How a listing goes live
18 steps for a sale listing in Dubai, two lanes, and one that cannot be skippedNext step
- 1Finding it6 steps
- 2Checks4 steps
- 3Agreeing5 steps
- 4Transferring2 steps
- 5After1 step
Yours · 2 of 18
Everything on this side you can do today. Nothing here waits on a regulator, a bank or the other side.
- Form A — Seller's authority to market — The owner's written authority for the brokerage to act and to advertise. Filed with Trakheesi. Without it the listing has no basis.Yours · RERA · DLD
- Offer accepted — Acceptance starts every clock behind it — the NOC, the KYC and the transfer date.Yours
Somebody else’s clock · 16 of 18
These move when the person or office named beside them moves. They are on the page so you can see what is happening, not so you can chase them.
- Trakheesi permit issued — Advertising without it is the fine, and it falls on whoever placed the advert. Filed through the RERA Trakheesi system. In Dubai an owner may hold it in their own name; a brokerage files it when one is acting for them.Your agent · RERA · DLD
- Listing live — Photographs, the permit number displayed, and a price the seller has agreed to.Your agent
- Form B — Buyer's agreement with their agent — Signed before you spend time on a buyer, not after they offer. It is what makes the commission owed to you rather than argued about — and it is signed here, with no portal to wait on.The buyer · RERA · DLD
- Viewings — Recorded against the listing so the interest is evidence, not memory.The buyer
- Mortgage pre-approval — Only where there is finance. The bank confirms what it will lend before any offer goes in, within the CBUAE ceilings — 80% of value for an expatriate, 85% for a national, and a debt burden no greater than half of income. An offer without it is a wish.The buyer · CBUAE
- Form I — Broker-to-broker commission split — Only when a second brokerage brings the buyer. Agree the split in writing before the offer goes in — afterwards it is a dispute, and neither buyer nor seller is party to it.Your agent · RERA · DLD
- Offer made — A price, a payment method, and a validity period after which it lapses on its own.The buyer
- Form F — Contract of sale (MOU) — The sale contract between buyer and seller, with the deposit held against it. Filed with DLD · presented at the trustee office.Your agent · RERA · DLD
- Deposit paid — Ten per cent on signature, held against the contract rather than paid to the seller. Until it moves, either side can still walk; after it, walking costs money.The buyer
- Buyer identity and AML check — Emirates ID or passport, source of funds, and screening. Federal, so it is the same in every emirate — and it is what stops a transfer on the day if it is left late.The buyer
- Developer NOC — The developer confirms no outstanding service charges and consents to the transfer. Typically ten to fourteen days — start it before a transfer date is agreed, not after.The developer · Developer
- Bank valuation — Only where there is finance. The bank values the property itself, and a figure under the agreed price means the buyer funds the difference or the price is renegotiated — either way the transfer date moves.The buyer · CBUAE
- Mortgage or liability settled — If either side has finance, the bank's letter and any existing mortgage discharge have to be in hand before a transfer date holds.The buyer · CBUAE
- Transfer at a DLD trustee office — Both parties attend and the balance changes hands. The 4% transfer fee is paid here and the title deed is issued the same day.The buyer · DLD
- Title deed issued — RERA · DLD issues the deed in the buyer's name. That document, not the contract, is what proves ownership.The authority · RERA · DLD
- Handover and utilities — Keys, meters transferred, and the community handover completed.The buyer
Trakheesi permit issued — Advertising without it is the fine, and it falls on whoever placed the advert. Filed through the RERA Trakheesi system. In Dubai an owner may hold it in their own name; a brokerage files it when one is acting for them. Marketing can be finished, approved and beautiful; nothing publishes until the number is on file, and it is RERA · DLD who issues it. A submitted application is not an issued permit, and PropDirect will not show a listing on one.
Steps by listing kind, in Dubai
| Kind | Steps | Yours | Not confirmed | Start |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sale | 18 | 2 | — | List a sale |
| Rent | 14 | 3 | — | List a rent |
| Off-plan | 16 | 0 | — | List a off-plan |
| Hotel | 11 | 8 | 1 | List a hotel |
| Short-term | 13 | 10 | 1 | List a short-term |
Every AI decision on your listing is recorded
What ran, when, and what it concluded — and you can ask for the record. Subject access requests are answered within 30 days, as UAE PDPL requires.
