — then have the exact figures confirmed for your specific transaction.
Want the exact figure for a specific unit, with the developer’s real NOC fee rather than an estimate? Send the deal through and we will confirm it before you commit.
Speak to usBuying costs questions we are asked most
How much are the total buying costs on a Dubai property?
On the calculator’s own default — AED 1,500,000, no mortgage, legal fee included — the itemised lines add up to roughly AED 112,580, about 7.5% of the price. Add a mortgage at a 20% deposit and registration and valuation fees take it to about AED 118,870, or roughly 7.9%. Your own figure moves with the price, whether you finance, and what you negotiate.
Is the 4% DLD transfer fee always paid by the buyer?
The transfer fee is charged on the transaction, and in practice it is normally settled by the buyer at the trustee office on the day of transfer. Who ultimately bears it is a matter of what the parties agree, and it is occasionally split or absorbed as part of a negotiation. The calculator assumes the buyer pays it in full, which is the conservative assumption.
Is agency commission negotiable?
The 2% figure the calculator uses is the common market reference point rather than a regulated tariff, and commission is a commercial term like any other. VAT is applied on top of whatever commission is actually agreed, at 5%, so a change in the commission changes the VAT with it.
Do I need the legal and conveyancing fee?
It is a toggle, not a fixed cost, and it is on by default because independent legal review is worth having — particularly on off-market, distressed or corporate-owned deals. Turn it off and the total drops by the modelled AED 8,000 or AED 15,000, depending on whether the price is below AED 1,000,000 or at or above it.
What changes if I buy with a mortgage?
Two extra lines appear: a DLD mortgage registration fee of 0.25% of the loan amount plus AED 290, and a valuation fee modelled at AED 3,000. The deposit slider is there to size the loan those fees are charged on — a larger deposit means a smaller loan and a slightly smaller registration fee, alongside far more cash required at completion.
Does the calculator include service charges or the deposit?
No. It covers the one-off transaction costs paid to complete a purchase. It does not include the deposit itself, ongoing service charges, chiller fees, DEWA connection, property management or, on a resale, any service charge apportionment agreed between the parties. Budget for those separately.
Why are these figures described as estimates?
Because several of the lines are set by counterparties rather than by a published schedule. Trustee office charges, developer NOC fees, valuation fees and legal fees all vary, and the NOC in particular differs materially between developers. The percentages are reliable; the flat fees are realistic placeholders you should confirm for your specific deal.
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