Dubai Ready vs Off-Plan Calculator (2026)

Your scenario

Property price

AED

Annual rent (post-handover)

AED

Timeline

Years of construction (off-plan only)

Years held post-handover

Total holding period: 5 years

Off-Plan Payment Plan

Paid during construction

40% paid at handover

Assumptions

Appreciation during construction

% / yr

Appreciation post-handover

% / yr

Off-plan agency fee (most off-plans sell direct at 0% — set only if your broker charges)

% of price

Selling cost when you exit (0% if you sell privately — Dubai sellers aren't required to pay agent commission)

% of sale

Net outcome over 5 years

Ready property

Sale proceeds at exit –

Plus rent earned over 5 years –

Less price + fees + service –

Net outcome –

Off-plan

Sale proceeds at exit –

Plus rent earned over 3 years –

Less price + fees + service –

Net outcome –

–

Net outcome assumes you sell at the end. Off-plan benefits from construction-period appreciation but loses rental income for 2 years. Ready earns rent from day one but pays full price plus agency commission upfront.

Based on standard 2026 Dubai fees. Off-plan payment plan time-value not modeled. Estimates only — verify with developer and trustee office.

How to compare Ready vs Off-Plan in Dubai

The fee difference

Both paths pay the 4% DLD transfer fee. Where they diverge: a ready purchase also requires an agency fee (2% + 5% VAT = 2.1% of price) and a trustee office fee (AED 4,200), totalling roughly 6.1% in fees plus AED 4,780 fixed. An off-plan purchase typically involves no agency commission from the developer, and replaces the trustee fee with a smaller Oqood registration fee (AED 580) and developer admin (AED 3,000), totalling around 4% + AED 3,580. On a AED 1.5M property that's roughly AED 33,000 saved by going off-plan — assuming no broker fee. Add a broker and the gap narrows or reverses.

The rental income tradeoff

A ready property earns rent from day one. Off-plan earns nothing during construction — the unit doesn't exist yet. Over a typical two-year build at AED 100,000/yr, you forgo AED 200,000 in rental income. This is the factor most buyers underestimate when chasing off-plan deals. Even a fee saving of AED 33,000 doesn't offset two years of foregone rent — which means off-plan needs meaningful construction-period appreciation to justify the gap.

The appreciation question

Off-plan's advantage is the ability to lock in today's price and then sell (or rent) into a higher market at handover. Dubai has historically seen strong construction-period appreciation in rising cycles, sometimes 15–25% over two to three years. The calculator lets you model this separately — set a higher appreciation rate for the construction phase and a more conservative one for the post-handover hold. But construction-period appreciation is an assumption, not a guarantee: delays, developer risk, and market corrections can all erode it. Stress-test by setting both appreciation rates to zero and see how the fee and rent math plays out on its own.